《Sword of Dawnbreaker》 Chapter 1 Chapter 1: What it Was Like to Transmigrate and Get Stuck With a Bird¡¯s Eye View Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios At a certain second of a certain minute, on a certain day of a certain month and happening in a certain year. The world below was the same as always. It was clear and windless with a thinyer of clouds, as far as the eye could see. Gawain contemted the endless stretch ofnd quietly, mulling over his life in silence¡ªafter all, there was nothing else he could do, anyway. He could not remember how long he had been like this anymore. He did not even know how he looked like right now. Although he could roughly estimate time based on the alternations of day and night, he could not be bothered to keep track of it after a hundred thousand iterations of it. Did this even count as transmigration? To be honest, Gawain was pretty open-minded about this whole ¡°transmigration¡± thing. It was not that he was so enlightened that he thought of life and death as nothing, but that he had, as the ne he was in came crashing down in his previous life, realized God¡¯s truth that life and death were impermanent things. He had been floating in the sky for only God knows how many hundreds of thousands of years. Gawain did not know what condition he was in right now. He was unable to change his perspective nor feel his body. In fact, besides having his sight, he had lost all his abilities to sense the external environment. Thus, he did not know if he was a wisp of his remnant soul, or a corpse orbiting in space. But there was one thing he was certain about¡ªhe was not drifting up here as a normal human being. He was sure of this, for he did not think he could retain such clear thoughts and intact memories if he had the mental structure of a human consciousness while he floated adrift in the sky after hundreds of thousands of years. And he could even spare the effort to ponder about the meaning of life. A normal person would have sumbed to insanity a long time ago. Not him, though. And not only that, but his memory was outstanding. The sands of time, even as more than hundreds of thousands of years had passed, had not eroded Gawain¡¯s memories at all. Even now, he could distinctly remember the things that had happened to him in hisst moments of life¡ªthe piercing screams, the rms, the violently shaking ne, the rolling world outside the porthole, his neighbor failing to put on their oxygen mask, and the deafening sound the ne made as it disintegrated in mid air. These images were crystal clear, as though the event had only happened the day before. He could also remember, with rity, how stunned he had felt when he reopened his eyes after that thundering noise, and found himself adrift and orbiting this strange. From the moment he reopened his eyes, he knew that the continents and oceans he was seeing were not of Earth. Consequently, he used a little time to understand and ept the reality that he was in a foreign world now, and used a longer bit of time to figure out how he could stop floating. It was with much regret that he could not seed on the second objective. He found that he was ¡°stuck¡±, or rather, that his current form allowed him no mobility at all. He had be a being that was locked in, and could only look down at the world from a ¡°fixed angle¡±. Sure, he could observe the, but that was the only thing he could do. Although he could even inspect a restricted area ofnd below¡ªthisnd mass seemed anomalous¡ªand see the surrounding ocean, his field of vision did not allow him to see anything wider than that. It was impossible for him to look to the left or right, so he could not determine if there were any otherndforms in that ocean. It was also for that same reason why he had not been able to catch a glimpse of the stars in this world till this day. He was not even certain if this world had other celestial bodies¡ªperhaps if he turned his head, he would be able to see a white-bearded god holding up a light that shone on all matter, d*ammit. D*mn, he really wanted to flip on his back¡­ Even if flipping over meant that he would forever only see a white-bearded being that held a light that shone on everything. However, everything was just a wild wish. Changing his viewing angle of the world was out of the question. Despite that, Gawain had found that he could work with this perspective, after putting in effort for a long, long time. Even though he could not look left or right, he could zoom in or out of his field of vision, or rather, pull and push his angle of view. After making this discovery, he had been euphoric for a prolonged period of time, and then tried out various zooming levels on his sight. Even though he was not able to see anything outside of that circle of ocean at the maximum he could zoom out, he could at least choose to zoom in on whatever he wanted to see on that piece ofnd. It was lush and vibrant, obviously teeming with life. Well, it would be nice if he could scrutinize the daily lives of these pseudo-Earth people. Even though he could only float up here, it would probably take away some of his boredom if he could observe the strange people¡¯s local culture and customs. He had then zoomed in as close as he could, until he could see all the grasses and trees on thend clearly. On that day, he had despaired as he found that none of the mammals on the¡­ Had learned how to walk on their feet yet¡­ But it was alright. Gawain had plenty of patience. He might have had a limit to his patience while he had still been human, but he discovered that he had enormous patience after transmigrating and ending up with this perspective. He waited until that bunch of monkeys learned how to walk upright. And then, after many, many years, he personally witnessed the discovery of fire by the first human. It had been sparked from flint. Fire catalyzed many changes thereafter. Gawain had no clue on what happened, but after the ignition of the first fire, he felt everything ¡°speed up¡±. Or rather, his perception of the passage of time became muddled as the events on thend bloomed rapidly, as though he was watching a video that was being fast-forwarded a zillion times. He witnessed the humanoids swiftly building their first primitive ns, which then transformed into an early form of a city-state. He observed as the humanoid race mastered incredible powers and used what seemed like magic to expand their territory. Yet, before he could see what was happening clearly, these early kingdoms fell into ruins one after the other, and the surviving humanoids rapidly built new cities on the foundations of their ancestors¡­ The humans began to contend for living space with the other races on thend. Various kingdoms and beliefs came and went quickly as they warred with one another while crying out the names of their gods. The process elerated, and Gawain gradually began to be unable to process the sea of information that was bombarding him. He saw dragon-like creatures burst into his field of vision suddenly, but did not know if these ¡°dragons¡± evolved fromnd or water. He saw armies with their swords held high and the mes of war that almost destroyed the entire continent, but new civilizations were reborn in just the blink of an eye. It was only after another lengthy period of time before he realized that the world had never sped up, but that he had ¡°jumped over¡± a tremendous amount of information. His ¡°observations¡± became intermittent glimpses, changing from constant surveince to ncing down every few years or even decades. When he connected these disparate images together, it gave him the impression of the world elerating. He had not realized this before because his thoughts were silent when he had taken a break from his observations. Now that he restarted his surveince, his thoughts began to flow seamlessly again. Thus, he could not have noticed anything wrong with himself. Impact iing. These words shed across Gawain¡¯s mind like lightning, but the idea of this thought probably took a few centuries to hit him. He could see the transformation of thend below clearly. At the same time when these words appeared in his mind, another kingdom had fallen from the heights of prosperity to utter ruin again. Gawain had no idea about what was going on, but he knew this situation was definitely not normal. From the images that only appeared before him every few years and then rapidly swept past his vision, he realized that his thoughts were on the verge of disappearing. His thoughts barely took up one second for every century that had passed. The ¡°breaks¡± in his thoughts were lengthening too. He noticed that the changes on thend were happening in an unimaginably queer way, and the rapidly evolving ¡°slides¡± he skimmed over were now almost indecipherable. At the rate this was going, or maybe after a certain moment had passed, the consciousness named ¡°Gawain¡± might disintegrate in this strange cepletely, and he would slumber in that moment forever, with no chance of revival. It had been ages since Gawain felt a sense of urgency. He began to think rigorously for a solution to break free from this situation. If he had a brain, his thoughts would be crazily overwhelming it, as countless thoughts spewed out. However, the rapidly changing ¡°slideshow¡± on thend showed him that his mind had slowed down to one frame per one thousand years. Of course, putting it this way seemed like an exaggeration, but his actual situation was not any better than before. Break free from this situation. Break free from this. Break free. Break free¡­. No matter the means or method, he had to break out of this, even if he had to return to that crashing ne. He could not let himself die in such a strange ce in such an inexplicable way! Gawain felt his thoughts bing muddled and his mind bing foggy. His once ¡°seamless¡± train of thoughts were now breaking up. He thought with all his might angrily, but as a transmigrated being who only had a fixed bird¡¯s eye view, his levels of fury had no impact on his situation. However, just as he felt as though his thoughts were going to either disintegrate or be silenced into static forever, a voice intoned from an unknown ce. ¡°Power source damaged. Mainframe restart failed. Initiating escape sequence.¡± In the next moment, his fixed perspective disappeared¡ªdarkness now engulfed Gawain¡¯s vision. But his train of thoughts did not stop. It was the first time in an eternity that he was still able to think when he ¡°closed his eyes¡±. He did not know how long he had remained in the darkness. He felt as though he was rolling as he tumbled down into a cold and narrow space. Strange feelings had returned to his limbs, making his mind confused. And in his state of confusion, he vaguely registered a young woman¡¯s faint voice that sounded rather flustered. ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ Don¡¯t kill me yet! Your ancestor rattling in his coffin is a more pressing matter! The lid is about to blow!¡± Chapter 2 Chapter 2: What it Was Like to Crawl Out of a Coffin After Transmigrating Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The heavy stone door was slowly shut under an ancient spell. Its magic traveled through the gaps between the door and wall, creating a seal thatpletely shut the nightmarish world outside. They were now impervious to the shouts of the guard captain, the screams of the injured and dying and better yet, the roars and howls of the terrible, wretched monsters¡ªall noise was silenced by the thick stone and steel separating them. Even though everyone knew that this barrier was only temporary, Reba still let out a long sigh of relief in this lull of the racket. It would be wonderful if only the hell outside was merely a nightmare. However, in the next second, Reba shook her head vigorously, thoroughly casting off the weakness that had manifested from her mind. The hefty rock would not serve to provide safety for long, but might weaken her will as it let her indulge in a fleeting moment of security. With that thought, the young sessor of the Cecil n could not help gripping onto her already dimmed staff, hoping that this weapon could instill more courage in her. Her n¡¯s knight, Byron Kirk, said from behind, ¡°Viscountess, the passageway has been sealed shut, and the monsters shouldn¡¯t be able to get in anytime soon.¡± Reba turned back to look at the loyal and devoted knight. His steel armor was scarred, his breastte had a noticeable dent, and a burn mark was visible beneath his short grey hair. That blemish had been caused by Aunt Heidi, who had thrown a huge fireball to save this middle-ranked knight from the jaws of a monster, and it had almost exploded against his scalp. If not for the God of Fortune¡¯s blessing, this knight, who had served the n for twenty faithful years, would have be nothing more than a corpse. Naturally, Reba suspected that it was because of Aunt Heidi¡¯s magic infamously ¡°missing its mark, as always¡±¡­ ¡°Good work, Knight Byron.¡± Reba looked down to conceal the fatigue in her eyes. ¡°We can take a breather now, at least.¡± She then turned her head around and sized up the remaining people left by her side. Three of the soldiers had torches in their hands as they guarded the perimeter. Aunt Heidi, wielding a fireball, was inspecting the wall at the end of the stone hall. And Betty, the little maid who had followed them muddle headed, was grasping a saucepan that she had grabbed along the way and cowering behind the soldiers as she surveyed the ce with herrge, shing eyes. Together with herself and Knight Byron, she was afraid that the seven of them were now thest survivors¡ª it was impossible for the ones who had remained on the surface to survive. After ascertaining everyone¡¯s condition, Reba now turned her attention to the stone hall. This was an ancient ce. The rectangr stone hallway was webbed with spider silk and thick with dust. At one end of the hall were a number of decaying objects. Even though they were very old, their past beauty and elegance still shone through. The walls of the stone hall were decorated with intact murals and reliefs. Even though the frescoes were slightly discolored, and the reliefs had undergone some wear and tear, they were still pleasant to admire. Heidi Cecil scrutinized the murals and reliefs in earnest for a long while. Compared to the modern northern states¡¯ frivolous but impractical aesthetics, this hall was adorned simply and solemnly, giving it ¡°First Dynasty¡± airs. The murals depicted heroic figures or locals customs, and the reliefs were carvings of the symbols of mythology and the gods. As an erudite spellcaster, Heidi was well-versed at interpreting useful messages from these antique artworks. As she studied the contents of the murals and reliefs, Heidi could not help but hold her left hand up to her chest. In a soft voice, she whispered, ¡°May the ancestors forgive us¡­¡± ¡°Aunt Heidi.¡± With her staff in hand, Reba walked over to Heidi¡¯s side. This young woman looked a little anxious, for it was only then that she realized where they were, and began to feel ill at ease. ¡°This is¡­¡± ¡°This is the resting ce of the Cecil n,¡± Heidi Cecil said gravely. ¡°Don¡¯t do anything offensive.¡± Reba swallowed. Looking around, she said, ¡°It looks like there hasn¡¯t been anyone here for a long time¡­¡± ¡°Ever since Marquis Grumman stole a sacred object from these tombs and took part in the rebellion that almost annihted the n, this ce has beenpletely sealed off. We as descendants of the Cecil n have the knowledge to open it, but the n rules state that no one should ever step foot in here unless they are at death¡¯s door.¡± Heidi Cecil cast a long look at Reba. ¡°We are the first people to enter this ce in a hundred years.¡± ¡°Technically, we are ¡®at death¡¯s door¡¯ right now¡­¡± Reba inhaled deeply. ¡°Will the ancestors forgive us?¡± Heidi smiled stiffly. She was unable to answer this question, and could only use the hints on the murals as a guide to look for the mechanism to open the burial chamber. It did not take much effort for her to find the special pir. She pressed a hand on top of it gently. The stone door leading to the burial chamber vibrated slightly, before an entire b of rock rose, rumbling as it went. However, when the stone b rose, Reba heard a strange noise from within¡ªthere was a sound of a weapon being dropped, and an unsuppressed cry of surprise. ¡°There¡¯s someone inside?!¡± Heidi responded immediately and called out in a low voice, ¡°Byron!¡± Without any further instruction, the knight had already unsheathed his sword and rushed towards the entrance of the stone b, the three other soldiers followed closely behind. After getting over her shock, Reba dashed ahead as well, while at the same time shouting an order to the muddleheaded maid, ¡°Betty! Find a ce to hide!¡± Just as she ran into the burial chamber, Reba saw Knight Byron poised with his sword, ready to swing it onto an agile, petite figure. The little figure darted around Knight Byron like a gust of wind, sometimes disappearing into a cloud of smoke and escaping into the shadowy areas of the chamber. Her shadow maniption powers and nimble footwork was an eye-opener for Reba, for Knight Byron did not usually spend this long going against stealth users. However, with the three remaining soldiers encircling them, and Heidi blocking the door of the burial chamber with fire, the dexterous figure lost all their escape routes andnded on the floor, flustered. It was only after their movements stopped that Reba could take a good look at the face of this intruder. It was a young girl that looked her age, but a little shorter. She was wearing old leather armor, had short hair and a pretty countenance. Even though her face was stained with much dirt, it was still obvious that she was a beauty. Her most striking feature was her ears, which were sharp, but were not as long as elfin ones. This exined her lineage: she was a half-elf. However, she could not tell what the other half of her lineage was, for the elfin bloodline ran strong, which meant that the appearance of half-elves with either human or monster blood looked almost the same. Once the half-elf girlnded on the ground, Knight Byron immediately stepped forward and pressed his long sword against her neck. The remaining three soldiers closed in in an instant, their three swords barring all her escape routes. ¡°Who are you! How dare you break into the tomb of the Cecil n?!¡± Heidi walked up briskly, her voice full of uncontroble rage. For an aristocratic descendant like her, the fact that her ancestors¡¯ resting ce had been broken into by a tomb raider was enough to make her mad with fury¡ªif news of this got out, the Cecil n¡¯s crumbling reputation would be turned to dust. Reba was also ring at the half-elf. Even though she was still slightly confused from this sudden incident, the mere presence of an intruder in the forbidden tomb of her ancestors was enough to make her angry. The half-elf girl¡¯s voice trembled as she was simultaneously pinned down by the swords and red daggers at by Heidi and Reba, ¡°Wait¡­ Wait! I haven¡¯t stolen anything yet!¡± Byron¡¯s sword pressed deeper into her neck. ¡°How dare you!¡± Just as the knight¡¯s voice fell, a strange ttering noise rang out from the ck steel coffin in the middle of the burial chamber. Everyone¡¯s ears picked up the sound, and they quietened immediately. After a moment of silence, Reba was the first to react. She conjured a head-sized fireball above her staff and shook it at the half-kneeling half-elf on the floor. ¡°What did you do to my ancestor?!¡± This time, the half-elf girl sounded like she was about to cry. ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ Don¡¯t kill me yet! Your ancestor rattling in his coffin is a more pressing matter! The lid is about to blow!¡± Apanying the half-elf girl¡¯s voice was the increasingly loud rattling noise from the ck steel coffin, which was even starting to shake the lid. ¡°Ancestor!¡± Heidi¡¯s face was drained of all its color. This was the first time that this dignified and elegantdy who patronized the aristocratic circles lost her cool. ¡°Please rest in peace! The person who has disturbed your sleep will be punished¡­¡± The half-elf girl shouted noisily, ¡°How will saying all this nonsense help now! Hurry up and hold down the lid of your ancestor¡¯s coffin!¡± The three soldiers looked at each other. Even Byron was in a state of shock. However, Reba reacted this time. She rushed up swiftly to the tform where the coffinid, just as the coffin lid was pushed aside and a hand emerged from the gap. Upon seeing this, Reba pounded on the hand with her magic staff without hesitation. ¡°Lord Ancestor! Please rest in peace!¡± The hand was immediately hammered back into the coffin. At the same time, a pained voice cried out from inside, ¡°Who the hell hit my hand!¡± Reba lifted her head dazedly. She saw her knight, Aunt, and the three soldiers staring at her, their mouths agape. She looked down at the magic staff in her hand. This time, she was the one who was about to cry. ¡°Aunt, did I offend our ancestor¡­¡± Heidi yelled suddenly, ¡°Reba! Get off of there!¡± Reba was taken aback. ¡°Aunt?¡± ¡°This could be a resurrection of the dead!¡± Heidi¡¯s face was deathly pale. ¡°Or it could mean that those monsters have¡­ defiled the sacred remains of our ancestors!¡± The possibility of this made Reba break out in cold sweat. Just as she was about to jump off the tform and hide behind the soldiers, the heavy lid of the ck steel coffin rattled again¡ªand this time, the person inside the coffin used their full strength, causing the coffin lid to detach, flying into the air. Afterwards, a majestic-looking man with short brown hair and dressed in ancient aristocratic garb sat up from the coffin. The half-elf girl, who was half-kneeling on the ground, turned to look at the scene and could not help but let out a long sigh. ¡°See, your ancestor has fully risen from the dead.¡± Chapter 3 Chapter 3: Finally Able to¡­ Move! Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios After sitting up from what was probably a ck metal box, Gawain was in a serious state of confusion. Even the act of ¡°sitting up¡± was done subconsciously. His brain was being assaulted by a sense of disorientation and vertigo he had never experienced before. His ears were ringing loudly, his entire body was feeling all sorts of crazy sensations, and his eyes were not only seeing quadruple, but two of the images he was seeing were even in ck and white. However, amidst this chaos, his ability to think was not quite annihted. Perhaps he should thank whoever had hit him with a stick earlier, for it smacked a precious moment of rity into him just as he was almost swallowed by the insanity. But that strike had been really painful¡­ In the process of getting his thoughts back in order, Gawain finally remembered what had happened earlier¡ªthe sudden nking out of his vision, the start of some escape program, the illusion of falling, and now¡­ this solid, feeling, mobile body. A body!! He had a body now! After having transmigrated for Heavens knew how long, and almost believing that he was actually naturally born as a third-person perspective in the sky, Gawain had received a body! It was understandable that his mind was confused and that he was disoriented by the sensations he felt from all over his body, for it had been too many years since he had any sense other than his vision. Even if his sanity had been preserved for some unknown reason, it was still difficult for him to get used to being able to feel temperature and pain. However, Gawain could sense that he was limatizing to this body and the feeling of returning to a material state. After the vertigo in his brain had subsided a little, the disturbing quadruple images that his eyes had been seeing returned to normal, and his surroundings now came into view. The first thing he saw were four burly men inbat dress nearby. One of them was a middle-aged man whose hair was streaked with white. He was outfitted in a sturdy steel armor, he held a long silver sword, and looked so muscr that even his face looked like it was ripped. On the other hand, the other three men¡¯s armor and weapons were obviously much simpler, and showed signs of being mass-manufactured. A petite girl was kneeling on the floor, subdued by theserge men. Because of the way her hair was falling across her face, he could not see what she looked like, but he noticed the sharp ears sticking out of it. Farther away stood a woman in a long red dress. Gawain could not help but do a double take at her, for she had an hourss figure that wasplemented by elegance and maturity. This also made him quickly aware of the in anxiety and fear reflected in this aristocratic and maturedy¡¯s eyes. However, a noise nearby instantly absorbed Gawain¡¯s attention. He turned his head and saw a young girl who looked at most sixteen or seventeen jumping down from the stone tform he was on in a panic. In the girl¡¯s hand was a metal staff that looked like it could deliver painful smacks¡­ Connecting the dots, Gawain¡¯s expression turned a little strange suddenly. ¡°Just now¡­ you were the one who hit me, right?¡± After he spoke, he was immediately stunned. The words that hade out of his mouth were not in Mandarin, but anguage he had never heard of before. However, these foreign words seemed to flow off his tongue as though he had been born knowing them. Reba did not know the existence of the chaotic thoughts that were rioting in her ¡°ancestor¡¯s¡± mind right now. This noble maiden, who had just inherited the title of Viscountess and suffered under great changes, looked like she was about to cry. ¡°Lord Ancestor¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Actually, Gawain had not understood what was happening yet¡ªeven though he had observed this world for ages, this was the first time his perspective had been changed to that of a first-person one, and he was just as stunned as everyone present, or even more so. ¡°Who are you¡­¡± The gorgeous aristocratic woman in the red dress looked like the calmest person on hand. After Gawain had sat up and started a conversation spontaneously, the fear and anxiety on her face had lessened greatly, and it was her that stepped forward at this moment. Even though she looked wary, she still spoke withposure, ¡°Do you know who you are?¡± ¡°Me?¡± Gawain froze for a moment. Right before he was about to say his name, he quivered, realizing that he was a different person now. He looked down at the box he was in. Even though the design was a little unusual, this thing was definitely a coffin. ncing at his surroundings again, he noticed that even though it was more spacious than his home in his past life, it clearly resembled a tomb no matter how he looked at it¡­ Then, thinking about the expressions of the people around him, Gawain realized one thing. He looked like a corpse that hade back to life. If he were to introduce himself as someone who did not have the same name as this ¡°corpse¡±, he would surely be killed off as a monster by these people. What had the young girl called him earlier? Lord Ancestor, was it? If so, he could make a bold guess that he was possessing her ancestor¡¯s body. Whatever their ancestor had eaten that still made this body not decay even after so many years was not his concern right now¡ªmore importantly, he was a foreign soul possessing their ancestor¡¯s body, lying in their ancestor¡¯s tomb, and even delivered a kick that sent their ancestor¡¯s coffin lid flying¡­ if he was exposed now, embarrassment would not even begin to describe what he was feeling¡­ With that reasoning, Gawain looked down and pretended to be deep in thought, while in reality, he was rapidly thinking of excuses to provide, such as having memory confusion after such a long sleep. However, just as he gathered his wits about him, a powerful wave of dizziness struck him. He had just gotten used to his new body with some difficulty and shed the vertigo, only to be attacked by a second round of faintness. His body almost copsed back into the coffin, and the aristocratic woman raised her magic staff in the instant she saw Gawain¡¯s strange motion. She was on the verge of lobbing a fireball right into her ancestor¡¯s face when Gawain¡¯s low voice piped up, interrupting her gesture. ¡°Gawain Cecil. I¡¯m Gawain Cecil, a pioneer of the Anzu Kingdom¡­ What century is this?¡± Gawain lifted his head slowly as he spoke. His gaze was as calm and deep as the sea. The thoughts in his mind, however, were as turbulent as crashing waves. The memories belonging to Gawain Cecil were pouring out in a mad rush, but they were being categorized and recorded as though his brain was aputer¡¯s hard drive. In the brief moment of his dizziness, his mind had retrieved the information that was easiest to understand, and made him aware of the identity he was supposed to mimic. The biggest surprise was the corpse¡¯s name¡ªhe was also named Gawain. It was just that this ¡°Gawain¡± did not hold the surname of ¡°Gao¡±, but had a different one, ¡°Cecil¡±. Was this some kind of coincidence? Right now, Gawain had no energy to think about how miraculous this coincidence was, for the memories of Gawain Cecil was still gushing forth. He had to concentrate every inch of his fiber to not faint or reveal a ferocious expression on his face. Under this foggy state, he could vaguely hear the young girl who had hit him with her metal staff answer him in a clear voice, ¡°This is Year 735 of the Anzu calendar. Lord Ancestor has been sleeping for over seven hundred years¡­¡± Heidi had also let out a sigh of relief when she heard Gawain¡¯s answer. As a schrly spellcaster, she had some knowledge about the animation of the dead¡ªthese sphemous creatures had a fatal w in their souls. In the moments of their awakening, they were almost unable to speak or think, and even though the stronger ones may soon acquire the power of thought, they had no memories of their previous life. One more thing was that they could never tell their own names¡ªeven if they had retrieved their memories, or if someone had told it to them. If they were to speak the name of their past life, the fire of their soul would turn on them and burn them, and even if they could not be burned to death, that kind of pain was unbearable to the undead souls. Not to mention that the burning of a soul was a phenomenon that could not be concealed. Thus, her unease melted away. However, she was still in great confusion, because if the ancestor she was looking at did not rise back from the dead, there was no other exnation for this¡ª Ancestor, why did you suddenly wake up after dying? But no matter how confused she was, she still had to behave with propriety. Heidi thus stepped forward and bowed nervously. ¡°Ancestor of the Cecil n, I am your descendant, Heidi Cecil. This young woman beside me is also your descendant, Reba Cecil. Please, on ount of her youth, do not pursue her rash conduct, and¡­ please forgive us for disturbing your rest.¡± Well, so this person in front of him was his great-great-great-great¡­ great granddaughter, and so was the one beside her. The tumult of memories rushing in had finally ceased, but there was no time for Gawain to peruse the orderly files in his mind, for he had to make sense of the situation around him as soon as possible. He grunted as he leaned on the coffin to get up. ¡°I¡¯m alright. I even know how I awoke. Will someone help me to my feet?¡± He realized that he had overestimated how limatized he was to his body, and felt a little embarrassed that he still could not get up. Reba, who was staring at him with apprehension as she gripped her staff in her hand, realized that this was her moment to shine. She jumped up to the stone tform at once and held Gawain¡¯s elbow as she said, ¡°I¡¯ll help you out of the coffin, I¡¯ll help you out of the coffin¡­¡± It sounded strange no matter how he listened to it [1. Helping someone out of a coffin sounds like a funeral procession, which is strange.]. ¡°More than seven hundred years huh¡­¡± Gawain¡¯s stiff body was helped out of the coffin by the young woman. He looked down and eyed his clothes. His sighs confused Reba. ¡°What material is this made of?¡± ¡°It looks like moon shadow cloth woven by the elves¡­¡± Reba said slightly uncertain. ¡°Such ck technology.¡± Reba responded, ¡°Ah?¡± HowProfoundofAncestor.jpg With Reba¡¯s help, Gawain was able to step down from the stone tform and stand firmly on the ground. He felt his control over this body increasing swiftly, as though his soul was doing a rapid driver instation, such that his mind and body were attuned with astonishing speed. He released Reba¡¯s hand, and tried to take a small step forward. He was almost in tears at the next moment. If there was a microphone beside him, he felt that he could thank every single person he ever knew and every single TV station with unique phrases of gratitude for all. It had been such an eternity that a time-traveler in a novel would have almost been capable of ying the gods and unifying the universe, but he had justpleted the first hurdle of being a human: walking upright. It was only after he had seeded in his act of bipedalling that he remembered the little girl who he had almost forgotten, that little girl who had been surrounded by the brawny men. Chapter 4 Chapter 4: Waking up to a Mess Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Gawain felt that his condition was improving rapidly. His mind was bing clearer, and he had attained smooth control of his body. He finally had the energy to turn his attention to the girl who was being seized. ¡°So¡­ What¡¯s going on here?¡± The half-elf girl had been trying to make her presence less prominent, hoping that these Cecil n members would forget the fact that she was digging around their graves at the shock of ¡°meeting their ancestors¡±. However, before she could find the chance to slip away, Gawain turned their attention towards her again. The poor thief girl had no choice but to shrink back her neck in a pitiful look. ¡°I just thought I coulde in and hide for a while¡­¡± ¡°If you just wanted to hide, was there a need to hide so deep inside the burial chamber!¡± Heidi¡¯s eyes widened as she said to Gawain, ¡°Ancestor, this is the despicable grave robber who desecrated your resting ce and roused you from your sleep!¡± Dazed for a moment, Gawain gave the half-elf girl a weird look. ¡°In other words¡­ you are the one who ¡®woke¡¯ me up?¡± If it was not for the limitations of the body, the thief girl would have wanted to retract her head into her pelvic cavity. Her voice shook as she said, ¡°I really didn¡¯t do anything! I was only trying to find a safe ce to hide at first. But when I came in, my upational habit acted up, and I ended up in the burial chamber. But when I got here, I didn¡¯t¡­¡± Gawain thought for a moment and said very seriously, ¡°In any case, thank you.¡± ¡°¡­ Eh?¡± said the thief girl. ¡°¡­ Huh?¡± Reba, Heidi, and everyone else responded. ¡°Cough cough, let her go. It doesn¡¯t look good for four big men like you to be seizing a little girl like this.¡± After saying thanks, Gawain realized something was not right about that, but he could not retract his words anymore, so he put a bold face to it and said, ¡°This is no act of chivalry.. yeah, it¡¯s not chivalry.¡± Heidi¡¯s countenance was painted with hesitance. ¡°But Ancestor, she¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°I want to thank her for waking me up from my sleep,¡± Gawain waved his hand and said, ¡°Let her go. I have no problems with it. Do you?¡± Knight Byron gave the ¡°Cecil ancestor¡± an odd look. In the end, he drew back his long sword upon seeing Heidi¡¯s hinting nce. The three soldiers beside him followed after and stepped back. The half-elf girl looked around. After confirming that she was not in the middle of some prank, she stood up cautiously and sought confirmation with Gawain. ¡°Uh, since you¡¯re an elder, you have to mean what you say! Don¡¯t go back on your words!¡± The corner of Heidi¡¯s eyes twitched. With the many years of behavioral training as an aristocrat, she had finally restrained the urge to give this grave robber a violent beating. Gawain looked at the girl curiously. From the memory he had just inherited, he was able to determine that she should be a half-elf. ¡°What is your name?¡± The half-elf girl batted her eyes. ¡°Amber.¡± Gawain rubbed his chin. ¡°Amber? It does sound forest-elfish¡­¡± Just then, Heidi suddenly piped up, interrupting the conversation between Gawain and the half-elf, who imed to be called Amber. ¡°Lord Ancestor, I¡¯m sorry to interrupt, but this isn¡¯t the time to be chatting. We¡¯re not safe here!¡± Trying to assume his new identity, he looked at Heidi seriously. ¡°What¡¯s happening outside?¡± ¡°Monsters!¡± Reba, who had not uttered a word for some time, eximed, ¡°Monstersing from the Sellin Crossing and the mines! The army and the security forces were no match for those monsters. I¡¯m afraid that those monsters have alreadypletely upied the territory outside¡­¡± ¡°We¡¯ve done our utmost to organize a resistance. Before the situation turned for the worst, I had Knight Philip take some soldiers with him to help the civilians take refuge. However, before the second team of rescuers could set off, the monsters destroyed the drawbridge,¡± Heidi added, ¡°Reba and I didn¡¯t soil the reputation of the Cecil n, likewise for these brave warriors. We fought in the castle all the way until thest moment when the gate to the inner courtyard was broken through. That was when we had no other choice but to retreat here.¡± Gawain then asked further questions and finally pieced together the events that happened. This was the Cecil n¡¯s ancestral territory that had passed down ever since the first ancestor to the present generation, and Reba, the girl carrying the iron staff who looked like a high school girl, turned out to be the Lady of this territory. After the monsters attacked, the young Viscountess did all she could to organize a resistance, but it obviously failed. The monsters eventually destroyed all their defensive forces and ughtered all the humans as they were doing that. After the first group of civilians were evacuated, Reba, who abided scrupulously by her responsibility as a leader of this territory, and the remaining soldiers were trapped in the castle. They held on and fought for a long time, but in the end, the castle was breached, and they had no choice but to retreat to the ancestral graves below the castle. Then they encountered the sudden movement of his corpse¡­ Correction: His possession of this body. And that beautiful aristocraticdy called Heidi was actually Reba¡¯s aunt. However, these generational rtionships did not matter much to Gawain. So they were just great, great, great, great¡­ granddaughters. One more ¡®great¡¯ would not make any difference. As for the half-elf called Amber, she was indeed a bandit, but this time, she was really here to take refuge. But this banditdy¡¯s ss skills were really something. She actually found her way to the deepest part of the Cecil n¡¯s ancestral burial chamber¡­ ¡°What a mess I woke up to¡­¡± Gawain rubbed his forehead as he tried to draw from his memories to find information that could help him to solve this crisis. ¡°So, those monsters havepletely taken over outside, and venturing out would be to knock on death¡¯s door, huh. Speaking of which, what exactly are these monsters you keep talking about?¡± ¡°I¡¯m thinking they are some demon subspecies,¡± Heidi said. ¡°But demons haven¡¯t appeared in the prime material world for many years already, let alone on such arge scale. I¡¯m not sure either.¡± Grasping the staff, Reba looked to Gawain with hopeful eyes, ¡°Lord Ancestor, can¡¯t you deal with the monsters outside even with your power?¡± Gawain was stumped for a moment. ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yeah! Aren¡¯t you the most powerful Knight in all of Anzu Kingdom, and all of the northern continent?¡± Reba¡¯s eyes almost began to sh. ¡°It was said that you beheaded the barbarian warlord Goorg in a single stroke¡­¡± Gawain quickly searched his own memory and was shocked. Gawain Cecil was actually such a legendary hero! He was the greatest hero during Anzu Kingdom¡¯s pioneering era, and he was one of the earliest pioneers in the period of the ¡°Second Settlement¡±. After the fall of the ancient Gondor Empire, the remaining people of the empire returned to a state of disorder and savagery. The lights of human civilization were gradually engulfed by the chaotic wave that spread from the hintend of the continent and brought them into the dark ages. Gawain Cecil and a group of brave men led the surviving humans to escape the ruins of the fallen empire. They marched forth in four directions. The group that headed north were the founders of Anzu Kingdom, and Gawain Cecil was one of them. His life was extremely short but brilliant. He set out on the journey as a fifteen-year-old boy and became the youngest pioneering knight in those days, zing a trail with the other pioneering knights and the first of Anzu¡¯s kings. They spent a decade in the northern part of the continent establishing a new nation and brought mankind back to civilization and order. After the nation was founded, he became one of the seven generals of the kingdom. He defended the southern borders, resisted multiple demonic attacks of various scales, and had never lost once¡­ However, his brilliant life was like a candle that burned too vigorously. This legendary character only lived to thirty-five years old. In thest battle against the dark forces, Gawain Cecil died. The memory that he inherited ended there. This was the life of such a brave character. Gawain felt his forehead twitching. He had possessed the body of this incredible person! It was not smugness, fear, or trepidation. After the brief astonishment, his biggest reaction was actually¡­ ack of confidence. Reba was looking at him with hopeful eyes, Amber gave him the same look. Even Heidi, who seemed the most mature andposed, was also looking at him with eyes filled with anticipation and trust. But the person they were looking at was Gawain Cecil, not Gawain. Gawain looked down at his own hand. It was the hand of a warrior. It was thick and tough, with thick calluses, but he did not know how much power he could muster from this body. However, this state of mind did notst very long because Gawain¡¯s memory hade alive. It was a memory that had been through tens of thousands of years, maybe even hundreds of thousands of years. Although the useful memories might not amount to much, it was enough for him to quickly adjust his mentality and be filled with confidence. Admittedly, he was a little shocked by Gawain Cecil¡¯s legendary life. But what he needed now was not to be amazed or to be unconfident, but to be steady. The source of this confidence was simple¡ª¡ª Before any intelligent lifeforms started to walk on this continent, he had already been watching this world! He knew that these memories would not be of any substantial help, but at this moment, he only needed to give himself a mental boost. Then, with this strength, he would find a way to survive. Once calmed down, the solution would naturallye to him. He quickly found something useful in Gawain Cecil¡¯s memory. ¡°We can¡¯t simply fight our way out.¡± Gawain said. He rubbed his chin and said seriously, ¡°I¡¯ve been sleeping for too long. I¡¯m not sure how much strength I can muster, and we can¡¯t be sure just how strong the monsters outside can be. Thus, our best choice is to find a way to get around these monsters and flee to a safe ce.¡± Reba said, ¡°But the drawbridge has been destroyed, and several other roads have been blocked¡­¡± Gawain waved his hand and interrupted this granddaughter of his of unknown generations apart. ¡°Underground. The Cecil territory was once part of the kingdom¡¯s southern defense line. There is a secret tunnel system underground. The bulk of it is blessed by earth elementals, so it won¡¯t copse, not even in a thousand years. And the entrance to this secret tunnel is beneath the castle.¡± ¡°There is such a thing?!¡± Reba suddenly had a look of pleasant surprise. ¡°What are we waiting for then? Let¡¯s go find the tunnel! Lord Ancestor, please lead the way!¡± ¡°But there¡¯s a problem.¡± Gawain spread opened his hands. ¡°I only know how to get there from the castle, but I don¡¯t know the way there from the tomb.¡± Reba was surprised. ¡°You don¡¯t know the way even after being here for so long?¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± Knight Byron and the soldiers: ¡°¡­¡± Heidi¡¯s face grew pale. She had the feeling that this disappointing descendant would be the death of her ancestor¡­ Chapter 5 Chapter 5: The Lady Bandit Being Useful Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Gawain wondered if Reba had received an injury to the head when she fought against the monsters and said patiently, ¡°Although I have been here for many years¡­ I was dead, okay! How am I supposed to know how the grave looks like when I was dead?¡± Reba thought for a moment. She was going to remind her ancestor that the tomb for the founding king of Anzu was built when that king was still alive. Even the king himself participated in its design. However, on second thoughts, if she were to keep up this drivel, Aunt Heidi might just kill her on the spot. Thus, she swallowed her words, turned to him and smiled awkwardly. ¡°Ahaha¡­ that makes sense.¡± ¡°Now we can¡¯t go back by the same route.¡± Heidi sighed and calmly analyzed the situation. ¡°The entrance to the castle¡¯s courtyard and the ancestral graves have been upied by those monsters. Going back where we came from would be a dead end.¡± ¡°We have to find another way out,¡± Gawain said as he searched his inherited memory. ¡°It¡¯s been seven hundred years since, has the castle not been renovated?¡± ¡°The upper parts of the castle have undergone reconstruction, but the foundation hasn¡¯t been modified,¡± Heidi said quickly, ¡°The entrance you mentioned should still be there.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s great then,¡± Gawain said, extending his hand to a soldier beside him. ¡°Lend me your sword for a while.¡± After taking the longsword from the soldier, Gawain drew a sketch on the ground. He first sketched the top view of the castle¡¯s outline, followed by a side view of the castle roughly divided into three levels. Though the sketches were drawn in a hurry, the different sections of the castle could be made out quite clearly. ¡°The entrance is here, two levels underground. It¡¯s close to the wine cer and the granary, at least it used to be. There are two passages to get here, but we would have to enter these passages from the surface, so this is probably not feasible.¡± Reba looked curiously at Gawain¡¯s sketches. ¡°The wine cer and granary are still there, but I never knew a third room existed¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a room, but a mezzanine, built with some architectural tricks. It¡¯s hidden between the wall and supporting beams.¡± Gawain chuckled, ¡°This piece ofnd wasn¡¯t very peaceful back then. Located at the border, the monsters emerging from the wastnd of Gondor and the soldiers of the old empire who had gone mad woulde to attack every ten to fifteen days. The Cecil pioneers pretty much built this ording to the demands of a stronghold during a war. In these situations, the hidden passageways and levels were indispensable. They can be used for emergency evacuation and as a supply route when under siege.¡± Knight Byron took a serious look at the simple map and pulled out his long sword to trace the bottom corner of the map, ¡°So we have to advance to the entrance at the second level of the castle¡­ and not pass through the courtyard or the passages on the ground floor. This is where we are. The ancestral tomb is an underground structure built in the southeast section of the castle. It coincides with about one-third of the castle¡¯s structural base¡­¡± ¡°In this ovepping area, there should be a passage,¡± Gawain interrupted Byron, ¡°The tomb was built seven hundred years ago. These craftsmen were the same ones who built the fortress. These buildings were built in ordance to the standards and regtions then. They must have made an alternative route.¡± With that said, he gave Reba a strange look. ¡°You really don¡¯t know anything about this? This knowledge should have been passed down in the Cecil n through the generations.¡± Reba looked down embarrassed. ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°Ancestor, we failed to live up to the glory that you have fought to bring to the family.¡± Heidi bit her lip. With a troubled look, she said, ¡°The Cecil n has been through many things in these seven hundred years¡­¡± ¡°Alright, I know,¡± Gawain waved his hand. This was not the time for telling stories. ¡°After we get out of here, I¡¯ll let you exin to me the things that happened these past seven hundred years. The matter at hand is to find the way to the hidden passageway from the tomb.¡± Reba, Heidi, and Byron squatted down and studied the sketch. Though they were familiar with the Cecil n¡¯s castle, they were not familiar with how the tomb was constructed. This seven hundred year old tomb was not just some tourist attraction that could be entered for two silver coins, let alone somewhere they could take a stroll around every few days. Even before the tomb was sealed a hundred years ago, the descendants of the Cecil n could only enter the tomb on a few rare asions in their lifetime¡ªand they were also not allowed to go near their ancestor¡¯s resting grounds. How would they know where the hidden passageway was! In the face of this problem, even Gawain¡¯s memory could not be of any help. After all, he certainly did not expect that sometime in the future, he would rise up and find a way out of there¡­ But just as they were unable to find a solution, Amber, who stayed obediently in a corner, suddenly spoke up, ¡°Hey¡­ I might know a way¡­¡± Immediately, everyone in the tomb turned their attention to the half-elf thief. Amber¡¯s neck cringed back. Heidi frowned. ¡°How do you know?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Amber was a little scared, but upon seeing the encouraging look from Gawain, she grew bold. ¡°That¡¯s where I came in from¡­ it should be in the same direction. I¡¯m guessing that is the hidden passageway.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°Good, you lead the way.¡± Amber patted her chest. ¡°As long as you forget that I dug through your ancestor¡¯s graves¡­¡± Heidi red at the bbering half-elf, grabbed her staff, and walked toward the tomb¡¯s entrance. Gawain, however, stopped before going on his way. ¡°Lord Ancestor?¡± Reba looked at him curiously. ¡°I need a weapon too.¡± Gawain said. Though he was not the legendary duke who opened up the new territory seven hundred years ago, he still had themon sense to find a weapon to defend himself in a dangerous ce like this. His eyes scanned the tomb. A soldier undid his belt and sword at his waist and was ready to hand it over, but Gawain waved his hand and declined the soldier¡¯s offering. Guided by his memory, he went to the ck steel coffin, and poked his head into the coffin in search of something. From within the coffin, he found a heavy long sword that was entirely ck except for faint tinge of red on the de near the hilt. The moment he wielded the long sword, a familiar feeling arose. It was as if every wrinkle on the handle of the sword fitted seamlessly with the lines of his palm. Gawain instinctively swung the long sword around. Every swing felt like the result of tons of practice. He knew that this was the muscle memory left in the body. Even with a different soul, every piece of his muscles still remembered how to use this weapon. Though it was a pleasant surprise, it was not too unexpected. Besides the remnant muscle memories, he could also ess all of Gawain Cecil¡¯s information onbat. Not only did it include the basic swordsmanship and riding skills, but it also included powers which seemed almost magical to Gawain. This part of the knowledge excited him, but this was not the time for him to experiment and learn about it. First, he should deal with this terrible situation. Reba¡¯s eyes widened at the sight of the ck longsword, and even her voice shook slightly. ¡°This is¡­ the Anzu¡¯s legendary Sword of Pioneers?¡± Hearing that, Heidi, who had already walked to the entrance, immediately turned back. She stared fixedly at the sword in Gawain¡¯s hand, unable to hide her excitement in her expression. ¡°The Sword of Pioneers?!¡± ¡°Currently, it¡¯s just a sharp sword.¡± Gawain sighed. ¡°It has already been seven hundred years since then. Even if the weapon received elven blessings to be protected from wear and decay, the magic within has already been dispersed. I don¡¯t know how long it would take to recharge it.¡± With that said, Gawain turned to look at the coffin. There was a small stone tform, but there was nothing on the tform. Gawain frowned immediately. ¡°Wait a second. I also have a shield that has never left my side, don¡¯t I? Didn¡¯t it get buried with me? What happened to my big shield?¡± Heidi immediately wore a grim countenance. ¡°Ancestor¡­ Your descendants have once again failed you. A hundred years ago, your descendant Grumman Cecil took the shield of the protector of Anzu Kingdom and lost it on the battlefield¡­¡± Heidi hesitated when she spoke. Obviously, there were many things that she left out. Perhaps she feared that if she were to spill all of what had happened a hundred years ago, it would be the death of her ancestor, even though it would be really convenient since the coffin was just there¡­ Though Gawain noticed Heidi¡¯s hesitation, he did not expose her. Instead, he frowned and berated, ¡°What a disgrace¡­ Luckily, the sword was still in the coffin. At least, that Grumman hadn¡¯t gotten so crazy to the point of taking my whole outfit from the coffin!¡± Heidi and Reba could only look down as they listened with cold sweat on their faces. Their ancestor hade out of his coffin to berate their grandfather. This was something beyond fantasy. As juniors, every breath they took was extremely pressuring! Fortunately, Gawain was only slightly annoyed that he was short of a piece of equipment he could use. After the brief berating, he took everyone to leave the tomb. Aftering back to the stone hall from the tomb, Reba looked around. Then she waved her hand to one of the corners of the wall, ¡°Betty! Come out! It¡¯s safe now!¡± Gawain looked over curiously and saw a thin girl, who seemed to be a little size smaller than Reba, timidly walking out from the shadows in the corner. The youngdy was wearing a skirt made of coarse material. There were adolescent freckles on her face, and her xen hair was loose behind her head as she held on tightly to a pan in her hand. Upon seeing Gawain, apprehension came over the expression of the youngdy called Betty. Given her dullness, she probably would never have guessed where this stranger before her had sprung up from¡­ ¡°This is the castle¡¯s maidservant. We don¡¯t know how she was left behind by the first group of rescuers that broke out. In any case, she somehow followed us here,¡± Reba briefly introduced the youngdy. ¡°Betty, this is¡­ ¡± A small quake from above the tomb interrupted Reba. ¡°This is no time to chat.¡± Gawain raised his long sword and looked to Amber. ¡°Now, lead the way.¡± Chapter 6 Chapter 6: What the Heck Is This Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Amber, the great stealth user, professional maniptor of shadows, grave digging enthusiast girl, had a wise saying. ¡°The path is right there. The door is nothing more than an illusory ornament. Once you put aside your mental inhibitions, even a mere celery stalk would be enough to open the door to the royal treasury.¡± Okay, perhaps celery did not exist in this world, but to Amber, opening the gate to the ancient tomb was something that did not even require celery. With a little shadow magic, some understanding of the ancient seals, and a tiny bit of luck, the half-elf thief easily broke the seal to the Cecil n¡¯s ancestral tomb. Then, a passageway that even Heidi and Reba did not know about appeared in front of everyone. Everyone then followed Amber into the passageway. The passageway built with rocks and spirit subduing bricks was more spacious than expected. Even Gawain and Byron, who were almost two meters tall and wearing their heavily d knight armor, did not feel cramped in the passageway. The infusionmps embedded in the walls on both sides of the passageway had already been expended. But after Heidi cast several basic spells, the 700-year-oldmps lit up one after another, lighting up the path ahead. ¡°I¡¯m really just a little bandit trying to get by,¡± Amber said modestly as she walked in front of the group, ¡°I¡¯m a descendant of the forest elves. I honor the spirits of those who lived before. Why would I do such a thing as digging their graves?¡± Gawain expressed his scorn at her im, ¡°You still have the cheek to say that when you¡¯re so well-versed at this?¡± Perhaps it was because she was sure that she would get to keep her life that the half-elf had skin as thick as the door that she had just opened. ¡°Picking locks and breaking seals are basic skills for our ss. Is it wrong for me to be proficient at my basic skills?¡± At this time, Reba, who was walking in the middle of the team, suddenly asked, ¡°Are you a resident of the Cecil territory?¡± Amber¡¯s brow furrowed as she pondered. ¡°I lived here for several years, but I haven¡¯t applied to be a formal resident, but ording to the rules of the Cecil territory, if you live for more than three years here and pay taxes on time, you¡¯re counted as a resident¡­ So do you think I¡¯m a resident?¡± Reba shook her head. ¡°If you didn¡¯t apply, then you¡¯re not a resident.¡± ¡°Ohhh¡± Amber dragged the syble. ¡°Why do you ask then?¡± ¡°I¡¯m the Lady of Cecil territory,¡± Reba said seriously, ¡°So if I¡¯m your Lady, it¡¯ll be my responsibility to protect you.¡± Amber: ¡°¡­Well you should have said that earlier! Is it toote to correct myself now?¡± With a straight face, Reba replied, ¡°Toote.¡± Gawain looked at the serious-looking Reba, then at the unscrupulous Amber, and he shook his head in amusement. Though he had woken up to such a mess, the feeling of being a human was much better than being in that damned state previously. He looked at Heidi walking behind him. Thisdy, his granddaughter of who knew how many generations after him, had taken furtive nces at him several times already. He was waiting for her to start talking, but seeing as she did not seem like she was going to talk anytime soon, he went ahead and asked, ¡°If there¡¯s any questions you have to ask, shoot.¡± Heidi was a little startled. but she quickly took a deep breath and calmed herself down. Staring at Gawain¡¯s face that looked exactly like the portrait in her n, she carefully worded, ¡°Ancestor¡­ I still can¡¯t believe that you really are¡­ ¡± ¡°Indeed, I¡¯m that Gawain Cecil, that pioneer from seven hundred years ago. I can recite the thirty years of everything I experienced in my life, or would you like me to tell you about the times during the Second Settlement? But to be honest, I¡¯m afraid all these wouldn¡¯t be much proof. A good historian might be able to talk about all these things and be more convincing than me. After all, I¡¯m not that eloquent.¡± Gawain shrugged. ¡°You wanted to confirm that I¡¯m the real person, right?¡± ¡°Please forgive me for having doubts,¡± Heidi said anxiously. ¡°But it is indeed quite¡­ Although there have been stories about resurrections since ancient times, it is quite another matter to see it with my own eyes. I heard that there are some pdins and moon elves that could go into suspended animation for years and even up to decades, relying on the power of the Holy Light and the secrets of elven arts to preserve their soul and life force, but I¡¯ve never heard of human knights capable of doing that. Besides¡­ you were dead for seven hundred years.¡± ¡°To tell you the truth, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on as well,¡± Gawain said, shaking his head, although he felt a great urge to fabricate an intricate and logical theory just to scare his great great¡­ great granddaughter, but he could note up with such a theory from his own knowledge or Gawain Cecil¡¯s memories. Thus, he bluntly admitted that he had no clue how this could all be exined. ¡°Perhaps it has something to do with what I¡¯ve been through in the past. You know that I¡¯ve received blessings from the elementals back when I was leading pioneers to venture into the wilderness. It probably did something to my body.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Heidi remarked incredulously before suddenly looking up at the path ahead. ¡°There is airflow,¡± she said in a low voice, ¡°And the magic feels different. We¡¯re probably close to the end of the tomb.¡± Gawain nodded, grasping tightly in his hand the Sword of Pioneers as a vague feeling of uneasiness heightened his guard for danger that could lie ahead. ¡°Be on guard,¡± said Knight Byron, who was walking with Amber at the front of the pack, as he seemed to have sensed something as well. Unsheathing his steel broadsword, he casually brushed his other hand along the de, and the de was illuminated with a bright light. ¡°You three, guard the rear.¡± Shwing! The three soldiers were ready to battle. Though they had only the most basicbat ss, they had, after all, managed to live through defending against the monsters. As soldiers trained by the Cecil n themselves, their current fearlessness andposure quickly alleviated the nervousness in Amber and Betty, the maidservant who was at the center of the group. Though the passageway was long, it would soon lead to its end. On both sides of the stone walls, the spirit subduing stones embedded every ten meters that marked the tomb area came to an end. Something like a crossroad with a more open space appeared up ahead. This was the intersection of the tomb and the castle¡¯s underground system. It was also the center of thework of ancient hidden passageways. Amber pointed to one of the paths at the crossroad and said, ¡°That¡¯s where I came in from. It leads to a dry well outside the castle, but it¡¯s probably upied by monsters now.¡± Gawain looked to Heidi. ¡°Where is west?¡± Heidi drew a simple magic symbol in the air, and the symbol turned into a glowing ribbon, waving as it pointed to certain direction. ¡°Over there,¡± Gawain said, but just as his voice fell, he suddenly sensed danger. Before he could even give it a thought, his seasoned body had already reacted. With almost pure instinct, he raised the Sword of Pioneers in a parrying motion, and he immediately felt a shock through the sword as though he was hit by a hammer. His body shook a little, but he steadied himself. Then the attacker finally appeared before everyone. With what seemed like faint murmurings, three tall, swaying figures came walking out from one of the dark tunnels at the crossroad! They definitely did not look like something out of the natural world. They were more like the monsters that were created and put together using the dark arts of necromancers and warlocks. At nearly three meters tall, they were like shriveled and deformed giants, but their bodies were made of mud-like amorphous substance. The mud-like substance undted and bubbled on the surface of their bodies and asionally exposed the red skeleton underneath. ¡°Ah!¡± Reba eximed immediately upon seeing the three monsters while Betty bit her lip as though she could be frightened to tears at any time. Heidi raised her staff and stamped it on the ground, casting out a weak buff of rity which lowered the effect of fear that the monsters had inflicted on everyone. And she quickly said to Gawain, ¡°Ancestor, these are the monsters!¡± Gawain had already recovered from the shock of his first encounter with these non-human monsters, his mind bringing up a memory rted to this. ¡°It¡¯s these things?!¡± The three monsters had alreadyunched their attack again. They were making murmuring sounds as though they were talking in their sleep. Two of the monsters rushed toward Gawain at the same time while the other one raised his arm, conjuring dark energy that condensed into an arrow in front of him. The next moment, the arrow flew straight for Amber, who was standing at the front of the group! ¡°Wah!¡± Amber let out a short cry as she immediately shrunk back into the shadow behind Knight Byron. In the next moment, she appeared in another shadow ten meters away. Raising his illuminated broadsword, Knight Byron let out a roar, and he went forth to take on one of the iing monsters. ¡°Heidi, Reba, take the one that can shoot shadow arrows! Try not to use arcane magic, arcane magic is pretty much useless against these things! Amber, you and the soldiers protect the spellcaster!¡± Gawain shouted. With a swing of his longsword, he boldly rushed forward. He had never wielded a sword to battle before. He also had never before seen any non-human monsters either. Despite having gone through transmigration and resurrection, this was the first time he had set foot upon the soils of this other world. Thus, in that moment, he had absolutely no clue what he could do with the remnant fighting ability in this body, thebat knowledge that did not even belong to him, and an ancient longsword that had lost its magical energy. But often, fate would not leave you in a circumstance of your own choosing. You are standing here, and the monsters are standing there. With nowhere else to run, an antique sword in your hand, a shield which you might have if it had not been lost a hundred years ago by a good-for-nothing descendant, what else can you do? F*ck them! F*ck them up! Is this not just an aberration? Seven hundred years ago, Gawain Cecil could take on a hundred of them single-handedly! Could I not take on just the three of them? Chapter 7 Chapter 7: Things of the Past Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Grasping the longsword tightly as he rushed toward the strange, fierce-looking monster, Gawain felt no nervousness, hesitation, or fear. If he had to feel something, it was only a tiny sense of being distracted and departing from reality. He still remembered clearly the moment when his ne crashed. He still remembered clearly when he was hanging atop this world for hundreds of thousands of years. He had not adjusted to suddenly bing Gawain Cecil out of nowhere. However, in that moment, he grasped the old family longsword tightly, throwing himself at a strange monster that might be a demon or an undead creature. Boom! The huge shock was sent through the de, and all the distracting thoughts instantly disappeared. With almost pure instinct, he dodged the monster¡¯s ws. Gawain turned his upper body in a small semi-circle. The de swung and drew an arc in the air shing toward the monster¡¯s shoulders. As the de swung down, he tried to utilize the power contained in this body, directing that power to the longsword in his hand. Upon stimtion by the power, the faint red thread on the de near the hilt burst with a red light. Like a me, the light extended rapidly down the de. As it burned with intense heat, even the surrounding air started to distort. The three-meter-tall monster felt the threat from the intense heat of the de. Suddenly, with an agility thatpletely did not match hisrge figure, the monster leaned back, and Gawain¡¯s sh missed the monster by a hair. For a moment, Gawain inevitably got excited as he released this magic-like supernatural power from his own hand for the first time. Perhaps it was this moment of excitement that made him unable to grasp the rhythm of the first attack. But soon heposed himself and again infused the power into the longsword. Sure enough, he was able to call upon Gawain Cecil¡¯s abilities. This body had not yet declined to the extent that no power could be mustered from it. Though he did not know how much power he could draw, it was a huge boost to Gawain¡¯s confidence. He began to immerse himself in the battle and tried to trante the battle experience that did not belong to him into a power that he could use as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, Byron was engaged in a tough fight. The mid-level knight was one of the top fighters in the Cecil territory. His fighting career before he swore loyalty to the Cecil n had allowed him to umte rarebat experience. However, he had expended too much energy back when the monsters were attacking the castle. Moreover, after being drained by the monster¡¯s strange magic, the invisible injuries further reduced hisbat power such that he could only muster forty to fifty percent of his original ability. Taking on the monster¡¯s repeated attacks, he had no choice but to hold up the longsword tightly, keeping himself from defeat, while saving as much energy as possible and finding the monster¡¯s openings. Reba gathered up her magic and sent out a skull-sized scorching fireball from the front of her staff. The fireball collided in the air with the shadow arrow from the spellcasting monster, causing a shocking explosion. She caught her breath and noticed Byron in danger, and she immediately shouted to the soldiers beside her, ¡°The three of you, go help Byron!¡± One of the soldiers hesitated. ¡°But Lady¡­¡± As Reba made a new fireball, she shouted, ¡°We¡¯re fine here for now, but if Byron falls, it¡¯ll be over! As Lady, I order you. Go!¡± The three soldiers had no choice but to obey the order as they went into battle with Knight Byron against the terrifying monster. Gradually immersing himself into the battle, the memory and experience that did not belong to him was rapidly bing his own, improving his ability to control his new body. This process gave him a great sense of aplishment. When he slowly recovered from this immersion, he realized that he was already beating the monster into a pulp. The aberration covered in flowing ¡®mud¡¯ was not invulnerable. It could still get injured when cut, and it would die when it got cut up too much. Though they were powerful and had a physical advantage, with the right method, the human body could still destroy them. This was learned from experience seven hundred years ago. The monster¡¯s ws passed over his head, Gawain ducked, and with a counter, he sent the sword piercing into the opponent¡¯s thigh. The monster finally let out a murky howl, and its body fell uncontrobly to the side. Taking this chance, Gawain shouted to Byron, ¡°Try to attack their abdomen and lower limbs. Forget the chest, these things have no heart!¡± Then he took advantage of this moment when the monster had lost bnce, he turned and shifted himself behind the monster, raised the longsword and pierced into the monster¡¯s back. ¡°Besides the abdomen, their other weakness is at the back! Their lower back!¡± Getting pointers from the Cecil ancestor, Byron¡¯s spirit rose. With the coordination of the three soldiers, he quickly restrained the monster¡¯s movements. Putting everything on the line, with the monster¡¯s w pierced through his shoulder armor, he went under the monster¡¯s crotch, turned around and stuck it in its vital part. The moment before Byron defeated the monster, the monster before Gawain dropped heavily to the ground. After dealing with the enemy, Gawain immediately looked up at the monster in the distance whose shadow arrow collided with Reba¡¯s fireball. But just before he could rush toward the monster, it suddenly let out a mournful howl before being sent into a spasm and falling to the ground. Amber appeared behind the monster, with steel daggers in each hand that were tempered with poison, ¡°I¡¯m great at poking up asses.¡± Reba put down her staff, her cheeks slightly reddish after the repeated casting. After catching her breath, she said seriously to correct Amber, ¡°Lord Ancestor said the lower back, not the ass.¡± Amber spun the daggers in two quick circles before it disappeared as she stored it somewhere. She stepped over the monster¡¯s carcass and pouted as she walked over to them. ¡°Tch, you have no sense of humor.¡± After the monsters died, they began to disintegrate rapidly. The muddy flowing substance on their bodies stopped flowing. Then they gradually dried up, turned into crust, and lots of small cracks formed. As the freely changing ¡°flesh¡± shed, the monsters quickly turned into a huge, contorted skeleton. Standing beside the monster he had killed, Gawain watched the decaying process, and he seemed to mutter to himself, ¡°So it was these things that attacked the Cecil territory¡­¡± Heidi looked at him curiously, ¡°Ancestor, do you know where these monsterse from?¡± From the battle earlier, Gawain had shown great understanding of these monsters that he even gave pointers on how Byron should fight them. Thus, this was something that he could not hide, and neither did he intend to hide this fact. ¡°We may still encounter them if we stay here. The passageways contain things that can suppress these monsters. They won¡¯t enter so easily,¡± Gawain said as he walked forward. ¡°I¡¯ll let you in on more details as we go along.¡± After walking some distance through the ancient underground passageway, Gawain broke the silence, ¡°I did fight these things then. In fact, we mainly dealt with those things then. You should know about the history of the copse of the Gondor Empire and the Second Settlement, right?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Reba nodded. This history could be said to be apulsory sybus that they had to study as children of nobility. ¡°More than seven hundred years ago, the Loren Continent had only one human nation, and that was the Gondor Empire, located in the center of the continent. It was the most powerful empire on the continent at that time. Even the Silver Empire built by the elves in the southern part of the continent didn¡¯t dare to be its enemy. However, there was a disturbance in the Sea of Ether that surrounded this world that caused a catastrophe in the continent of Loren called the The Dark Wave. And the disaster broke out right in thend of Gondor. Almost in the span of a single night, the capital of the Gondor Empire and one-third of the empire was swallowed up by the Dark Wave and disintegrated by the surging elemental power¡­¡± ¡°It didn¡¯t happen overnight. Actually, this processsted for almost a month. The pce mages of Gondor weren¡¯t doing nothing when faced with the Dark Wave,¡± Gawain interrupted, then motioned for her to continue talking. ¡°But in the end, it still didn¡¯t really matter. Continue.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ oh,¡± Reba blushed, and she continued as though her parents were checking on her homework. ¡°After that, the magical tide spread out from the Gondor Empire and eventuallypletely destroyed the entire kingdom. That was how the Gondor Empire fell. After that, as the Sea of Ether gradually calmed down. The Dark Wave became less powerful, and the survivors of Gondor began to rebuild civilization. As the central area the continent had turned to wastnd, it was no longer suitable for humans to live. Thus, they with the leadership of a group of pioneers, they ventured in four directions, north, south, east, and west, to leave the ruined empire. This was called the Second Settlement. Lord Ancestor, you were one of the most famous pioneers of that time.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re pretty good in history,¡± Gawain praised her. ¡°So you should probably know this too. Even after the end of the Dark Wave, the ruins of the Gondor Empire were still filled with lots of monsters that emerged from the Dark Wave. Those monsters were one of the biggest threats that humans faced in the Second Settlement.¡± Heidi¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You mean¡­¡± ¡°Yes. Those things were the things that we fought then.¡± Gawain sighed. ¡°They were born from the Dark Wave. They have the shape of a human, but they¡¯re definitely not human. When the Gondor Empire copsed, arge number of those monsters emerged from the ruins of the empire, and they continued to spread in all directions, chasing and killing the survivors. Thus, instead of being a journey of pioneering, the Second Settlement was more like a journey of escape. And even after we departed from the ruins of the empire and established a new country at the borders of the continent, the monsters didn¡¯t stoping. They continued toe from the empire¡¯s ruins, frequentlyunching attacks on the perimeters of the civilized world¡­ In the ten years after Anzu Kingdom was built, I was dealing with them almost every day.¡± Reba¡¯s eyes widened, She seemed deeply intrigued by these ancient legendary stories. ¡°Ah, what about after the ten years? Did the monsters stop appearing?¡± Gawain chuckled. He reached out to ruffle the girl¡¯s hair, and smiled as he looked at the silly girl. ¡°Silly child, your ancestor had already died by then¡­¡± Reba, ¡°¡­¡± Chapter 8 Chapter 8: Freedom Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Although having only spent less than a day with this great great great great¡­ great grandaughter, Reba had made quite an impression on Gawain. On several asions, Gawain had wondered if the child had ever gotten injured in the head¡­ But how could it be? Putting aside the fact that she had gone through elite education which waspulsory for aristocratic children, her role as a spellcaster was pretty much enough to prove her intelligence. After all, to conjure arge fireball so easily was not something that just anyone could do¡­ However, no one else was in the mood to think about how Reba did not think before she spoke. Even Heidi, who had always been very strict towards Reba, was preupied with worry. ¡°You mean¡­ these were the monsters that appeared in the Cecil territory seven hundred years ago?¡± Gawain sighed. ¡°Seeing as these monsters seem so unfamiliar to you, I presume you haven¡¯t encountered them over these hundreds of years.¡± ¡°The years of war with the monsters after the pioneering era came to an end.¡± Heidi shook her head lightly. ¡°Although there are records in the history books, the most recent records are at least six hundred years old¡­ ording to what I¡¯ve learned, the monsters that emerged from the ruins of the ancient empire did cause Anzu trouble for a long time, but ever since the elves helped humans to build the sentinel towers, those monsters were then relegated to stories and legends¡­¡± Gawain frowned slightly. ¡°The sentinel towers¡­ Elven buildings can¡¯t have failed so easily.¡± ¡°We must report this to the King,¡± Reba suddenly clenched her fist, her expression serious as she said, ¡°The monsters that disappeared without a trace hundreds of years ago has suddenly reappeared within the kingdom. We must send someone back quickly with this information. The Cecil territory has suffered heavy losses from this unforeseen disaster. We¡­ we must seek help from the royal family¡­¡± Gawain thought back to ¡®his¡¯ glorious achievements of old. He smiled with confidence and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, with Cecil n¡¯s standing within Anzu and the impact I made, the city of St. Soniel will spare no effort in helping you to rebuild the territory.¡± Unexpectedly, Heidi and Reba did not seem reassured upon hearing that as odd expressions came over their faces. Gawain was puzzled. ¡°Uh¡­ What¡¯s wrong?¡± Could it be that the reputation of the legendary pioneer Gawain Cecil was no longer relevant after these seven hundred years? ¡°Ancestor¡­¡± Heidi looked unusually grim. After biting her lip several times, she seemed to have finally made up her mind. ¡°Actually, back in the tomb, I¡¯ve been meaning to tell you something¡­ but I just couldn¡¯t put it into words.¡± Gawain had vaguely anticipated what she was going to say, but he still nodded. ¡°Go ahead. I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°The Cecil n is no longer as glorious as before. Though you¡¯re still considered to be the legendary Grand Duke who founded the country, but¡­¡± Heidi looked at Reba in a troubled manner. ¡°But now, Reba, who inherited the title in the n, is only a Viscountess. This Cecil territory¡­ is also thest piece of territory of the Cecil n.¡± Gawain was dumbstruck. ¡°¡­ Huh?! Why do I remember that I was already a duke back when I was ¡®dead¡¯, and it was a title that could be inherited continually down the generations? Our territory extended from the Cecil territory to the ins of the Holy Spirits¡­ What the heck have the descendants of the Cecil n done? Did they kill the king or stage a rebellion?¡± Heidi bowed her head in embarrassment. ¡°¡­ Many things can happen in a span of seven hundred years within the n and within the country. Today, Anzu is no longer in its first dynasty but the second. Cecil n is no longer ying the major role of supporting the royal family. Instead, it has gained a bad reputation and was exiled by the royal family.¡± Reba added, ¡°A hundred years ago, thest king of the First Dynasty of Anzu, Dallian III, died from a sudden attack of a serious illness. He didn¡¯t leave an heir before he died. There were already oppositions within the royal house, and there was even a dispute about who should seed Dallian III. After his death, the empress and the chancellors failed to control the situation in time, and in the end, it led to the ¡®Fog Month of Turmoil¡¯. ¡°The royal family members with the right to session fought for the throne in the Fog Month of year 635 of Anzu calendar. In the third week after the Month of Turmoil, the conflicts in the court escted into a civil war. The members of the royal family and the great aristocrats that supported them engaged in a military stand off. The Cecil n was also drawn into the fight¡­ ¡°The cause of the ruin was Marquis Grumman. The Grand Duke of the Cecil n was already in his old age although still very healthy. He had a strained rtionship with his eldest son Grumman Cecil. Marquis Grumman probably sensed that his session to the title might be threatened¡­ so he secretly nned and participated in the civil war. As he had not inherited the authority in the n, he didn¡¯t have the power to rally supporters. Thus, Marquis Grumman cast his eyes upon the legendary ancestor¡­¡± Gawain cupped his head. ¡°I remember now. He was the one who took my shield, right?¡± Heidi nodded and continued after Reba. ¡°Marquis Grumman first put the Cecil Grand Duke under house arrest, then he took your sacred object from the ancestral tomb. Subsequently, representing himself as the sessor to the Cecil n, he announced his support for Prince Tosh. Then, in March of the same year, Prince Tosh was assassinated. After that, Marquis Grumman quickly announced his support for Prince Fidick. In April that year, Prince Frederick lost the battle and killed himself¡­¡± Gawain was quiet. But that was not all as Heidi continued saying, ¡°After that, Marquis Grumman found an uncle of Dallian III. He used his exceptional eloquence to help form the alliance, but on the second month after that, the Grand Duke of the North, Bulon Wilder, who hadn¡¯t intervened in the internal conflict, suddenly pushed a youngster into the limelight, and announced that the boy was the illegitimate son of the king two generations before. Then, the Grand Duke of the North used that as his chip to participate in the civil war and ended the civil war in the Fog Month of year 635 of Anzu calendar. On the day before the civil war ended, Marquis Grumman wanted to make the same move again, dering his allegiance to the new king, but before he could make his statement, he was attacked by both the enemy and allies on the battlefield, he died in the melee¡­ ¡°The Second Dynasty of Anzu then took over. Of course, calling it the ¡®Second Dynasty¡¯¡­ is still a sensitive topic up to this day.¡± Just then, Amber, who had been quietly listening, said musingly, ¡°The whole farce onlysted for a year, but it caused such a big change to the whole kingdom¡­ who wouldn¡¯t have heard about this?¡± ¡°Since the bastard child took on the throne, people have been calling it ¡®The Bastard War¡¯ in private circles,¡± Heidi said, ¡°There were arge number ofrge aristocrats involved in the civil war, so quite a few ns have been implicated, but this is after all part and parcel of aristocracy. Moreover, the kingdom was in extreme chaos at the start of the Second Dynasty, and the new king needed to reinstate order, and this required the power of the old aristocrats. Thus, most of the ns have not been brought to ruin except¡­¡± ¡°Except for those that have been switching sides like crazy?¡± Gawain could not help but twitch at his mouth. As someone who had spent more than a hundred thousand years in the sky watching over the world, even he did not feel well hearing this whole history. He could onlyment at how life was indeed more dramatic than they appeared in novels. At least novels had some basic logic. It was a wonder how Marquis Grumman could be so gifted in such a peculiar way. ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone could have switched sides more than Grumman Cecil, right?¡± ¡°After that, the Cecil n could never recover from that stumble,¡± Heidi lowered her head. ¡°The fate of the n could have been even worse, but because of your reputation and the efforts of the old Grand Duke, the n¡¯s legacy was protected. It was just that the name ¡®Cecil¡¯ could no longer y a central role in the kingdom, just like what you see¡­¡± Gawain looked in the direction of Heidi¡¯s gaze, at Miss Reba Cecil, whose brain had been damaged. Reba noticed Gawain¡¯s gaze and turned to look at him. ¡°Lord Ancestor?¡± ¡°How unfortunate, how unfortunate¡­¡± Gawain held his forehead. Though he was not really the Cecil n¡¯s ancestor, Marquis Grumman¡¯s glorious achievement and the bizarre deeds had reached an extent that it would bring a shock to those who heard of it and tears to those who witnessed it. He was rueful just hearing about it. ¡°And that wastrel still lost my shield¡­¡± Heidi and Reba: ¡°¡­¡± Their Lord Ancestor once again scolded their grandfather. As juniors, it was indeed better that they just keep their mouths shut. Fortunately, Gawain was not really the one involved in the incident, so he quickly adjusted his mentality, which impressed upon Heidi as astonishingly magnanimous, as he shook his head slightly and said, ¡°Forget it. Pursuing these matters of the past is not going to help our present situation. In any case, these monsters that have reappeared is a huge threat to humanity. The king in the city of St. Soniel may pay no attention to the declining Cecil n, but he can¡¯t ignore those monsters. Thus, he must give us the attention as we were the ones who escaped this disaster.¡± Heidi nodded vigorously. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± After that, Gawain had lost interest in chatting. The dim and cramped underground passageway had eroded their desire to talk. They could only continue down the road and pick up their speed. Fortunately, the straight underground passageway cut across the entire Cecil territory. The nearest exit was not too far away from the castle. After a quick, long walk, Gawain determined, from his memory, that they had arrived at a suitable exit. With the earth elementals¡¯ blessing, the ancient stairs in the passageway showed no signs of copse at all. It was quite fortunate that the exit was notpletely covered by dirt and rocks. After removing some roots, vines and soil that were blocking the exit, the fresh breeze caressed their faces. Freedom. Knight Byron led the soldiers to leap out of the hole first. After they sent signal that it was safe, the others followed after. Reba took a deep breath immediately after climbing up to the surface, and she eximed cheerfully, ¡°We¡¯re out!¡± Gawain followed after Reba. and went to the ground. His excitement was no less than Reba. In fact, he was even more excited than her. A vast world. His first reaction was to look up at the sky. Unfortunately, it was night time. But he was also thankful that it allowed him to see the night sky of this otherworld. There was already a faint light in the horizon. The approaching dawn made the starlight in the sky dimmer. The sparse stars seemed to be covered with ayer of fog. They were hazy and far away. They were stars he did not know about. The white light in the horizon was getting brighter. Night was ending, and dawn was approaching. The escapees from the underground tunnel were all absorbed in the joy of their new lease on life. And Gawain was filled with even greater excitement as he faced the direction of the rising sun. He opened his arms as though he was going to embrace the sun of this new world. Then he saw a never before seen, huge, misty, glowing curved surface that gradually rose up the horizon, lighting up this world with its brilliance. That was not the sun. Chapter 9 Chapter 9: Incinerated Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Gawain gazed into the horizon for a long time. The conflict between his knowledge and what was in front of him was so great that for the first few minutes, he could not fathom what he was looking at. Regardless of it, it was a far cry from the sun he had known. The broad and magnificent arc continued to rise. Its initial ascent was faster than the sun¡¯s, and Gawain thus could observe a small fraction of the cambered surface. It was indeed emanating light, with edges of blurry and hazy color, as though they were made of clouds and mist. He supposed that the light and heat of this world was provided by this object, but it was not as dazzling as the sun such that he could not view it directly¡ªin fact, the opposite was so. Not only could Gawain stare right at the curved surface,he could also make out some fine lines on the arc itself. After gauging the arc of the thing, Gawain realized that he was staring at something that was tens, if not hundreds, of times bigger than the sun. Of course, its actual diameter had to be smaller than that of a normal star¡ªit was just so close to the. If it continued to rise at this distance, it could very well shroud one-fifth of the entire sky¡­ However, this was merely Gawain¡¯s subjective estimate, for he was feeling overwhelmed by this sight, and his judgment would inevitably be biased. It was hard to describe the sense of oppression that was brought about by watching a gigantic celestial body surging up in front of oneself. A quick search of Gawain Cecil¡¯s memory unsurprisingly turned up countless ¡°sunrises¡± that were equally majestic. The phenomenon in the sky was not something out of the ordinary, but the most normal urrence in this world. But, what was the exnation for this? Gawain soon began to analyze the scene ording to the knowledge he had. Perhaps the physics of this world differed from his home¡¯s, causing the low efficiency of light and heat from this star. This was probably very close to the star in order for it to appear sorge, and maybe the reason the earth was yet to be incinerated was because the supposed ¡°star¡± was not a sun at all, but a hole that radiated light and heat, or was a thingamajig that was not scientific but magical¡­ What seemed to be more likely, however, would be that the he stood on was not orbiting around the sun, but a gas giant. That would mean that it was not a at all, but a satellite of thetter, and the thing that rose in the sky¡­ Was the parent of this satellite. It was at this moment that Gawain¡¯s feelings of ¡°otherworldliness¡± felt more intense than ever. ¡°Ancestor? Lord Ancestor?¡± Heidi¡¯s voice rang out beside him, surprising Gawain from his deep thoughts. ¡°Ah¡­ ah?¡± Gawain came to his senses instantly, looking at his nth great-granddaughter by his side. The beautiful aristocratic woman, having escaped the dark tunnel and the underground crisis, recovered a little of her former countenance. Bowing slightly to Gawain, she said, ¡°Ancestor, you were daydreaming earlier, but we need to get out of here.¡± Gawain faltered and brushed the incident aside. It was then he realized that the entrance of the tunnel had led them to an open hillside with no defenses. To stand there dazedly with no awareness of their surroundings did not seem like a wise thing to do, and he thus nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s head to the high ground to survey the ce and ascertain our surroundings. The knowledge of the terrain I have is seven hundred years old, and might not be relevant now.¡± Thus, under the direction of Gawain, the party advanced up the hillside a little. On the way, Gawain could not help but look up at therge ¡°sun¡± several times. ¡°Lord Ancestor, you¡¯ve been staring at the sun?¡± Behind him walked Reba, and she asked concernedly, ¡°Is there a problem?¡± Beside her, Amber quipped casually, ¡°Your ancestor hasn¡¯t seen the light of day for seven hundred years; it¡¯s obviously natural that he¡¯d want to look at the sun a few more times than normal.¡± Gawain ignored Amber. ncing at his n+1th great-granddaughter, he shook his head slightly. Internally, he confirmed that ¡°sun¡± was what the natives of this world called that thing in the sky too. Or rather, no matter whatnguage it was spoken in, the word referred to the sun and nothing else in the minds of the people here. Gawain searched through the memory of the original owner of the body again. After several attempts with some keywords and receiving vague information, he finally lifted his head with some understanding, gazing across the part of the sky that was still slightly dimmed. In the still unlit part of the sky that still showed its many stars, he spotted a ¡°star¡± that was about the size of a grain that was brighter than the others. The people of this worldbeled that special star as ¡°Ao¡±, and attributed many religious and symbolic meanings. Both his previous conjectures were probably debunked, leaving his reasonable third one. ¡°Ao¡± was then the star of this sr system. It was unbelievably far away that the light it shone on Gawain was practically as cold as any other star¡¯s. And in the cool morning breeze, Gawain arrived at the summit of the hill. In the distance was a mysteriously scarrednd that had been zed to the ground by the mes of war. Just like skin after an acid ssh, thend looked decayed and rotting. The vast expanse of rock and soil were charred ck, withrge cracks shot crookedly all over the earth. the vegetation on the ground had long been putrefied, the remaining trunks twisted as though they had been demonized into the ws of the devil. Further on, they could see copsed walls, razed homes, and the Cecil n¡¯s castle cloaked in smoke. Giant-like aberrations roamed the devastated soil. The fields and crops had long since been buried indistinguishably in the waves of monsters that ravaged theirnd. ¡°The n¡¯s territory¡­¡± Reba knelt on the hill, gritting her teeth with a death-like force. Her eyes were rimmed with red, and tears from fury or sorrow circled in them. She had just be the head of the n, but had lost seemingly everything before she could even get used to being its leader. ¡°This is how thend looks like after it has been ruined by monsters,¡± Gawain sighed. ¡°The Gondor Empire back then was devastated like this within and without. I¡¯d predicted that the decay would have remained in the wastnd of the old empire¡ªinstead, new decay appeared in the realm of civilization again.¡± Amber broke out in cold sweat. ¡°By the God of Shadows¡­ we¡¯ve been surrounded by those things?¡± Heidi pondered the n¡¯s chances of recovery. ¡°Can it still be saved?¡± ¡°No.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°You didn¡¯t block the advance of the monsters. They have already formed group resonance, and the elemental contamination caused by the demonic tide is irreversible. Even if all of the aberrations are destroyed, the pollution entrenched in thend will remain for quite a long while.¡± ¡°How long will itst?¡± Heidi seemed to refuse to lose hope. ¡°Has civilization returned to the Gondor Empire?¡± Gawain asked a seemingly unrted question. ¡°¡­ It is still devoid of life. No one dares to tread on thend on the other side of the great barrier.¡± Gawain shrugged. ¡°Then it looks like the decay of the Cecil territory would continue for at least seven hundred years as well.¡± Reba and Heidi stared at this ancestor, a little stunned. they could not understand how this great figure, the pioneer of the Cecil n, could be soposed in the face of monsters destroying thest of the family¡¯snd¡ªhe was neither furious nor sorrowful, as though he was watching something that had nothing to do with him. This attitude scared them a little. However, Gawain quickly noticed the gazes of the pair and volunteered, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°Lord Ancestor, are you not¡­ angry?¡± Reba asked timidly. ¡°This is thest of the Cecil n¡¯snd¡­¡± Gawain was stunned. He realized instantly that he was not fully immersed in the role he was supposed to y, and had tripped up. He hastily put on a straight face and conjured all of this acting skills and said, ¡°Dwelling on such things is of no use. Gawain Cecil is a pioneer, and every inch of familynd and wealth was built from scratch by me. If thend is gone, it¡¯s gone. At worst, we can always find newnd to settle on. What¡¯s the use of brooding over this?¡± Heidi and Reba nodded hurriedly. As they did so, their hearts filled with admiration for their ancestor. He was as legendary as they said, and his worldview and breadth of mind was indeed different¡ªfor he did not know that all the avablend had already been split between all the current aristocrats, and the unimednds were the ones that were devoid of life and forbidden areas, so where was this ancestor going to imnd from¡­ ¡°There¡¯s nothing else to see here. The next thing we have to do is n our itinerary. The first thing to do now is to find a town and convene with the people who broke out.¡± Taking advantage of the influence he had as their supposed ancestor, Gawain changed the subject swiftly. ¡°I remember a Knight Philip breaking out with a group of people. Do you have an agreed upon meeting ce?¡± Reba answered quickly, ¡°We nned to meet at Tanzan Town up north. If Tanzan was also attacked by the monsters, they would continue north along King¡¯s Road.¡± Gawain nodded and was about to set off when a strange feeling made him stop in his steps. After a moment of pause, he and Knight Byron shouted out almost at the same time, ¡°Duck! Hide!¡± Even though they did not know why, Reba and Heidi still fled with Knight Byron to the protection under arge rock nearby. Amber had already vanished into some cranny of darkness the moment Gawain opened his mouth. Gawain himself took cover behind Reba. However, he noticed that the lost little maid Betty was still grasping onto her saucepan with a nk expression, and darted out to pull her back¡ªalmost in the next instant, a sense of oppression seemed to descend from the sky upon them. In the rising brilliance of the ¡°great sun¡±, an elegant and enormous creature sailed across the sky slowly. It was a gigantic dragon that spanned over ten meters. In her panic, Heidi subconsciously cast a third-level spell of ¡°position distortion¡±, hiding everyone¡¯s figures, though she was not at all sure that this shallow spell could fool the eyes of such a legendary creature. However, the humongous dragon did not notice the people on the ground¡ªor maybe just disdained to notice them. He, or she, only pped their wingsnguidly, sweeping across the sky with grace and majesty, its eyes reflecting the Cecil territory that had been ruined by the Dark Wave. Then, with a mouth full of salted soda¡­ er, it spat fire onto thend. Chapter 10 Chapter 10: Back to the Problem at Hand Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Dragons. Such creatures had not been sighted in the mortal world in ages. In fact, to the intelligent beings that inhabited the continent of Loren, dragons were considered to be a beast that existed between the nes of legend and reality. Granted, they were certain that this powerful creature existed, yet no one had actually seen a real one in their lifetime. The only exception was the secretive and longevous elves who lived in the south. Their long lives made them great historical witnesses, and in the lengthy history of the Elven Empire, their chronicles had actually detailed one or two encounters with dragons. The elegant but powerful creature, with its deep blue scales and humongous wings, flew across the sky as it breathed lethal fire below. The mes were so hot that they burned white, imbued with magic of the ancients¡ªthey were not simply mes. Where the column of fire swept, the earth billowed with huge mes, burning and spreading even without needing any fuel. With a few hot puffs from the dragon, the entirend waspletely engulfed in an inferno. Afterpleting its deed, the brobdingnagian dragon circled around the area for a while, as though inspecting its work, before beating its wings and flying upwards, disappearing into the slowly brightening clouds. Gawain heard a few deep exhales nearby, including those of Heidi. It was only now that everyone dared to breathe freely¡ªif that dragon had hung around any longer, he did not know who was going to pass out and die first. ¡°D-Dragons¡­ D-Dragons¡­¡± Reba gripped her staff as she muttered incessantly, ¡°Ancestor, I saw a dragon¡­¡± Gawain cleared his throat. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Tell me about it; I observed it right here.¡± It was only then that Reba came to her senses. She looked at Gawain awkwardly, before casting an uncertain nce towards the Cecil¡¯snd. After being ravaged by the tide of monsters, it had been thoroughly incinerated by a dragon. Thisnd was practically useless now. And those monsters¡­ Though they were clumsy as they went after the ill-equipped soldiers, they were only shapeshifters of the lowest levels. Under the dragon¡¯s incinerating breath, they practically vaporised into ashes, and even if some of them survived, their disintegration would begin sooner orter from the dramatic change in their surroundings. ¡°I thought dragons were a thing of legends,¡± Knight Byron, who had been taciturn, could not help but remark. The three soldiers by his side were still struggling to get to their feet, but the usually strict knight did not even chastise them, but only frowned. ¡°My lord, have you met a dragon before?¡± ¡°No.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°Dragons are a really mysterious breed. Even when half of Loren had been turned upside down seven hundred years ago, they never interfered in worldly matters.¡± Though he said this, Gawain was not that surprised by the sight of those huge creatures, for he had seen dragons before, albeit from a different perspective¡ªthat when he had hung in the sky, where he had seen these creatures appearing on the continent more than once. However, dragons were indeed mysterious, and even when Gawain had floated in the sky for an eternity, his dragon-sightings were limited. Coupled with the messy trivialities of the images he had seen, he was not able to piece together many characteristics of the dragons. At this moment, the shadow beside Gawain suddenly shivered twice. He turned around to look, and sure enough, Amber was standing behind him, her elven face still expressing shock. ¡°I¡¯ve seen a dragon!¡± Amber shouted noisily. ¡°My mom wouldn¡¯t believe that I¡¯ve seen a dragon! And one that¡¯s sooooo big at that!¡± ¡°Alright, alright. We all saw it.¡± Gawain red at this cowardly yet morous thief. ¡°Where did you go earlier?¡± ¡°Inside the crack of a nearby rock,¡± Amber said as she puffed her chest out proudly. ¡°My escape skills are superb!¡± Gawain held his forehead and sighed. ¡°You¡¯re indeed a master when ites to shadow maniption, but yourbat skills are worse than a goose¡¯s, and nothing to brag about.¡± He then shook his head. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be advantageous to stay here. Let¡¯s hurry up and leave.¡± He started down the hill. Even though the dragon had already left, Heavens knew what other strange things would materialize, making leaving this ce as soon as possible the topmost priority. However, Heidi¡¯s gaze wasplicated as she looked at the family¡¯s estate. ¡°Ancestor¡­ that dragon burnt ournd.¡± ¡°What it had razed was the ruins of ournd. Strictly speaking, he had only set fire to the monsters.¡± Gawain nced at Heidi. Earlier, when the gigantic dragon had spewed its mes, he had carefully observed that it had done so where the monsters were the densest. Even though some of the fire was misdirected, it was obvious where they were intended to be. ¡°The Cecil estate had been no more before the dragon appeared.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°You want to seek justice from the dragon?¡± Gawain shrugged. ¡°Be practical. If you want to do something, you should get back to civilization and report the news of the monsters and dragon.¡± Unable to retort, Heidi could only nod. ¡°Understood.¡± Actually, Gawain knew how Heidi was feeling. The Cecil estate had been her home, the ce where she grew up in. Even though her hometown had been razed to the ground, she would not be able to forget it easily¡ªshe would at least feel a little ufortable about the dragon incinerating what was essentially ruins, even if it had done so to eliminate the monsters. After all, it could be considered as desecrating the dead. However, even though he understood her feelings, Gawain felt it difficult to feel this way¡ªafter all, he was not even the Cecil n¡¯s ancestor, Gawain Cecil, before he climbed out of the coffin¡­ With mixed emotions, the band left this area, and faced their next obstacle¡ªa densely wooded forest. With staff raised in one hand, Heidi drew some kind of runes in mid-air. She then looked towards the dense forest and said, ¡°We can only reach the main road through this forest. That¡¯s the only way we¡¯ll be able to reach Tanzan.¡± Gawain¡¯s face was brimming with curiosity and envy (even as he tried to mask it) as he stared at the glowing runes above Heidi¡¯s palm. ¡°Magic does seem like a convenient thingy¡­¡± ¡°Ancestor?¡± Heidi looked a little confused, before her expression morphed into one of terror. ¡°Have I displeased you with my magic?¡± Gawain was surprised. ¡°Ah? Why would I be displeased?¡± ¡°Knights have always been the foundation of the Cecil n. The orthodox path for members have always been of martial arts and knighthood. Reba and I have be mages instead¡­ if it was a hundred years ago, it would have been a problem for us to get a foothold in the family, let alone been able to inherit the right to rule,¡± Heidi exined a little anxiously. ¡°It¡¯s just that¡­ ever since that incident that happened a hundred years ago, the n¡¯s reputation had taken a nosedive, and with the poption growing scarce, there was ack of disciples with extraordinary strength, which meant that we could only get recognition outside of being knights¡­ But no matter what, this has vited the family¡¯s rules.¡± Gawain returned, ¡°Who came up with such a silly rule?¡± As an open-minded person, he had always detested pedantry for rules. However, as soon as he uttered these words, the atmosphere suddenly became weird. Knight Byron immediately pretended to tie his shoces¡ªeven though he was wearing iron boots¡ªand Heidi froze on the spot, while Reba raised a timid finger to Gawain himself two secondster. Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± Going through his memory of that year¡­. that had indeed happened. The youthful and proud hero, Gawain Cecil, had been drinking in light of their triumphant establishment of the Anzu Kingdom with Charlie the First. Both the close friends had tooted their own horns and discussed what the world would then be. During that year, they had painstakingly led their nsmen to escape to the north, and had now be pioneers and founders. They predicted that they would be the first wave of aristocrats, and so long as they lived and had descendants, this posse of founding noblemen would be able to continue their lineage and be ancient families with a wealth of heritage¡­ Thus, the inebriated pioneers of the kingdom huddled together in reflection. Should they standardize a set of rules and family percepts and things like that, so that their descendants would not forget the spirit of these gang of forefathers? As the pioneers of the pioneers, and the founders of the founders, Gawain Cecil and Charlie the First were undoubtedly looked upon to lead by example. So, the Gawain Cecil of seven hundred years ago had gulped down a mug of strong beer, looked at the knight¡¯s sword holstered at his side, and raised a hand to pen these lines. ¡®Knights are more freaking awesome than mages.¡¯ When Charlie the First saw this line, he was so pleased that he wrote the following line. ¡®Gawain speaks the truth.¡¯ The former remark had be the guiding principle of the Cecil n, while thetter¡­ thetter had been so strongly opposed by the retinue and advisors of Charlie the First that it had been nullified. The king, who was sober and had the bigger picture in his mind, naturally would not make such a drunken promation a policy of the kingdom. However, with all seriousness, Gawain Cecil had implemented this as a n rule. After emerging from his memory bank, Gawain cast an awkward nce at both Heidi and Reba. He sighed. ¡°I was drunk then. Just pretend that there was no such rule¡­¡± Heidi and Reba: ¡°¡­¡± Just then, Gawain¡¯s embarrassment was saved by a grumbling emanating from Amber¡¯s stomach. ¡°Though I know it¡¯s kinda inappropriate to break this to you when you¡¯re enjoying your quality family time,¡± the half-elf girl said as she rubbed her tummy awkwardly, ¡°but I¡¯m a little hungry.¡± It was as if the growling from Amber¡¯s stomach was a catalyst, as everyone¡¯s stomach rumbled right after she spoke. Even Gawain was no exception to this. It was only then that Gawain realized everyone had not eaten for a long time ever since they had surfaced from that darkened crypt. Also, he had gone without food for a way longer period of time than anyone else here¡ªthest time he had the pleasure of chewing food, the monkeys on Loren had not even begun to walk upright. Chapter 11 Chapter 11: Long Road Ahead Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Venturing out in the otherworld was not quite a romantic affair. Between those exciting relics, magic, monsters, and stories of heroes, there were more practical problems that had to be faced such as eating and sleeping in the wild. The journey to escape was rushed especially when the castle was breached, and the remaining few guards fought to the very end. No one had the time to prepare a bag full of rationsing out of there. Moreover, the ce where they had set off from was the ancestral tomb, and that seemed like no ce for food to be stored¡­ So, when Amber was hungry, everyone became aware of the real problem at hand. They were surrounded by barrennd with not a single patch of grass in sight. Opposite of the hill was Cecil territory, which had been turned into a fiery wastnd, but there was a dense forest a little further down the hill. In the magic medieval world, forests outside the town areas were synonymous with danger. The ces where the lights of civilization could not reach had nothing besides beasts, robbers, and monsters. But it also meant that there were more food in the forests. Moreover, in order to reach Tanzan Town in the north, they had to pass through this dense forest. The group found a t and open ce to rest near the edge of the forest. Then they began assigning people to search for food. Gawain first nced at the dunce-like maid. The youngdy called Betty had a presence that was hardly felt. But she was quite bold. Back when the dragon flew past, she did note out crying out of fright. Of course, she could also have been scared silly thus exining herck of reaction. The youngdy was still grasping the saucepan tightly as she stood there nervously. Noticing Gawain looking at her, her neck cringed slightly. ¡°Betty, Heidi, Reba, the three of you will stay here. Byron, you stay and keep guard,¡± Gawain said, ¡°The rest will go hunting with me. That includes you, Amber.¡± Betty had nobat ability. Although Heidi and Reba were mages, they were not suitable for hunting beasts in the woods. Besides, they had already used up lots of energy. Since the battle in the castle, they have not had a chance to meditate and restore their energies. This was a critical problem for spellcasters as they need to be in a healthy state of mind to use their powers. Thus, it would be better for them to stay put and restore their mana as soon as possible so that they could continue to battle in the journey ahead. The three loyal family warriors had of course noints to such an arrangement, but Amber¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Why must I go too? I¡¯m also exhausted!¡± Gawain red at her. ¡°Touch your ears. You¡¯re at least a half-elf. Do you have the cheek to say that your ancestors lived in the trees if you don¡¯te with me into the forest to hunt?¡± Amber ttened her mouth andined, ¡°You¡¯re discriminating against my race. Who told you that elves must all hunt in the forest. I learn stealth, not rangering¡­¡± ¡°You dug my grave.¡± ¡°¡­ Oh well.¡± Gawain led the three soldiers and the half-elf, who imed to be inexperienced, to go hunting in the forest, leaving behind the loyal Knight Byron and the threedies to stay in their temporary camp. After casting some rm runes with what little magic she had left, Heidi sat down wearily on the stone. Reba had led Betty around the area within Knight Byron¡¯s guarding capabilities and came back with a small bundle of dried branches gathered nearby. After stacking the branches on the ground, Reba stepped back, raised her staff, and recited the most basic fire incantation. Then an unstable bursting fireball formed in the air. Heidi stopped her before the fireball exploded. ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± After setting up the bonfire with a more appropriate magic me, the coldness umted from walking in the underground tunnel and being exposed to the early morning breeze was finally forced out of their bodies. Heidi heaved a breath of relief, and looked at Rebanguishing, ¡°When are you going to learn a magical skill that is not fireball¡­¡± Reba looked down shamefully. ¡°Sorry, Aunt.¡± ¡°Stop looking so worthless. Even if you apologize, don¡¯t lower your head like this.¡± Heidi rubbed her forehead in greater frustration. ¡°You¡¯re someone with a title of nobility, okay? Your performance today¡­ To be honest, Ancestor is probably very disappointed in you though he didn¡¯t show it.¡±n Reba suddenly became nervous. ¡°So¡­ what should I do?¡± Heidi was stumped for words. She sighed and said, ¡°Sigh, what can you do? From the looks of the n¡¯s current state, I¡¯m afraid that not a single one of us descendants would be able to please Ancestor¡¯s expectation. The state of us today¡­ is far from the glorious state of the n back in those days.¡± Reba pursed her lips tightly. As a child, who obediently followed the path of typical children of nobility, the recent series of events was more than what she was ready for. She had no teachers that taught her how to deal with these things, whether it be the Dark Wave or the attack of the monsters, or how her ancestor came climbing out of his coffin. The young viscountess was left bewildered in the face of all these events. After some silence, Reba finally plucked up her courage and said, ¡°Aunt, do you think Ancestor¡­ Is he really resurrected?¡± Heidi looked into Reba¡¯s eyes. She could easily guess what her niece was thinking. ¡°Are you suspecting that Ancestor, or his resurrection?¡± ¡°Actually I know I shouldn¡¯t be suspecting this, but this¡­ is really quite hard to believe.¡± ¡°I feel the same way, but we saw what happened.¡± Heidi shook her head. ¡°Remember the first lesson that every mage apprentice has to go through? It isn¡¯t theoretical knowledge or forms for magic, but a maxim: ¡®The truth may run counter tomon sense, but the truth will always be the truth.¡¯ This is also valid in areas outside magic.¡± Seeing as Reba was starting to ponder over it, Heidi added in a low voice, ¡°No matter what caused Ancestor to wake up from his long slumber, the resurrection of Cecil n¡¯s ancestor remains a fact¡­¡± Betty nced at the two mistresses and realized that she did not understand what they were talking about, so she lowered her head and continued to hold her precious saucepan idly. Soon, Gawain, who had gone hunting, returned with Amber and the three soldiers. They did not have a bountiful catch, but it was still quite eptable. They brought back three rabbits, two which they could not name, arge bird with gorgeous feathers, and they also picked up a bunch of wild fruits on the way. It should not be a problem to satisfy their hunger. Watching as Amber skillfully handled the bodies of the catch, Gawain curled his lips. ¡°You were saying that you couldn¡¯t hunt? Your skills are on par with the gray elves of the Moss Woods!¡± Moss Woods was a vast forest located on the border between Anzu Kingdom and the tribal country of Augari to the west of it. The gray elves, an elf subspecies, that lived in the Moss Woods were considered to be the best hunters in the world. To speak of their abilities to hunt prey in forests, they were even better than forest elves. When Gawain realized that he urgently needed to brush up on his general knowledge of this world, he took some time while he was free to search the memory. He had only just learned the information about this and quickly put it to use. TryingHardToLookLikeAProperNativeOfThisWorld.jpg While sorting out the guts of the beautiful big bird, Amber replied without looking up, ¡°Truly a hero of seven hundred years ago. That information about gray elves should be at least a few hundreds of years old, right? Do you know that gray elves are now trading medicinal ingredients, and are no longer hunting?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Amber continued working with her hands, skillfully skewering the food on a long wooden stick, set it by the bonfire, and she then nced at Gawain and said, ¡°I¡¯m telling you I¡¯m really no good at hunting. Though I am a half-elf, ever since my earliest memory, I have been living in human society. It was an old bandit who brought me up¡­¡± ¡°Then your skills¡­¡± ¡°Although I don¡¯t hunt, I steal chickens.¡± Amberughed like a child who could still joke with the person whose grave she just dug. ¡°That¡¯s where I learned it from.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Hearing what Amber said, Heidi frowned mildly. ¡°How uncouth.¡± Amber waggled her finger at her, ¡°Yes, yes, I¡¯m uncouth. Ah, but I¡¯m a thief. I can only grab a few copper coins from the pockets of those that pass me by. How can Ipare to you nobles who live in castles and can overtly take from the pockets of the residents?¡± Before Amber¡¯s voice fell, Knight Byron¡¯s longsword made a ¡®schwing¡¯, and was held at her neck. The half-elf instantly broke out in cold sweat. Gawain waved his hand, motioning for Byron to put the sword away, and then he looked at Amber curiously. ¡°That¡¯s strange. Forget other things, but why haven¡¯t you been beaten to death with that mouth of yours?¡± Before the half-elf girl could utter a sound, Gawain wagged his head smugly and said, ¡°You¡¯re a pro at escaping, right?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s set aside all our ss differences and conflicts. We¡¯re all in the same boat now.¡± Gawain let out a breath of relief, grabbed a fruit from the side, and brought it to his mouth. ¡°Let¡¯s all regain our strength. Mages, make use of this time to meditate to restore your mana. We must set off before noon. We have already spent a night underground, and we must not waste the day ahead.¡± ¡°Betty, put that aside for now,¡± Reba nced at her maidservant and kindly reminded her, ¡°You¡¯re not going to use it now.¡± Betty looked at her mistress, then at the pan in her hand as though in hesitation. Gawain was curious. ¡°Speaking of which, why do you keep holding this pan?¡± Betty was a little scared of Gawain. Her neck cringed as she clutched the handle of the pan tightly. ¡°Madam Hansen told me that I¡¯ll be responsible for frying sausages and bread¡­ using this pan.¡± ¡°Madam Hansen is in charge of the kitchen in the castle,¡± Heidi whispered to Gawain. ¡°But she¡¯s dead.¡± Gawain sighed as he looked at the youngdy with freckles on her face. ¡°This pan is yours, and it¡¯ll always be yours,¡± he said, ¡°Now you can set it aside ande over to eat.¡± Chapter 12 Chapter 12: Shadow Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios A nameless forest. In this undeveloped region far from civilization, nameless ces like this were verymon. Though all pieces ofnd came under certain territories, not all of them had undergone development. The kingdom had no spare manpower and resources to develop the border areas near the Gondor wastnd. And since the elves helped the humans build great walls that surrounded the entire Gondor wastnd with sentinel towers as nodes along the walls, the countries did not need to station too many soldiers at the border to deal with the monsters that asionally wandered over from the wastnd. Thus, the border fell into a vicious circle of continuous decline. There were other ways of traveling from Cecil territory to Tanzan Town in the north, but the path through the forest was one of the shortest routes. If they were to choose the other routes, they would either have to take a long detour to bypass the whole area or to pass throughwless areas that were even more dangerous, both of which would be unwise. The deeper they ventured into the woods, the darker it became. The decaying leaves umted on the ground were bing annoying. Although it was not too big of a forest, the wild growth of the nts in the forest without human interference was an eye opener for Gawain. In his previous life, he lived in a man-made concrete jungle. After transmigrating, he could only observe this world from a distance. At this moment as he stepped foot through the forest himself, he realized that his idea of nature had been too superficial. Fortunately, he was gradually getting used to this body. His strong physical capabilities and all of his innate qualities enabled him to easily take on the challenge of surviving in the wilderness. Knight Byron and Amber, who were with him, also had no shortage of experience trekking through the wilderness. Thus, the journey had not been too terrible for them. However, Heidi had to suffer a little. Though the Cecil n had declined, they were after all a long-standing aristocratic family that had been loyal to the royal family. As a true aristocratic woman, Heidi was no doubt well-trained and hardworking within the aristocratic circles, but in the wilderness, she still required more experience. Besides, a mage would not have much physical strength. However, Reba¡¯s performance was quite surprising to Gawain. This youngdy, who seemed like a high school girl on earth, never once straggled behind. When they were running through the forest with no paths, she performed no worse than the tall and strong soldiers. Gawain asked her about it curiously, and Reba answered quite embarrassed, ¡°I was quite wild when I was a child. I¡¯d always run around like boys and even venture into the woods to explore. At that time, I had not shown any magical talent, and my father thought that I might be able to be a Knight¡­ but I let him down in the end. But even though I couldn¡¯t go on the path to bing a Knight, I still take the time to train myself. After all, Ancestor said that one must first have a strong physique in order to be a leader that protects the people¡­ ¡± Gawain nodded silently. Though this nth+1 great granddaughter of his seemed asionally to have suffered brain injuries, she was quite a down-to-earth and upright character. This was rare in aristocratic circles. This nth great granddaughter who was nearly short of breath should really learn a thing or two from her. ¡°There may be some monsters deep in the forest, but they won¡¯t be too powerful.¡± Knight Byron picked up a lump of dark substance from the ground with his longsword. The lump slowly became transparent at the tip of his sword and gradually dissipated in the air. ¡°Shadow elemental enrichment. There should be a natural magic focal point somewhere in the middle of this forest, but it¡¯s probably the weak kind.¡± ¡°It must be really weak,¡± Amber swirled the dagger around as she looked around and sized up the situation. ¡°If there was a high-grade magic focal point, the Association of Mystics or the Association of Astrologers would have dered this forest to be their territory a long time ago. Besides, from the look of these nts around here¡­ There is no sign of them being affected. This means that the elemental enrichment is not strong enough to even affect these nts.¡± Gawain looked at the two wilderness survival experts with a bit of surprise, ¡°You guys seem real knowledgeable, huh?¡± Reba nced at Byron, ¡°Uncle Byron was a mercenary before he swore allegiance to my father.¡± Byron did not seem too fond of talking about the past. ¡°It¡¯s all in the past, Miss.¡± The small dagger in Amber¡¯s hand was spinning even faster. ¡°Pfft, looking so battle-scarred. Who doesn¡¯t have a past?¡± Though the half-elf girl¡¯s face had an expression saying ¡®I¡¯ve got an impressive backstory too, ask me about it!¡¯, Gawain had no intention of entertaining this youngdy. Just from spending a day and a half¡¯s time together, it was enough for Gawain to learn her tendencies. That rich experience she had in the wilderness must have been gained as she was being chased all around the city by the guards and then fled into the wilderness when she had nowhere else to run. But if you were really going to ask her, she would definitely spin a hair-raising thriller of a story for you¡ªlike how she had traveled the entire continent and evenughed with the Elf King or something in that vein¡­ As they were talking, they had already walked some distance towards the deeper part of the forest. The surrounding trees were bing denser, and the rays of light shining through the canopy were bing sparser. Gawain looked up. Between the shadowy branches, the giant sun was scattered into dots of light as if there was a huge te hung upside down in the sky, and the sunlight reaching his body felt a little cooler. Betty, the weakest among them, could not help but sneeze. She felt her hands bing so cold that she almost dropped the pan. Amber stopped spinning her dagger, and she suddenly bent down. Her light colored eyes flickered in alert. She looked at Gawain, and her breath came out in a white puff as she said, ¡°Don¡¯t you guys feel that¡­ it¡¯s getting a little too cold here? ¡± Heidi suddenly looked serious, suppressing her lethargy of being on the road. She raised her staff, stamped it forcefully to the ground, and uttered a mouthful of hard-to-pronounce incantation, casting the Detection spell. This was amon spell that could be learned once a person be a level two mage. As one continued to level up to be a Master Mage at level nine, the spell would correspond to different spell moulds. This was not an offensive spell, and its purpose was to detect hidden energy phenomena within a certain area of effect such as hidden magic traps or invisible energy fields. Upon fully casting the spell, it could detect energy traces up to one level higher than that of the spellcaster. Heidi was a level three mage. Though Heidi was a level three mage (the highest level for Novices), being of lower level than Byron who was an Intermediate (though only starting out), the convenience and versatility of her spells could be more useful than physicalbat powers. As Detection started to take effect, Gawain noticed fog shrouding the surrounding. No, it was not fog, but it was spiritual energy, which was hidden previously, so dense that it was affecting the physical realm. They gathered from all sides and grew stronger. Then, it became so dense that it was almost impossible to see past the trees more than ten meters away. In the pale fog, a hazy figure seemed to sh past. Betty¡¯s eyes widened in horror. Just as she was about to scream, Gawain stopped her mouth. ¡°Shh, don¡¯t make a sound. It¡¯ll rm the thing in the fog.¡± The youngdy¡¯s eyes were pried wide open, tears almost flowing out. She nodded as she grasped the pan in her hand tightly. Gawain could not help but shake his head and thought, ¡®She didn¡¯t cry when she saw the dragon earlier, but she¡¯s being so frightened now. People sure have different weaknesses.¡¯ ¡°What are these things?¡± Reba was also slightly scared. She sped her staff tightly. At the tip of her staff, there were already small fiery sparks jumping, ¡°When did we get surrounded¡­ by these things?¡± ¡°Mist Wraith, damn it.¡± Heidi gritted her teeth. ¡°Why is this thing here?¡± Mist Wraith. Gawain had already found information about this from his memories. It was something that could ur either naturally or made by man. Natural urrence was moremon. In ces where shadow energy gathered and undead wandered, the Mist Wraith had a very low probability of appearing. It was part of the shadows. But with the presence of undead, it would be extremely destructive. However, Mist Wraiths would not be visible after forming. They would form in the spiritual realm, and in the physical realm, humans would not be able to see even a trace of it. Unless the victim had already stepped into the mist. It would slowly kill the victim before he could even realize it through the use of coldness and nting illusions and fear into the mind of the victim. Typically, a normal person would die before knowing what hit them if they were to step into the mist because they would not be able to see anything. The dense fog would not appear until the moment when their souls fell into the shadow realm, and it would take hold of their memories in their near death state. It was also possible to artificially create the Mist Wraith, but the prerequisites would be extremely demanding, and the effect was not as good as other spells of the same level. Thus, those Necrolytes would not waste their time on such a thing. Gawain had already pulled out his Sword of Pioneers, but he had yet tounch any attacks. Mist Wraiths were very special. Though one would receive damage as soon as one entered its range, the Mist Wraith would not be the first to attack. This damage were only the effect of the ¡®hostile environment¡¯ that was an intrinsic attribute of the Mist Wraith. It would only go berserk when the ¡®thing¡¯ in the mist was disturbed. A Mist Wraith would be very hard to stop in berserk mode. Gawain was not sure if the mist had already been disturbed, so instead of ordering an attack, he carefully searched for thin sections of the mist so that they could prepare to break out. But just as he did so, a light, etherealughter from the mist suddenly reached his ears. Sh*t! He was being yed by a lump of mist! Gawain immediately raised his longsword and swung the sword in the direction of the sound. A dark red light projected from the de and split the fuzzy figure from the mist into two. ¡°Fire at that white thing scurrying in the mist!¡± Chapter 13 Chapter 13: Shadow Realm Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The odd, etherealughter came from the mist again as though a frivolous woman wasughing at the confused bunch of lost travelers who had stepped into the mist. The illusory image split into half by Gawain did vanish, but in an instant, it formed itself again in another part of the mist. This cloud of Mist Wraith¡­ was actually conscious! Realizing this, Heidi felt cold sweat breaking out on her forehead. That mist first acted like it was unconscious making everyone think that the situation was not too critical, letting them look for a chance to break out. However, as time passed while they looked for an opportunity, their strength was continually weakened by the mist. When Gawain and the party was ready to break out, they had already received damage to different extents. At this point, the wraith¡¯s sudden move would only lead to unthinkable consequences. But perhaps it was a w of the consciousness of this undead creature as its (or their) etherealughter from the mist had undermined its own trap. But even so, the situation was still desperate. Normal soldiers were not very helpful in dealing with such strange enemies. They had no choice but to rely on the willpower attained from the tough training they had gone through to resist the malice and fear that was constantly exuded by the mist. Betty, who had nobat ability at all, was brought to the center of the group to be guarded. Knight Byron¡¯s longsword burned with intense heat. He continued to disperse the cold with his sword, and sliced up the numerous phantom arms reaching out from the mist. Under his guard, Heidi And Reba could then have a more conducive environment to cast their spells. Heidi recited the incantation, continually using various low level support spells to weaken the power of the surrounding mist, but Reba¡¯s attack was much simpler and more violent. Waving her staff, there was only one spell that she kept using the whole time¡ªFireball. Fireballs of all sizes were sent flying from the tip of Reba¡¯s staff to the mist, causing a series of explosions, but it was not very effective. The fire were certainly effective on suppressing undead creatures, but the Mist Wraith was something special. It was thin yet widespread. Without a solid body that could take on the explosive damage, as the ball of fire exploded in the mist, most of its lethality would be lost. ¡°Don¡¯t use fireballs!¡± Gawain noticed Reba¡¯s style of attack, and he quickly shouted to her, ¡°Use wide-ranged spells. It doesn¡¯t have to be too powerful, but it must have arge area of effect! Otherwise this mist will disperse the damage!¡± Reba yelled, ¡°But I can only use fireball!¡± Gawain was startled. ¡°What?!¡± ¡°Reba can only use fireball!¡± Heidi sounded quite exasperated. ¡°After five years of learning, that¡¯s all she can do!¡± Reba flushed red in the face. Frustrated by her ineptitude in magic, she gathered the powerful magic energy, almost using up every effort in her to shape it into the spell mould. Then with a wave of her staff, a fireball¡­ of the size of a washbasin flew toward the densest part in the mist. The sudden enlightenment before the battle that would result in a shocking turn of the tide¡ªthose things never happened. This extreme fireball caused an extreme explosion, and even the mist in front of everyone became slightly thinner. However, almost in an instant, the gaps in the mist was filled again. Worse still, Gawain suddenly heard a cry of fear and anger from behind. One of the n¡¯s soldiers¡¯ eyes were blood red. The Mist Wraith¡¯s negative energy had finally utterly defeated the soldier¡¯s spirit, and the damage to his spirit was immediately manifested on his body. Like parchment drying in the wind, his skin quickly became dry and pale. He was howling madly. He raised his longsword up high and began to swing his sword wildly as if there were enemies in all directions. The other two soldiers nearby noticed and responded. After avoiding his random attacks, they swarmed up and pinned down the poor guy who had gone mad. The soldier, who was being held down, was struggling wildly. His flesh seemed as though it was trying to leave his body as he squirmed and contorted. His eyes widened in rage, and he finally howled hoarsely, ¡°Kill me! Kill me!¡± However, blood, like dark clouds, gathered in the eyes of the two soldiers as they had no reactions to the request of theirrade. They were also about to lose their minds. Seeing this, Gawain immediately pierced the Sword of Pioneers into the ground, utilizing the power that came with his body ording to the method found in the memory, ¡°Mind Shock!¡± This was one of the few Knight¡¯s abilities that had an effect on the mind. A strong willpower would sweep across the battlefield, causing a suppressive effect on the minds of hostile targets, and it could also have a powerful boosting effect on people on their side. When Mind Shock was in effect, the fear in the two soldiers quickly dissipated, but the poor guy, who was pressed to the ground, had beenpletely broken in spirit by the Mist Wraith. After some more struggling, the soldier stopped movingpletely. Gawain¡¯s gaze quickly swept across the battlefield. He noticed that the surrounding mist did not show any signs of weakening but was instead bing denser after Heidi and Reba¡¯s attacks, and Betty, who was standing where the three soldiers were previously, had disappeared. ¡°Where¡¯s Betty?!¡± Gawain became tense, and he shouted, ¡°Betty!¡± Amber jumped out of the shadows nearby. ¡°I just saw that youngdy run into the mist. She seemed like she was sleepwalking!¡± ¡°Damned¡­ she lost control of her mind.¡± Gawain was surprised. ¡°Why is this Mist Wraith situation so weird?!¡± Amber looked horrified. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s weird about this, but it¡¯s already very bad!¡± ¡°The Mist Wraith is showing no signs of dissipating. Logically speaking, even if the mist is powerful, it should at least be weakened a little,¡± Gawain said rapidly, making a conclusion from the information ording to his memories. Although those memories were not his, he found that as long as he put it to use, they would be as useful as his own knowledge and experience. ¡°And we have also determined earlier that the magic focal point here isn¡¯t very strong. With such a typical magic focal point, why is a Mist Wraith that even has intelligence spawning here?¡± Amber was quick-witted and understood immediately. ¡°You mean that this mist didn¡¯t spawn naturally? Is there some artificial energy sources sustaining it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not necessarily an artificial energy source, but there must be something to sustain it¡ª¡± Gawain¡¯s brows furrowed as he stared at the mist as though he was trying to see through the mist and find out what it was made of. ¡°And the thing that is sustaining it should be nearby. It¡¯s just that it¡¯s messing up our senses, and we can¡¯t see it!¡± ¡°But Heidi has already used Detection¡­¡± Amber said in puzzlement. Then her eyes widened suddenly. ¡°¡­ Could it be that it isn¡¯t on this ¡®level¡¯?!¡± Before her words fell, Gawain saw the half-elf girl suddenly jump backward, and just like that, she disappeared into the air. No, she did not disappear. Gawain noticed that there was an abnormal shadow drifting across the ground nearby. It was a vague humanoid silhouette. He could vaguely make out that it was Amber¡¯s silhouette. This silhouette with only a shadow and no body seemed as though it was teleporting in the vicinity. Jumping and shifting from surface to surface, it asionally appeared on the ground or the nearby tree trunks. After jumping a few times, it really disappearedpletely. That was not a real shadow, but it was the ¡°reflection¡± that was projected onto the physical realm as Amber traveled along the edge of the physical realm in her shadow state. Such a simple, crude, but powerful ¡°Shadow Walk¡± became an eye opener for Gawain. Where exactly did this half-elf bandite from? Before Gawain coulde out with even more questions, Amber¡¯s figure suddenly appeared in the air again. She rushed forward. Just when Gawain was about to ask about the situation, she grabbed his arm and pulled him with a jerk. Gawain staggered for a moment. Then he felt himself passing through ayer of cold, illusory barrier. When his vision regained focus, the surroundings had already changed. The colors on everything were gone. It was only ck and white everywhere. A thinyer of mist shrouded this world. The mist was cold, but it did not have the effect of draining his energy as did the Mist Wraith. Gawain looked around and noticed that the forest had disappeared, but there were dry tree stumps, one after another, on the ground. and the positions of those stumps exactly matched the positions of the trees in the forest. Everyone, including Heidi, was standing not far from him, but they were motionless as if they were under a petrification spell. Reba¡¯s position was closest to Gawain. She maintained a tight grip on her staff, her face was tense, but her eyes seemed lifeless. She looked forward nkly, turned into a gray ¡®statue¡¯. The texture of her skin was like crudely made ceramics. Threads of ck mist rose from the ground nearby, entering their bodies, and creating tiny cracks in their ceramic-like bodies. This strange scene made Gawain subconsciously turn to look at his hands. After confirming that his hands were still human hands, he heaved a breath of relief. Then he grasped tightly the Sword of Pioneers, walked quickly toward Reba, ready to slice those obviously harmful ck mists. But just when he took half a step, Amber suddenly appeared beside him. The half-elf girl clutched his arm tightly. ¡°Don¡¯t go near. External force won¡¯t be able to help them. It might even make the situation worse.¡± Gawain looked at Amber in astonishment. In this ck and white world, she actually had a different look. Her hair grew long and floated behind her as if there was no gravity. And in that moment, those light brown eyes were filled with a mild golden radiance. A ck ball that looked like me gathered under her feet, continually dispersing and condensing back again. There was nothing in Gawain Cecil¡¯s memory that could exin this phenomena before him. ¡°Don¡¯t ask me too many questions. It¡¯d be awkward if you asked and I don¡¯t answer, especially after I just dug your grave. It¡¯d make me feel guilty,¡± Amber said rapidly, ¡°We have limited time. This is the first time I¡¯m entering such a ¡®deep¡¯ ce. By bringing you here, God knows how long this canst.¡± ¡°Where is this ce?¡± Gawain asked his most pressing concern. ¡°Shadow realm,¡± Amber said mildly, and she stuck out her lips toward where Heidi and the others were. ¡°Watch.¡± It was the position where Betty and the soldiers were at in the beginning. But one of the soldiers had fallen to the ground and turned into countless pale fragments. They really looked like broken ceramics. Meanwhile, the others, like Reba , still kept in the same movement and expression as when they had made contact with the Mist Wraith. However, it was just that beneath Betty¡¯s feet was a row of faintly glowing small footprints that continued forward¡­ Chapter 14 Chapter 14: Wild Mage Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios In the shadow realm. Gawain did not know what the current human nations understood about the shadow realm, but within his inherited memories, he found that the Gondor Empire, more than seven hundred years ago, had done quite some research in this area. The schrs, who studied even till their old age, studied those dull books and data all day. They stared at thettice rule that was stuck into the magic well to infer how the world truly looked like, and they had a ssic model used to describe the yering¡¯ of the world. In this ssic model, schrs believe that the world was divided into several yers¡¯, of which the uppermostyer was the most stable physical realm. Everything within the physical realm adhered tows of behavior that could be interacted with and observed easily, and it was also theyer where most creatures lived. Theyer below the physical realm was the shadow realm that most humans could not directly ess. The shadow realm was a twisted reflection of the physical realm. Normal humans would not be able to directly ess and observe it, but they could sense and measure it through using the magic and spiritual skills. Theyer below the shadow realm was the gloomshade realm, which was an even more incorporeal and secretive area, a reflection of the shadow realm. It was so inessible that it would not be reached with any magical or spiritual power. Some lucky mages had caught a few creatures of the shadow realm that had the basic intelligence formunication and spected the existence of the gloomshade realm ording to what little words they could make out of those creatures. And there were some even more radical schrs that had extended this ssic model. They believed that there might be a deeperyer below the gloomshade realm. But thatyer would belong to the realm of gods, a realm, the ¡®Origin¡¯, created by the god of creation when he created this world, an area where mortals would not be able to study. ording to Gawain¡¯s understanding, this model was likeyers of translucent kraft papers. Reality was what you would see from the front. And the shadows of this reality would be projected onto theyers of paper behind it. The further behind was theyer, the more fuzzy and warped it became. He and Amber were located behind the first piece of paper¡ªthe shadow realm. Even the secondyer was already a ce where most humans had never set foot upon. He was discerning enough not to ask Amber about how she had the ability to enter the shadow realm at that moment. Moreover, judging from what Amber said earlier, this was her first time ¡®entering such a deep ce¡¯, thus he probably would not get any answer from her. There were still many secrets of this world worth exploring and many things could not be understood by hanging in the sky for a long time. A simple conclusion led Gawain to believe that following Betty¡¯s footsteps would be their only way to move forward. But before leaving this ce, he looked back uneasily. Heidi, Reba and the others were still standing there in that ¡®ceramic doll¡¯ state. Their real bodies were defending against the Mist Wraith¡¯s attack in the real world, but in the shadow realm, they were stuck in that instant when they were attacked. And the ck mist permeating from the ground continued to disintegrate them. Fortunately, judging by the speed at which the mist was corroding them, they still had some time left. ¡°Perhaps this is the Mist Wraith¡¯s true form.¡± Amber looked in the direction of Gawain¡¯s gaze, shook her head, and said, ¡°How much do you think we should ask if we were to sell this piece of discovery to the Association of Mystics or Association of Astrologers?¡± ¡°They will force you to drink potions, tie a recording crystal to your head, put a tracking spell on you, and throw you into the shadow realm to be used as their scout-woman,¡± Gawain gave Amber the roll of the eyes. ¡°Follow along. We have business to attend to. ¡± As Amber followed behind Gawain, she continued to ramble on, ¡°But you can show up personally, right? As the founding father of Anzu, they wouldn¡¯t feed you potions, would they?¡± ¡°What do you think?¡± Gawain scoffed. ¡°They were happy to hang me on the wall, write me in the books, and put me on the table. Even the king was willing to take his whole family to give me a bouquet personally and give himself a three-days vacation. It had no risk, and it would give him a reputation too. But if they found out that this ancestor had really popped out of the coffin, I¡¯m afraid the first reaction of those people who put me there would want to push me back into the coffin, then hammer in two hundred nails in every direction. If they were a bit more ruthless, they would probably pour molten lead into my mouth¡­ ¡± Amber was stupefied. ¡°Why?!¡± Gawain looked at this half-elf who could not get the point, and he shot back at her irritably, ¡°Because the three days of tomb sweeping across the country would be gone!!¡± With that said, Gawain strode forward inrge steps, leaving Amber behind who finally came back with a reply, ¡°Wait a minute! You¡¯re wrong! They don¡¯t take a holiday when sweeping your tomb! It¡¯s only when they offer sacrifices to the founding kings! You died early, so I guess you don¡¯t know¡­ ¡± Gawain almost fell head first to the ground. But although he dispelled Amber¡¯s idea selling information about the shadow realm, Gawain had his own n. He was filled with curiosity about this shadow realm, or perhaps¡­ he was very curious about this entire world. Thus, he wanted to understand everything about this world. The footprints did not go very far. Perhaps this was a special characteristic of the shadow realm. The way of judging distance that they had been so used to in the physical realm was not very effective here. Gawain and Amber had only walked a short distance following the footprints when a wooden house suddenly appeared in front of them. The wooden house was small and worn out. It must have been around for a long time. He could see surrounding the wooden house was a circle of damaged fencing. From what was left of the fence, it was hardly able to be of any use as protection. Then, at the corner of the house, Gawain noticed color. It was the color of moss, which was very eye-catching in this monochrome world. As time passed, the small patch of color was fading away quickly. Betty¡¯s footprints continued to to the cabin door. Amber pulled out her small dagger and gestured nervously in front of her chest, ¡°Later, you sir can use your Heavenly Descent and rush in and hack at everything. I¡¯ll support you from behind¡­¡± Gawain thought for a moment, and held back his impulse to grab Amber by the cor and throw her in to clear the way. Instead, with one hand on the handle of the Sword of Pioneers, he carefully pushed open therge gray door with the other hand. However, there was no attack. The wooden house was just an ordinary house, old and run down, like an old monochrome photo. But there was someone inside. A man with an unkempt beard and wearing a shabby robe sat behind a square table in the middle of the wooden house. He looked so haggard that Gawain could not tell his true age. Behind this man were two wooden shelves filled with bottles and jars and an old alchemy table. The devices needed for magic experiments were everywhere in the room, but they were all piled up with other junk. Any normal mage would probably want to cry at the sight of such a miserable scene. The man behind the square table looked up in Gawain¡¯s direction, and he gave a stiff smile. ¡°Ah, guests. It¡¯s been a long time since anyone visited myboratory. And there are two of you?¡± Amber poked her head out from behind Gawain. The half-elf girl showed a guarded expression, ¡°We¡¯re¡­ not fighting?¡± Gawain did not pull out his sword, but he did not keep his hand too far away from the handle. Maintaining his readiness to attack at any instant, he stepped into the wooden house. ¡°We¡¯re passing by, looking for a person. She¡¯s a girl of about fifteen or sixteen years old, and she carries a pan¡­¡± However, the man behind the table seemed as though he did not hear what Gawain said. He only smiled slowly and gave a faint nod. ¡°Please take a seat. Annie is preparing lunch. There¡¯s no ce to rest deep in the old forest. If you don¡¯t mind, stay for a meal.¡± ¡°Annie?¡± Gawain asked instinctively. ¡°She¡¯s my daughter.¡± the man smiled. ¡°She¡¯s a very nice girl.¡± Then a girl eximed from the side, ¡°Lord?¡± Gawain looked in the direction of the voice and saw Betty looking surprised as she stood beside a small door at the corner of the wooden house. ¡°Betty? It¡¯s great that you¡¯re okay.¡± Gawain immediately heaved a breath of relief. ¡°I¡¯m here to take you back.¡± However, Betty shook her head faintly, and the man behind the square table looked at the youngdy, asking gently, ¡°Annie, is lunch ready?¡± Betty nodded obediently. ¡°It¡¯ll be ready soon, Father.¡± The youngdy turned around and went back to the kitchen. Gawain and Amber exchanged looks. Upon confirming that the weird man behind the square table was not responding, they followed behind her. Betty was cooking in the kitchen. Using her precious pan, pale white mes danced at the stove, and on the pan were sausages that were being fried and making sizzling sounds. Amber¡¯s concern was odd. ¡°You can even cook in the shadow realm?¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Gawain came over to Betty and asked in a low voice. From the youngdy¡¯s demeanor, he could tell that she had not been put under spells like mind control, but she was staying here to cook of her own choosing. And she was calling the weird man outside ¡°Father¡±. Now that was truly quite strange. ¡°I don¡¯t quite understand too.¡± Betty¡¯s face was as confused as ever, ¡°But the man outside seemed to treat me as his daughter ¡­¡± Amber¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°So you just take him as your Father so obediently?¡± Betty shook her head. ¡°He¡¯s very pitiable¡­ so I wanted to cook for him before leaving.¡± Gawain and Amber looked at each other. Then Betty suddenly reached into her maidservant¡¯s skirt pocket, took out an old notebook, and handed it to Gawain. ¡°Lord, this is¡­ the man gave this to me. I don¡¯t understand a lot of things here, but you should be able to read it.¡± Gawain took the notebook, which was not very thick, and he quickly flipped through thest few pages of notes. Amber curiously leaned her head forward, ¡°What? What? Let me have a look¡­ magic form? Rune sequence?¡± The half-elf girl, confused by theplicated symbols and calctions, looked up in stupor at Gawain. ¡°So that strange old man is actually a mage?¡± ¡°Strictly speaking, he¡¯s a wild mage.¡± Gawain curled up the notebook, and knocked Amber¡¯s head with it. ¡°And couldn¡¯t you tell the moment you entered the door and saw so many magic experimental equipment!¡± Chapter 15 Chapter 15: Vanished into Smoke Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios In a murky space of half-light and shadows, Gawain, Amber, Betty and a nameless rogue mage sat in a circle in a crude wooden hut. In front of them was a lunch of simple bread, fried sausage and vegetable stew freshly prepared by Betty. The scene was as colorless as an old ck-and-white photo. Gawain had no intention of eating the food that was before him. Even though it was apparently possible to make food in the shadow realm, he could not be sure of what would happen if he, a living, breathing human (probably), ate something from this world. Beside him, Amber and Betty did not pick up their utensils either. The rogue mage sat at the opposite end of the table did not urge them to eat, but only ate the food in front of him wordlessly, an air of quiet around him. A strange kind of tacit understanding permeated the wooden hut. Gawain was the first to break the silence. ¡°How long have you been here?¡± ¡°Very long.¡± The rogue mage put down his fork and knife, and said politely, ¡°I¡¯ve lived here since my second year of leaving the Association of Mystics.¡± ¡°You were a member of the Association of Mystics?¡± Gawain asked, surprised. ¡°I thought you were a rogue mage.¡± ¡°I was originally a member of the Association of Mystics of the second rank,¡± said the rogue mage quietly. ¡°ording to the standards of the Association of Mystics, I¡¯m a terrible spellcaster¡ªmy strengths are in calction and logic, butck any spell casting abilities. In other words, my casting capabilities are only rudimentary, and this makes me unwee as a wizard to the Association of Mystics.¡± ¡°So they kicked you out?¡± Amber was bewildered. She knew how valuable a true mage was, even if he did not have good casting abilities. His deficiencies were only seen as such by the Master Mages¡ªin the eyes ofymen, even a mage who could only conjure up a tiny fireball were celebrated. Though these low-level casters were not treasured by the Association of Mystics, it did not warrant kicking him out. ¡°I left out of my own will.¡± The rogue mage shook his head, turning to Betty. ¡°For my daughter. To heal her, I had to leave.¡± Betty stared nkly at the rogue mage, and then nodded stupidly. Gawain did not press the matter further. Staring into the rogue mage¡¯s eyes, heid his right hand on the hilt of the long sword by his waist and said slowly, ¡°You should know what we came here to do¡ªwe don¡¯t have much time to waste.¡± There was finally a slight change in the rogue mage¡¯s stiff and dull expression. He trembled slightly as he bowed his head. ¡°¡­ My guest, I don¡¯t quite understand you.¡± Betty looked at Gawain a little anxiously. ¡°My lord?¡± Gawain frowned. After a moment, he moved his hand away from the hilt of his pioneer¡¯s sword and exhaled. ¡°We¡¯ll give you a moment, then.¡± The rogue mage bowed his head and continued to eat his meal in silence. The only superfluous movement he made as he ate was to raise his head to look at Betty intermittently. The food would eventually be finished, and Gawain could not wait indefinitely. The rogue mage ate thest mouthful of his sausage before cleaning up the vegetable stew in the soup bowl with his bread. When he had finished, he lifted his head and looked in Betty¡¯s direction¡ªthough his gaze was not on her, but looking at something far away. His body swayed as he tried to stand, but he was unsessful in all his attempts. In the end, Betty was the one who helped him up. ¡°Papa, I¡¯m going off now.¡± The little girl held the rogue mage by his elbow, only letting go when she was sure he was stable. She shuffled over to Gawain¡¯s side. ¡°Miss Reba and Madam Heidi are still waiting for me¡ªand also, my lord has returned.¡± The rogue mage¡¯s lips quivered. Atst he nodded gently, his expression now serene. He instructed carefully, ¡°Don¡¯t eat food from strangers.¡± ¡°Go to bed on time.¡± ¡°Remember to listen to your teacher.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t fight with other kids.¡± The light of reason faded from the poor man¡¯s eyes gradually, and Gawain knew whatever he was saying was now only gibberish. Though, he barely had any rity left to begin with. The rogue mage¡¯s body faded away slowly, but there was something that resembled a me that started to burn in the fainter shadows. Gawain had been waiting for this moment. He unsheathed his Sword of Pioneers swiftly, and on it a faint light danced. Amber pulled Betty into her embrace quickly, shielding the little girl¡¯s eyes in time. Gawain pierced his sword through the me burning in the rogue mage¡¯s chest. The fire started to vibrate wildly, the rogue mage¡¯s transformation into an evil spirit was halted. The shadowy figure rapidly solidified into an opaque entity, before the mes consumed him, reducing him into a monstrous, scorched corpse. It took half a minute before the body burnt to ash. A cracking sound was heard from everywhere. After losing its master, the small wooden hut disintegrated quickly. Dense cracks hatched across the walls and roof instantly, and the pale light of the outside wall spilled through the cracks into the house. Dragging Amber and Betty along, Gawain fled the house hastily. The moment they were outside, the entire hut crashed down. The copsed wooden hut caught fire as they watched. The mes onlysted for a short while, as if a paper house had been there instead of a wooden one. As the wooden hut crumbled into ash and drifted away in the wind, Amber grabbed Gawain¡¯s elbow suddenly. Pointing at the foundation of the wooden hut, she cried out, ¡°Aye, aye! Look at that!¡± Gawain stared intently. Beneath the ashes of the wooden hut, a shimmering light lit up. Its brilliance filtered through the snow of ashes, steadily materializing into aplex and giant construction¡ªan impressivelyrge magic circle. ¡°This is probably the rogue mage¡¯s greatest achievement in his entire lifetime.¡± Gawain nodded his head slightly. ¡°There was probably something awry with his spell that caused his fate.¡± As he spoke, Betty¡¯s shadow began to transform into floating pinpricks of light, which circled around twice before flying towards Gawain and Amber. Amber looked down at her hands. Color now returned to those greyed hands just as color began to return to her and Gawain¡¯s bodies, their rejection from the shadow realm increasingly apparent. Shadowy objects began to coalesce from the thin fog around them, shapeless, yet malevolent. Now, the natives of the shadow realm would finally be able to sniff out outsiders, and the low-level ones emerged, their behavior akin to a gathering of hyenas smelling blood. ¡°We have to flee!¡± Amber said to Gawain. ¡°We¡¯re no longer wee here!¡± Gawain cast ast meaningful nce at the ruins that had once been a hut, and tried to etch the glowing lights and sigils into his memory. Then, tugging at Amber¡¯s elbow, he barked, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± After a brief moment of vertigo, the light of reality appeared before his eyes again. The malevolent fog had dissipated and the dense forest returned to its original state. Reba and Heidi, who had both spent their power, were supporting each other under a tree. Meanwhile, Knight Byron was holding himself up with his longsword as he tried his best to protect the twodies by his side. However, the two soldiers who had survived were now copsed on the ground. Betty looked in the best shape out of all of them¡ªshe was hugging her pan as she stood beside Reba, a nk look on her face. It was as though that expression was permanently frozen on her features. After Heidi saw Gawain, she straightened up immediately and said, ¡°Ancestor¡ªwe¡¯re so d you¡¯re safe!¡± She then spotted Amber behind Gawain, and her face instantly morphed into surprised. ¡°So this thief hadn¡¯t fled?¡± ¡°Hey! What kind of discrimination is this!¡± Amber sprang up as though she were a cat whose tail had been stepped on. ¡°I¡¯ve just traveled to the shadow realm with your ancestor to save you from near death, excuse you! You big-breasted, no-brain woman¡­¡± Heidi had never imagined that this young thief would insult her like this, and her expression turned sour. ¡°Hold your mouth! That¡¯s an utterly rude thing to say! Do you know what will happen to you if you insult a noble like¡­¡± Gawain cut in quickly and said, ¡°Stop fighting. Amber wasn¡¯t lying; we did just solve the crisis together earlier, though it is wrong for her to have insulted you¡­¡± Everyone present fell silent. Reba raised a timid hand. ¡°Lord Ancestor, did you just pardon Amber for the sole positive thing she said out of everything else¡­¡± Heidi looked like she had lost the will to live. Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± Luckily, Heidi was a woman ofmon sense and did not dwell on such trivial nuisances for long. After Gawain exined what had happened clearly, all the misunderstandings melted away. Also, the sights and sounds Gawain and Amber had experienced in the shadow realm surprised everyone. Even Knight Byron, who knew nothing about magic, could not help but listen intently. After all, this was an experience that was hard to imagine. ¡°You could actually enter the shadow realm?¡± Apparently, Heidi¡¯s first concern was Amber¡¯s special abilities. She looked her up and down with suspicion, as though trying to seek the answer from the half-elf girl¡¯s face. ¡°Only a few powerful shadow mages or the ¡®chosen ones¡¯ of the Shadow Gods have this ability. How did you do it?¡± Amber looked away. ¡°I was chosen by the Goddess of the Night, okay?¡± Heidi red at her. ¡°Don¡¯t lie. How can a chosen one be struck to the ground by Byron¡¯s ordinary steel sword?¡± ¡°Enough of this questioning.¡± Atst, Gawain stopped Heidi¡¯s interrogation. ¡°I¡¯ve already promised to not ask her about this¡ªshe¡¯ll reveal it when she¡¯s ready.¡± After the Heavens and the Earth, the will of their ancestorsmanded the greatest respect. Since Gawain had already spoken, Heidi could only give up. ¡°Let¡¯s bury the dead first.¡± Now that the fog had cleared, warmth returned to everyone¡¯s bodies. Seeing that everyone had recovered a little of their strength, Gawain rose and stood beside the soldier who had died because of his broken soul. ¡°He had put up a brave fight, and should be buried as a warrior.¡± The two soldiers who had survived stared at Gawain in shock. Gawain was confused. ¡°What? Did I say something wrong?¡± ¡°He was the son of a serf.¡± Knight Byron walked over. ¡°It was by the Viscountess¡¯ grace that he could enter the army to redeem his freedom¡ªbut because he had only been in the army for half a year, he is still a serf whom cannot be buried as a warrior.¡± Gawain frowned and turned to look at Reba. ¡°Is that so?¡± Anxiety washed over Reba instantly, as though she hadmitted an offence. ¡°S-Sorry! But I thought that serfdom wasn¡¯t¡­ wasn¡¯t very fair, so I thought to make them earn their freedom by serving in the army. I know this is against the rules, but¡­¡± Gawain¡¯s frown softened. ¡°No, I wasn¡¯t ming you.¡± He then crouched over and fumbled for a coin from his breast. Then, he slipped it into the dead soldier¡¯s front pocket against his heart. That coin was ced in Gawain Cecil¡¯s breast pocket by Charlie the First¡¯s own hand when he was buried. Upon seeing the coin, Amber realized what it was immediately and covered her eyes. ¡°Goodness¡­ at least half the manor¡­¡± However, Gawain had no idea of this, only going through the motions ording to the rules in his memory. Then, dusting his hands as he rose, he said, ¡°Now that the debt of his soul has been redeemed, bury him.¡± Byron hesitated slightly. ¡°But thews¡­¡± Gawain looked him in the eye. ¡°I am thew.¡± Chapter 16 Chapter 16: Omen Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Less than a few hundred meters away from where they were attacked, Gawain found the cabin that had turned into ruins. It was copsed among the trees. From the burn marks, it could be inferred that it was a fire that spread from the inside out, but the fire did not spread any farther, perhaps because of the rain. Knight Byron inspected the burned remains around the cabin and determined that the fire should have urred more than half a month ago. Heidi detected a magical power that had already be very faint at the scene. ¡°What we saw in the shadow realm should be a reflection,¡± Gawain looked at the ruins of the cabin in the forest clearing and gave his opinion. ¡°This wild mage has been living, secluded in this ce for many years. This ce is outside of the family territory. Even hunters won¡¯te here, so no one would even realize that a hermit lived here. ¡± ¡°The problem is¡­ how did the ident happen?¡± Heidi frowned. ¡°There is only a weak magic focal point here, and the wild mage living here is very weak, even if one of his magic experiments went out of control and burned the house down, it couldn¡¯t have possibly created a reflection in the shadow realmsting for such a long period of time and then even create such a powerful Mist Wraith¡­ The magical power required for all this isn¡¯t something that a single wild mage could supply.¡± ¡°Perhaps this notebook can shed some light on that,¡± Gawain said, cing the worn notebook into Heidi¡¯s hand. That was the notebook that he had gotten from Betty in the shadow realm. It was that wild mage¡¯s diary and research notes. Following Gawain¡¯s instructions, Heidi flipped to the second half of the notebook and took a closer look. ¡°¡­ Anzu, year 729, XX day of Fire Month. It has been six months since moving to this ce. I¡¯ve found a magic focal point at the edge of the Cecil n¡¯s territory. Although its power couldn¡¯t bepared with the public magic focal point of the City of Thousand Towers, it was enough to support myboratory. There was only one type of elemental power here, and its stable. Annie should be able to get better here.¡± ¡°Anzu, year 729, XX day of Harvest Month. Annie¡¯s condition seems to have improved, and she hasn¡¯t rpsed for a long time. I still don¡¯t know if it is the effect of the environment here or if it is the effect of my rituals and medicine. The magic focal point here is too weak. Even with the Amplification Circle, the effect of my rituals would be greatly diminished. Perhaps I should reevaluate those forms that have been derived previously¡­ Though those in the Association of Mystics alwaysughed at my calctions, I¡¯ve quit anyways, and they¡¯re not going to bother me here¡­¡± ¡°Anzu, year 730, day XX of Fog Month. Those forms and derivations werepletely in line with my expectations! No, I should say that everything went just as I had calcted. With the new amplification form, the power of the magic focal point was enhanced greatly! With more magical power, I can finally start the next stage of treatment for Annie. Although she has hardly rpsed in these few months, the treatment must continue because she can¡¯t take this torment anymore¡­¡± ¡°Anzu, year 731, day XX of Cold Month. After treatment, Annie could even get up from bed and walk around. She even made a meal! She made fried sausage and vegetable soup. It seems like it¡¯s been a hundred years since I¡¯ve eaten something as good as this, though the sausages were charred, and she had forgotten to add salt to the vegetable soup¡­ This proves that my treatment n was effective, and as long as this magic focal point can continue to steadily supply magic power, it¡¯s only a matter of time before Annie recovers fully¡­¡± After that, the diary was mostly about the daily life of the author and his daughter. Heidi quickly skipped through this section until she came across an untidy entry on thest few pages. ¡°Anzu year 734, day XX of Frost Month. Annie is sick. Damn!!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what went wrong. All the treatments were going ording to n. There was no error in each step of the ritual. We¡¯ve used the medicine for several years already. It has never been a problem! But Annie still fell ill, very ill¡­ It¡¯s worse than all the previous times. I have to find the cause as soon as possible. I want to record all the details, all the¡­ I want to find the cause. Annie will definitely be okay¡­¡± ¡°Anzu, year 734, day XX of Frost Month. Annie hasn¡¯t gotten any better. The new doses of medicine have no effect. She¡¯s still bing weaker, and¡­ she¡¯s starting to drift away from this world. This morning, I saw her hands be transparent like mist, and there were many blisters on her face. The world was rejecting her, pushing her into the shadow realm. What should I do¡­¡± ¡°Anzu year 734, day XX of Fog Month. The damned sun. It¡¯s dark red patterns looks like they¡¯reughing at my powerlessness! I finally found the cause of the problem¡­ but I¡¯ve no way to resolve it¡­ The elemental energy is being enriched in an abnormal fashion. There is a surge in the magical power. This weak magic focal point simply can¡¯t amodate so much magical power. Even if I remove those Amplification Circles, it¡¯ll be of no use. The wisest move now will be to keep Annie away from here where the elemental energy is being enriched. But she has already stayed here for too long. Her body has resonated with the elemental environment. This type of resonance is prolonging her life¡­ and yet it¡¯ll also kill her!¡± ¡°Anzu year 734, day XX of Fog Month. There¡¯s something wrong with the magical power in the whole region. It¡¯s surging intensely. The Cecil territory¡¯s borders seem to have fallen into the legendary Sea of Magic. I can no longer reverse the changes to Annie¡¯s body. Half of her body is already gone from the material realm. In the morning, she even told me that she saw the whole house turn ck and white. Perhaps¡­ I can only find another approach¡­¡± ¡°Anzu, year 735, Fire Month. After so long, all the preparations are finally done. Annie¡¯s health is also at its limit.¡± ¡°This is my only chance, and I have no other choice.¡± ¡°Since I can¡¯t keep Annie alive in the physical world, I might as well take another path.¡± ¡°The ritual of Shadow Transformation is documented in literature. It¡¯s just that the amount of magical power required is so unimaginably great. But in this case, it might not be impossible. I used a new amplification form, a new way to draw the circle, and it has caused a surge in magical power. The magical power in this area is in an abnormally active state. I have suppressed the energy umted in the magic focal point for several months, and today, it¡¯s finally just barely enough. Now, I¡¯ll just have to wait until the sun rises up to the center of the sky when the magical power will be the strongest, and I can then start the transformation.¡± ¡°Annie, hang in there. Father will save you, and Father will go with you to the shadow realm. We¡¯ll live there for a long time, and you¡¯ll not suffer anymore.¡± The diary ended there. Heidi was about to close the notebook when Gawain suddenly pointed to the corner of thest page. ¡°Actually, there are some words here.¡± Heidi quickly took a close look. There was a ck ink smudge in the corner. She had thought it was the stain caused from tipping over the ink bottle, but upon closer inspection, she realized that it was an untidy set of words written with a finger dipped in ink. ¡°The magical power is out of control¡­ the sun is red¡­¡± Heidi repeated these words in puzzlement, ¡°The sun is red¡­ How can the sun be red?¡± ¡°Could it be the time when the red spots burst?¡± Reba suddenly remembered something and said, ¡°It was more than half a month ago when many more red spots appeared on the sun than usual. If the wild mage wasn¡¯t very sober back then, perhaps he might have thought that the sun was red¡­ ¡± Heidi batted her eyes as though she agreed with Reba¡¯s exnation. Then she shook the notebook in her hand, ¡°With this notebook, we can find the answers to many things. It seems that this unknown wild mage was trying to cure his daughter¡¯s illness, so he set up a magic circle of quite a significant scale here. Then heter came up with the crazy idea of transforming himself and his daughter into a shadowy form to preserve her life. But his transformation ritual went haywire due to the magical surge, causing the fire half a month ago, and also resulted in the formation of the Mist Wraith and what Ancestor saw in the shadow realm¡­ ¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the point,¡± Gawain interrupted Heidi suddenly, ¡°We can find the direct exnation to the cabin in the shadow realm and the Mist Wraith from the notes. What I wanted you to see was the two details mentioned in the notes. The first is about the dark red patterns on the surface of the sun, and the second is about therge-scale burst of the red spots on the sun¡¯s surface.¡± Heidi noticed Gawain¡¯s serious countenance, and she became a little nervous, ¡°Ancestor, these two incidents¡­¡± Gawain waved his hand. ¡°As mages, you two should also have sensed the surge in magical power that the wild mage mentioned in his notes, right?¡± Heidi and Reba nced at each other and nodded in unison. ¡°Recently, Cecil territory did have a few surges in magical power, but these surges are quite normal. All the magical power in the worldes from the sun, and since the sun is always evolving and changing, the magic here would also naturally fluctuate. Although the surge of magic within the territory has been quite frequent recently, it hasn¡¯t reached a level of concern.¡± Gawain looked at them both and said slowly, ¡°Gondor, year 1736. Arge quantity of dark red patterns were observed on the surface of the sun. Year 1738, thergest bursting of red spots in history was observed. Nearly half of the sun¡¯s surface was covered by the red spots. In the same year, 26 provinces in the empire reported a surge in magical power over arge area. The surge wasn¡¯t too great, but the surge was spread over almost two thirds of the empire. In year 1739, the sun was blood red. A dark red sky shrouded the entire country. But there were no disasters at that time. Instead, arge number of magically gifted babies were born. ording to the records, almost one-third of the newborns born on that day had affinity to elemental power. And there was even a shortage of resonance stones in newborn testing organizations across thend, so court schrs announced that day to be called the ¡®Dawn of Magic¡¯. But also in the same year, arge explosion urred at the ¡®Well of Deep Blue¡¯, thergest magical power supply facility near Gondor. The cause of the explosion was the sudden surge of strong, chaotic magical power in the magic focal point located at the Well of Deep Blue. The Extraction Circle was unable to handle this chaotic energy, eventually leading to the reactor core meltdown¡­¡± Gawain paused, but Heidi, with a pale expression, continued saying, ¡°¡­ Gondor, year 1740. The Dark Wave broke out, and the strongest human empire in history was destroyed within months¡­¡± Chapter 17 Chapter 17: The Town of Tanzan Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios When Heidi¡¯s voice fell, everyone present swallowed subconsciously. All except Betty¡ªthe little girl did not understand anything they said. Reba could not help but think of the monsters who had ruined her home. Those monsters were the product of the Dark Wave. She had once thought that these monsters had wandered over from the wastnds through the Great Barrier and intruded into Anzu territory¡ªafter all, the Cecil n¡¯s territory bordered the south of Anzu, which was pretty close to the wastnd. If something was really wrong with one of the sentinel towers that caused a breach in the Great Barrier, then it was conceivable that some monsters would havee through. Now, Reba could not help but imagine an even worse scenario¡ªwhat if the monsters had note from the wastnds, but were born on Cecil territorynds? What if those monsters¡­ foretold a new tide of magic? ¡°Um¡­ aren¡¯t we getting a little too worried about this?¡± Amber was the first to break the silence. The half-elf girl forced a smile and pointed to the notes in Heidi¡¯s hands. ¡°That¡¯s just a notebook from a single rogue mage. The rity of his records are questionable. Do we really have to link it to the Dark Wave?¡± Gawain did not rebut her, but nodded. ¡°Yeah, I might just be a little too nervous.¡± After all, he was only analyzing the inherited archives of someone¡¯s memory. Even though it felt awesome to spew out the great history of seven hundred years past in person from memory, he felt a little shocked by its contents after his recital. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Amber breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Gawain nod. ¡°Your ancestor has been dead for seven hundred years, and his mind is still adapting to modern times¡ªI know you¡¯ve experienced the Dark Wave in your lifetime, so the psychological shadow is probably causing¡­ Ouch!¡± Reba smacked her staff onto the half-elf¡¯s head and red at her. ¡°Don¡¯t be rude to Lord Ancestor!¡± Gawain cast a strange look at Reba¡¯s wand. In his head, he was thinking about how she was already rude for hitting her old ancestor with the ¡°rod of ¡®rest in peace''¡±¡­ ¡°Whatever may be the truth of this matter, we have to report this to His Majesty the King when we reach St. Soniel,¡± said Heidi as she handed the notebook to Gawain. ¡°As for how much the King would believe of this¡­ That¡¯s not something we can influence.¡± Gawain tucked the notebook away in silence, suppressing all manner ofplicated thoughts to the back of his mind. Then, he lifted his head and gazed at therge ¡°sun¡± in the sky. There was no canopy shading the de. The sky was wide open above them, and a giant sun had now reached its zenith. The mighty yet oppressive crown of brightness was bringing light, heat, as well as the power of magic to this world. Perhaps it was thest element that brought about a drastically different natural order on this from that of Earth¡¯s. Gawain¡¯s eyes traveled across the surface of this giant sun. Those faint streaks looked like they could be storms on the surface of the gas giant. He tried to scour the surface for any ominous dark red spots on it, but his efforts were in vain: their appearances were only but a sh on the surface and disappeared as suddenly as they came. However, the sense of foreboding in Gawain¡¯s heart did not vanish with it. He merely pushed his concerns to the back of his mind, silently nning what he should do next. First of all, he had to gain a foothold in this world. Even though his family was run-down and ancient now¡­ having a starting point was better than building it from scratch in the wilderness or cemeteries. After passing through the dense forest, their journey became much easier. Perhaps the w of conservation of character¡± did exist, for the crew were not waid by any more monsters or ¡°natural phenomena¡±. They thus made their way to the main road safely, and even met a small caravan of traveling merchants along the way. After handing them an adequate amount of money, the crew finally put their worries of having to traverse over hill and dale on foot, and rode with them in a carriage that sped towards Tanzan. The leader of the merchants was a plump northerner who hailed from the richernds of the kingdom and sold local products and herbs in the south. He told them he had nned to head to the Cecil territory to secure onest deal, but heard that it was in the throes of a terrible disaster along the way, causing him to abandon his journey halfway. At first, he was cautious and was reluctant to bring Gawain and the rest of his weapon-carrying crew on board, but Heidi managed to finally persuade him with two pieces of gold, and even talked her way into letting them ride in the carriage. Gold was indeed the most eloquent negotiator in business transactions (for sure). On their seventh day after leaving the Cecil territory, the gates of Tanzan Town finally loomed over them. This was the first time Gawain was in such close contact to a town popted by humans in this world. Of course, he had climbed up the top of a hill to look at the estate that was named after him before he left, but the entire Cecil territory had already been utterly destroyed by elemental forces, which was afterwards burned by a dragon who had spat fire on it like it was creating an abstract painting. Really, he could not make out anything of the local culture by then, but seeing Tanzan Town right in front of him¡­ did not feel that good, to be honest. He even felt a little disappointed. Tanzan Town was huge¡ªthat was what Reba said, anyway. Because of its wide ins, fertilend and proximity to a river, this town was one of the most popted southern towns, with close to ten thousand inhabitants on its triangr tnd. The river flowed from the west, and split into two before running past the north and south of Tanzan Town, irrigating much of the nearby farnd and serving as a path for transport. The eastern side of town was nestled against a mine, which powered the economy of the settlement. Such a ce, with its fertile fields, mine, and river as a road for transport, ought to be a prosperous town in every sense. However, the majority of what Gawain saw after he entered the town were sallow-faced citizens, countless low, shabby wooden huts, and dirty, smelly streets. Because the civilizations of this world were not so far advanced that humans were taking over nature to the extent of keeping all kinds of monsters and beasts in zoos, and the threat of frequent conflicts at the border existed, the entire town was surrounded by a low wall that offered some protection. The impoverished areas were stacked by the wall, reminiscent of moss and sores squashed tightly together inyers. There was no beauty to the run-down houses, which were at best a shelter against wind and rain. Meanwhile, there was a broad road leading from the gates to the heart of the town, but the scenery was not any better either. Seated in the carriage, Gawain observed those on the street. He saw the poor, d in short garments, walking on either side of the road. There were only a minority of townspeople who wore shoes, while the majority tread on feet wrapped with rags, with the abject poor going barefoot, unable to afford even rags. The people who walked in the middle of the street donned clothes that were much cleaner, and had shoes to wear too. They did not interact nore into any conflict with one another, but only went about their way quietly, as though they were living in separate worlds. They were clearly living in the same town and walking on the same road, but seemed as though they were living in two distinct universes. Gawain searched through the memories of Cecil, but discovered that there was not much avable topare this with. Gawain Cecil had been born in the glorious empire of Gondor, and grew up surrounded bynds of abundance, so there existed no such scene at that time. Later, during the outbreak of Gondor¡¯s Dark Wave, Cecil had led his people to the north, leaving a bloody path in their wake. On their journey, everyone had shared weal and woe with no distinction between sses. After the establishment of the Anzu Kingdom, the pioneers had built their kingdom upon the wilderness from scratch, with some pioneering grand dukes and even the King himselfying down their swords to plow the fields instead. How could he have seen such a scene then? And then¡­ and then, Gawain Cecil had died on the southern frontier, a hero who had died at the young age of 35, who had never lived to see the country he had created divided between rich and poor. Thus, he could only turn to ¡°his descendants¡± for help, and ask about the rules of the roads. ¡°The people trudging on either side of the roads are serfs and veborers in the mines,¡± Heidi exined. ¡°The people walking in the peripheral area of the road are the impoverished free. They aren¡¯t allowed to walk on the main road, because they won¡¯t be able to donate any money when the road undergoes renovation. The people traveling in the middle of the road are the legitimate ¡°townspeople¡± and foreign merchants or mercenaries. These people, who can afford all the taxes, are allowed to walk in the middle of the road.¡± Gawain remembered that the plump businessmen had given a few coins to the guards at the gate before they entered¡ªthat must have been the city tax. He then thought about the soldier who was now buried in the forest¡ªthe son of a serf. The fact that he was able to wield his sword and die for his ruler was a result of Reba¡¯s kindness. However, even if he had died for his ruler, he was not allowed to be buried as a warrior, simply because he had not redeemed himself, nor had he even redeemed the sword itself. ¡°Lord Ancestor, is there something wrong?¡± Heidi, who had noticed the troubled expression on Gawain¡¯s face, asked. Gawain looked away from the scene outside the carriage and shook his head slightly. ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± He was only resisting against what he saw based on his perspective as a transmigrator, and now was not the time for him to pass judgment and ¡°make things right¡±. His understanding of this world was still inadequate. After pondering for a while, he looked at Heidi and said, ¡°What are you nning to do next?¡± Evidently, Heidi already had ns. ¡°We will be heading to the ruler of this ce. Viscount Andrew can be considered a reasonable man, and it¡¯d be easier for us to contact Knight Philip through him. If all goes well with Knight Philip, we will be able to search for the men who broke out that day. Afterwards, we should decide if we can resettle the people first or travel directly to the royal capital. The destruction of the Cecilnds cannot simply bemunicated by one or two messengers, but must be ryed to the King by Reba herself.¡± Gawain did not see a problem with this (mainly because he was a transmigrator who was now an ¡°ancestor¡± with a seven hundred year-old generation gap who could not think of any suggestions at all). ¡°We shall do that then.¡± Chapter 18 Chapter 18: Viscount Andrew Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios If there was any ce in Tanzan Town that could alleviate Gawain¡¯s disappointment and allow him to experience the ssic and elegant beauty of another culture, there was only the rich district in the northern central part of the town. Several roads and a perimeter wall separated the district from the slum area outside. It was a rtively cleaner ce where the ¡®respectable¡¯ people lived. There were beautiful two storey buildings, each made of light gray stones and cedar wood. There were dried fish and cured meat drying on the balcony on the second floor. These were the symbols of the wealthy. Although Tanzan was just a town, far from the size of a city, people who lived in the rich district would im to be proud city residents. They were people who were free and could afford to pay various taxes, and they had decent jobs in town, such as being the owner of farms or as a foreman in the mines. Today, these respectable people stood on their balconies, where they dried fish and cured meats, and discussed recent events with their neighbors just like they did in the past. Anything that was slightly interesting was worth talking about. The most talked about topic was without a doubt the event that took ce in Cecil territory. Tanzan Town and its surrounding areas werends held by Viscount Andrew, and Viscount Andrew¡¯s territory was a neighboring territory to the Cecil¡¯s. Although there wererge deste areas between the prosperous region of the two territories, there were still roads connecting them. Thus, even in this age of slowmunication, news of what happened in Cecil territory had already been spread across the whole of Tanzan Town. Firstly, a group of people looking like refugees fled here under the leadership of a knight and about a dozen soldiers. Then, the news was spread that Cecil territory had beenpletely destroyed by the flood of monsters and elementals. This horrifying news was just like those stories spun by bards. The citizens, who lived in peace for many years, did not believe it at all initially, but those refugees and the battered soldiers had evidently entered their town. Subsequently, Viscount Andrew quickly gave out orders. Not only did he implement stricter curfew enforcement, but he also increased the number of patrols in the area around the town. Thus, the absurd horror story became a reality. The grievous news from the Cecil territory went from being idle chatter among the city residents¡­ to serious discussions. At first they were only casually talking about that when they met in the taverns. Now, they had to stand at their balconies and discuss it seriously with dried fish and cured meat as the backdrop. Just when these respectable people talked about how this was really the end of the declining Cecil n, those involved from the Cecil n had already passed through the rich district and the churches and entered Viscount Andrew¡¯s castle. Regardless of how difficult the life of the poor in Tanzan Town was, Viscount Andrew¡¯s home always looked splendid. In fact, due to the populous and affluent territory and the n¡¯s ability to umte wealth, the castle built by the viscount was far more beautiful than the little old fortress Reba had lived in since she was a child. After informing the guards of their identity, Viscount Andrew¡¯s butler invited Gawain and the others into the castle. They were taken to a spacious and bright living room and sat behind a long wooden table, waiting for the Viscount to meet them. Seated in therge andfortable velvet seat and looking at the exquisite silver tea set before him, Gawain could not help but think of those poor people, who could be described as wearing clothes not even covering their bodies, and their houses which looked like shacks. He had to admit that this fantasy world of swords and magic was making him¡­ disillusioned. ¡°Lord Ancestor,¡± Reba, sitting next to Gawain, slightly poked her ancestor¡¯s elbow, ¡°How do we introduce youter?¡± ¡°Just as we discussed earlier. Tell it straight,¡± Gawain said without batting an eyelid. ¡°When we¡¯re here, we don¡¯t need to keep a low-profile.¡± ¡°Ancestor,¡± Heidi said, sticking out her lips in Amber¡¯s direction. ¡°Do you really think that¡­ it¡¯s appropriate for her to be here?¡± Amber was just sitting opposite Gawain. The half-elf girl was seriously studying the silver tea set in front of her. Her main method of studying was to pour out the tea and then put the cup into her clothes. In the brief moment that Gawain spent looking up, she had stuffed another spoon inside. Gawain red at the person opposite him. ¡°Amber!¡± ¡°Wah!¡± The banditdy eximed a little dramatically before embarrassedly taking the items out and putting them onto the table. The items included two teacups, three soup spoons, a silver te, a pocket watch, a nut, two wine cups, and the monocle that the butler, from earlier, had hung at his chest. Gawain: ¡°?!¡± What the heck? Miss Doraemon, how the hell did you do that?! In that moment, Gawain could not help but touch the Sword of Pioneers beside him, and he felt a heartfelt gratitude for this holy bandit for being so kind as to not steal his sword back when she was digging his grave¡­ ¡°She is an important witness to my resurrection,¡± Gawain said, trying to hold back the twitching on his face, and he said, trying to look serious, ¡°And don¡¯t you think she would be more likely to ruin things if we put her somewhere else out of our sights?¡± Heidi nodded contemtively in agreement. Just then, Viscount Andrew finally walked into the living room. The attendant pushed open therge oak door, and a thin, tall man came walking into the room. He wore a slim-fitting, ck ceremonial attire. His brownish-ck hair was slicked back and kept close to his scalp. The two ends of his meticulous moustache extended out both sides under his nose, and his face though pale had a somewhat abnormal flush to it. This kind of sickly look was actually quitemon among the nobles, especially among those who were not endowed with magical or physical talents. In order to experience supernatural powers beyond their natural talents and greater indulgence in pleasures, they would takerge doses of magical drugs to ¡®enhance their senses¡¯. The side effects of this magical drug would be seen in theirplexions. They were even proud of it and regarded the paleness of their skin as one of the marks of being a noble. The descendants of the Cecil family who still followed their ancestral teachings of using honest means, training up theirbat or magical skills with hard work had be the weird ones in the aristocratic circles, but this could not be helped since the Cecil n had been in decline. Forget the magic drugs that cost more than people wanted to pay for, Reba did not even have the money to repair the holes in her n¡¯s castle, but of course, she had no need to repair those holes now. ¡°Ah, the beautiful Lady Heidi, and likewise, Lady Reba, I¡¯m really sorry for myteness,¡± Viscount Andrew said in a loud and melodic voice upon entering the room, his face seemed sincerely apologetic. ¡°But I was really too busy. The grievous news that happened in Cecil territory has spread all across my territory. The people are panicking. I had to spend most of my day arranging territorial defenses and listening to reports from those on patrol.¡± Gawain immediate got goosebumps and whispered, ¡°Do nobles nowadays have to speak in this expressive melodic manner?¡± Reba lowered her voice and said, ¡°Lord Ancestor, didn¡¯t the nobility in your time do this as well?¡± ¡°We¡¯d usually sit in taverns to drink alcohol, brag about each other¡¯s business, and just talk about stuff.¡± ¡°¡­ Then I guess that the customs now are really different from back then. Of course, Viscount Andrew¡¯s way of speaking is really¡­ a little bit more special than others.¡± ¡°We understand that you really should be busy now.¡± Seeing that Reba, the rightful heir of the Cecil n, was still busy chatting with her Ancestor at this time,pletely unaware that she should stand up to receive the Viscount, Heidi suddenly and impatiently red at Reba as she stood up. ¡°But I should remind you that you should address Reba as Viscount, not Lady as she has inherited the n¡¯s title sincest year. On such asions, you should address her as Viscount Reba or Viscount Cecil.¡± Nobles of this world seemed to have less strict rules with regards to addressing someone of nobility. They could address them by their individual name or their n¡¯s name with the person¡¯s title. As Heidi red at her, Reba finally caught on. She stood up, greeted Viscount Andrew by half-rising out of her chair, which was the respect that nobles of the same level showed each other. The way she carried out the gesture was at least of eptable standard. ¡°Viscount Andrew, thank you for your hospitality.¡± ¡°You¡¯re most wee. Viscount Cecil.¡± After Heidi¡¯s soft reminder, Andrew recalled thedy¡¯s reputation in the aristocratic circle, so he became less pompous, and chose to address Reba with her n name instead of her own name, which was a more formal way of address. ¡°I¡¯m deeply sorry for what happened to Cecil territory. It¡¯s a real cmity. But I¡¯m d that you are safe and sound. It seems like the legacy of the Cecil n will be preserved.¡± What followed after was a series of unconstructive exchanging of pleasantries. One side had to follow strict protocols in showing concern for the other while the other side tried to show their gratitude for receiving this hospitality. Obviously, Reba, who was suspected to have a brain injury, was not very good at this type of socializing, so she awkwardly forced the change in topic, ¡°Before the castle fell, Knight Philip led a team to help civilians to break out. They should have fled here. ording to thews established by the founding fathers, they should have received asylum from you. How are they doing now?¡± ¡°Of course, thew enacted by the founding fathers are sacred. Although my territory is small, it is more than capable to help a neighbor who is in trouble.¡± Andrew nodded. ¡°The brave knight was battered with injuries then, and he hasn¡¯t recovered yet. I¡¯ve arranged for him to rest in the church of the Holy Light. They can provide him with the best treatment there. Those loyal soldiers and poor civilians have been arranged to stay in the eastern and southern parts of the city. Until now, not one of them have died from hunger or the cold.¡± None of the civilians from the Cecil territory, who fled here, had died from freezing or hunger. They had already shown to have taken good care of the people. Of course, it made sense for Viscount Andrew to be willing to ept those refugees. After all, all these refugees from Cecil n that he amodated would be converted into a debt that Reba had to pay for. If Reba were to want her n¡¯s people back, she must pay a ¡®mary reward¡¯ to Viscount Andrew for every headcount. Just as ¡°One should help his neighbors in distress, and a noble should shelter and protect the neighboring people of other ns in times of crisis.¡± was written in Anzu¡¯sw, ¡°The party who receives help should pay the necessary reward to the party who provides help¡± was also clearly written in the statutes. Gawain was very aware of this. After all, these twows had been set by both Gawain Cecil and Charlie the First back in the day¡­ Although Reba was not very mature as a noble, she still understood the rules. Upon hearing from Viscount Andrew, she could not help looking slightly grim as she wondered if she was even able to pay off this debt that came so suddenly. She could not help but nce at Gawain as an audacious thought, deserving of a beating, came to her. Lord Ancestor¡­ He must be wearing antiques¡­ Why not ask the old man to sell his clothes? Chapter 19 Chapter 19: Debt Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Gawain did not know about the impudent thought that hade to Reba, but even he knew that Viscount Andrew¡¯s asylum for the people of Cecil territory would note without a price. The time when leaders swore to defend their people, when people helped one another, and when people selflessly dedicated themselves to the rebuilding of civilization had long passed. Although Anzu Kingdom had yet to return to the former glory during the Gondor era, after nearly seven hundred years, the aristocrats had reached the highest level of selfishness without having teachers to teach them. Undoubtedly, from the day that the refugees of Cecil territory entered Tanzan Town, Reba had already taken on this debt. But taking on the debt was still better than letting her people die. ¡°Cecil n will thank you for your help.¡± Gawain broke the silence. ¡°but the disaster is still the pressing matter at hand.¡± Viscount Andrew had noticed Gawain sitting between Reba and Heidi from the beginning, and he was quite intrigued by this man, who wore an ancient aristocratic outfit and had a big sword by his side. There was no such character within his aristocratic circles that he knew of. However, from the respectful attitude that Heidi and Reba was treating this man with, he could tell that this man was definitely not an ordinary person. So after Gawain spoke, he asked the question, ¡°Pardon me, Sir, you are?¡± ¡°I¡¯m the ancestor of Cecil n, the pioneer of pioneers, one of the seven founding generals of Anzu, the Grand Duke of the southern borders, Gawain Cecil.¡± Heidi had been waiting for him to ask this question, and she immediately stood up, putting on a serious countenance as she introduced Gawain, ¡°You should have heard of his name ever since you were a child. He is the First Light of Dawn.¡± Gawain tried to look serious and imposing, going along with Heidi¡¯s emphatic praises as he nodded slightly. But upon hearing thest sentence, he was dumbfounded, and he asked Reba surreptitiously, ¡°What the hell is with thatst title?¡± Reba hurriedly exined, ¡°After you died, the founder king gave you a posthumous name¡­¡± Gawain was shocked. ¡°¡­ That old fool couldn¡¯t think of a better sounding name?!¡± However, upon hearing Heidi¡¯s introduction, the proper aristocrat Viscount Andrew¡¯s first reaction was a dull look. Could thisdy have gone mad after the trauma of facing those monsters and being overwhelmed by the disaster that had befallen her n? Just as Gawain had expected, unless people were to witness it firsthand, it would be impossible for them to believe that Cecil n¡¯s ancestor had actually climbed out of his coffin. Even if it was an experienced and knowledgeable noble or a learned mage, they would never believe such a fantasy. On the contrary, those illiterate civilians filled with superstitious ideas might actually believe it. After hearing what Heidi said, it was already a good disy of self-control on Andrew¡¯s part when he did not send his attendant to feed thisdy with medicine. ¡°Lady, allow me¡­ uh¡­ Give me some time to think about this.¡± Andrew tried to adjust his facial expression. He seemed as though he was trying to find a way to express how he felt without being too rude, but in the end he could not help bute out frankly. ¡°I know you have been through an unimaginable nightmare, but to tell such a wild tale¡­ Isn¡¯t this a little too much?¡± Heidi¡¯s expression remained unchanged. ¡°I expected that you would react in this way. In fact, even we can hardly believe that this is true. However, the ancestor of Cecil n has indeed awoken from his long slumber. We witnessed him sitting up from his coffin, holding the Sword of Pioneers in his hands. We have also verified that he is truly resurrected and it was not a trick like being taken over by an undead¡­ ¡± Andrew¡¯s expression was betweenughter and tears. ¡°If you have any request for me, just tell me straightforwardly. This is¡­¡± Gawain waved his hand and motioned Heidi to sit down. He put the Sword of Pioneers on the table and turned to look at Viscount Andrew. ¡°Viscount, why would Heidie up with a lie like this? A viscount¡¯s territory was destroyed by monsters and the elemental tide. Then a dragon appeared in the skies above our territory. Events of this degree is enough to rm the king in the capital. In this critical situation, would we send a person in an ancient costume carrying a lousy sword to your castle to tell you a fantasy tale just for fun?¡± As he said that, he injected the magical power from his body into the Sword of Pioneers, and as the magical power was infused into the sword, a dark red pattern once again appeared on the old longsword. This time, its pattern was clearer. Near the hilt was something that looked like a coat of arms with a sharp de crossed with an iron plow. It was Cecil n¡¯s insignia in the pioneering era that was established since the day of Anzu¡¯s founding. Knights also had magical powers, but it was just that the way in which they utilized their magical power was very different than mages. Although the Sword of Pioneers had lost most of its power in its earlier days, it still retained its basic function that enabled it to be distinguished from other swords. Andrew was a little dumbstruck upon seeing that sword. He had never seen the real Sword of Pioneers before, but several years ago, he had the fortune of seeing the replica that was enshrined in the capital¡¯s royal temple, thus he would not mistake it for anything else. If the sword on the table was not a counterfeit made by the Cecil n, then it must be the real one¡ªthe one sealed in Cecil n¡¯s ancestral tombs, the one that no one would dare to steal even if their n was on the decline. Would this declining n dig their ancestor¡¯s grave, take this sacred sword, and spin such lies? Andrew hesitated. If this thing was really a prank, then the efforts went into setting it up must be frightening. However, if it was not a prank¡­ How could anyone believe a story of an ancestor running out of his grave!! ¡°You can find elven craftsmen to appraise this sword. This sword was forged by their nsmen. They know how to check the elven seal. You can also take out the portraits of the founding princes and dukes forparison. Though I¡¯ve slept for 700 years, it¡¯s fortunate that my looks haven¡¯t changed much.¡± Watching Andrew¡¯s changing expressions, Gawain smiled and said, ¡± If you can do that, you can also seek out the elven mercenaries, who have participated in the Second Settlement and now live secludedly in the mountains. Perhaps there may be some of them who know me.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not necessary.¡± Viscount Andrew gave a wave of his hand, kneaded the space between his brows as he thought that these things that had happened were really not something he was adept at handling, ¡°If you¡¯re the legendary hero¡­ I guessing back to life after sleeping for 700 years could be possible.¡± Even so, a discerning person could tell with a nce that this viscount still could not quite believe Gawain. Still doubtful, he was only using an excuse to pause the conversation for the moment. He thought it out. What has this matter got to do with him? Why did he have to wrack his brain over whether this matter was true or not? Since the Cecils have said that it was true, he could just take it as the truth. Anyways, he was just an ancient who had been dead for 700 years. However, after thinking through these things, Viscount Andrew seemed to then catch on to a detail that Gawain had mentioned earlier, ¡°Wait a minute, you said¡­ a dragon appeared in the vicinity?!¡± ¡°Yes, a blue dragon. I don¡¯t know where it came from, but in the end, it went northwest¡­¡± Gawain nodded before telling him about all the things that happened in Cecil territory, ¡°¡­ That was what happened.¡± ¡°Aberration¡­ the monsters from the era of the Dark Wave¡­ and dragons¡­ my god¡­¡± Viscount Andrew¡¯s brows seemed as though they were going to lock together, and even the red flush on his pale face faded away. ¡°What¡¯s happening with this world¡­ ¡± ¡°What¡¯s happening with this world is something that those schrs and the king have to think about. What we need to do is pass on the news of what happened here to the city of St. Soniel as soon as possible.¡± Heidi interrupted Andrew, ¡°The situation is at a critical state. ¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already sent a messenger to report the attack on Cecil territory,¡± Viscount Andrew said, ¡°The messenger has already set off on a fast horse. He should already be halfway there by now.¡± It seemed that Viscount Andrew had actually been quitepetent. Not only did he ept the refugees near his territory, but he also sent a messenger to report to the king at the earliest moment. His performance was probably outstanding among the current aristocrats at the borders. However, Heidi had to make a further request, ¡°Viscount Andrew, this is not enough. This situation has be so serious that Reba must meet His Majesty in person. And since the Grand Duke of Cecil has woken up from his long slumber, he must go to the capital as well. We are grateful for the aid you provided to the Cecil n, but we still need more help. ¡± Hearing that, Andrew¡¯s eyelids lowered as though he was contemting. Then he stood up and paced around in front of the long table with his hands crossed behind his back. ¡°What do you need? Horses? Supplies? Guards?¡± ¡°Everything,¡± Reba plucked up her courage and said, ¡°And we also ask of you to help take care of the people of Cecil territory for a while until we return from the capital and have a new territory to amodate those people¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s where the problem is,¡± Viscount Andrew raised his hand and interrupted Reba. ¡°Actually, I was going to talk about this. I¡¯m already trying my best to help my neighbors, and I¡¯m happy to be of help. However, I¡¯m only a viscount. How can I feed all those refugees? ¡± Gawain picked up the ck tea before him that had gotten slightly cold, took a sip as he mused at how the viscount had finally broached the topic of ¡®business¡¯. Reba said impatiently, ¡°Knight Philip brought a bunch of gold and silver when he broke out. The gold and silver should be enough¡­¡± ¡°Of course, I know about the gold and silver,¡± Viscount Andrew interrupted Reba again, ¡°Please rest assured that I¡¯m not a man who takes advantage of others who are vulnerable. However, medicine and food cost money. I mentioned that earlier, didn¡¯t I? When the brave knight arrived in Tanzan Town, he was battered, and almost all of the soldiers and civilians whom he brought along with him were wounded. To treat them, I used the best medicine we have and used our best priest. These are all very expensive. That gold and silver was just barely enough for that. ¡± Reba¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Of course, I still want to emphasize that I¡¯m not someone who takes advantage of others who are vulnerable,¡± Viscount Andrew continued. ¡°So I will continue to amodate those refugees, and I will offer you as much help as possible. I just want to make certain that after I¡¯ve done all that, will the Cecil n still be able to pay this debt?¡± Chapter 20 Chapter 20: Worthiness of Investment Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Gawain was starting to find Viscount Andrew to be quite an interesting fellow. He was more like a businessman than a nobleman. But at the same time, he was not a very shrewd businessman, at least in Gawain¡¯s perspective. A savvy businessman would not bring up things like transactions, bargaining chips, and debts at this juncture. It was beneath a nobleman to bring up such matters. Viscount Andrew¡¯s best course of action should be to remain poised as he continued to help Cecil n, but at the same time also allow his influence to be felt by the knights and soldiers under his protection. Then, using his status as a nobleman, he should ascertain his ¡®creditor¡¯s rights¡¯ legally pertaining to Cecil n¡¯s debt and bring up his creditor¡¯s rights before the king. After that¡­ it would no longer matter whether Reba would be willing to pay her debts or not. The kingdom¡¯sws and the rules of the aristocracy would help him to fulfill the transaction. Of course, Gawain could understand why Viscount Andrew would feel this way. After all, Cecil n¡¯s decline was a well-known fact. With the n¡¯s territorypletely destroyed, no one knew how much ¡®debt-paying ability¡¯ Reba had. ¡°The Cecil n always pays our debts.¡± Reba seemed a little unconvincing. ¡°Rest assured that we can pay it back. Although we have lost our most prosperous areas, some mountainous forests at the edge of the Cecil territory still remain. And as long as I, the heir of the Cecil n, am still here, the Mithril Vault still holds some deposits from Cecil n, if worstes to worst¡­ ¡± Gawain coughed and interrupted Reba. He had seen enough of this and had a rough idea of the situation. At the same time, he had also pretty much sorted out the memories, and he stood up. ¡°Reba, calm down. Viscount Andrew, set your sights on the longer term.¡± Andrew gave Gawain a look. This supposed ancient hero still intimidated him no matter if he was the real thing or not. The viscount kept himself in check. ¡°I apologize. I was indeed a little¡­ greedy.¡± He actually admitted to saying he was greedy, and it surprised Gawain. He raised his eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯re honest about it. But that¡¯s fine. Seeking benefit is not something to be shameful about, just that we need to understand the situation. A viscount¡¯s territory has been destroyed, a dragon appeared in the kingdom, and the monsters from the era of the Dark Wave have reappeared. With all these things before us, this is no time to be talking business.¡± Before letting Andrew speak, Gawain continued, ¡°Of course, all this righteousness aside, we still have to consider the practical issue. You¡¯re worried that if you help Cecil n indefinitely, eventually you¡¯ll lose everything. Well, let me tell you clearly that not only is Cecil n able to pay the debt, but if you can make good use of opportunities, we can even bring you unlimited benefits.¡± Viscount Andrew looked at Gawain. ¡°Please continue.¡± ¡°I.¡± Gawain pointed to himself. ¡°I¡¯m your biggest investment.¡± Andrew¡¯s expression froze for a few seconds, and then the corner of his mouth twitched awkwardly. ¡°Grand Duke¡­ Sire, I¡¯ll believe that you¡¯re the Grand Duke for now. But I have to remind you that you have been dead for 700 Years. Anzu is even at its second dynasty. Your title and your properties have been divided, conferred, inherited, spent or¡­ taken back by the royal family. Of course, I have a deep respect for you, Sire. Every person in Anzu has deep respect for you. But I¡¯m not just any ordinary person, I¡¯m a leader. I have to care for my territory and my people¡­¡± Gawain shrugged. ¡°Think bigger, Viscount. Are gold, silver, and territories the only worthy forms of investment?¡± Andrew: ¡°You mean¡­¡± ¡°I have the permanent right to develop new regions.¡± Gawain raised the sword in his hand. ¡°When Gawain Cecil holds the Sword of Pioneers, he has the right to developnds which have yet toe under a territory, and that includes the undeveloped areas within Anzu, the wild areas outside of all nations, and thewless areas of the Gondor wastnds. As long as we can maintain some control after these said areas have been developed, wherever the Sword of Pioneers go, will thus be Cecil territory, and Anzu¡¯s royal family will have to acknowledge and guarantee Gawain Cecil¡¯s rights as an overlord at all times.¡± As Gawain spoke, he watched as Viscount Andrew¡¯s eyes opened wider and wider. Then he slowed his cadence. ¡°The right to develop new regions as mentioned was an agreement signed by Charlie the First. Also, the founder of Anzu, the western tribal country of Augari, eastern Typhon Empire, the southern Highmountain Kingdom, the elven Silver Empire, and all the countries in the north jointly recognized that this right will remain effective indefinitely. As long as the authorized pioneer, that is I, still live, it will remain permanently effective.¡± ¡°Actually this decree wasn¡¯t signed only for me. All the pioneering leaders were simrly authorized. It¡¯s just that today¡­ I¡¯m the only one who can still exercise this right.¡± Speaking of this, Gawain grinned happily. ¡°Those old men who signed these documents back then must have never expected that I would one day open and rise from my coffin.¡± Before the stunned Viscount Andrew could say anything, Reba could not help but exim, ¡°Lord¡­ Lord Ancestor! Is¡­ is this true?!¡± ¡°Who the heck is in charge of her history sses?¡± Gawain could not help but hold his head and nce at Heidi. ¡°Or has thisw been repealed? If it was repealed, then this would be embarrassing. Speaking of which, the leaders of every nation couldn¡¯t be so bored that after hundreds of years, they would suddenly assemble and announce the cancetion of a proposedw that has already been useless for a long time, could they?¡± ¡°Reba¡¯s history ss¡­ was actually taught by me, but her grades indeed was always bad,¡± Heidi¡¯s face flushed as she exined, and she quickly answered Gawain¡¯s question. ¡°Of course, thisw you mentioned hasn¡¯t been repealed. When the pioneers were still alive, no one dared to repeal it, and after thest pioneer died, thisw became part of the glory representing mankind¡¯s conviction in reshaping civilization. Thus, no one will go and abolish it.¡± Viscount Andrew added, ¡°Not only has it not been abolished, but historians and schrs would even write volumes about it¡­¡± Gawain shrugged, ¡°So the sudden movement of my corpse will definitelye as a surprising good news to them. Thew made 700 years ago will finally be of use again.¡± Viscount Andrew looked at Gawain, focusing especially at the Sword of Pioneers in his hand, ¡°I admit that this was indeed¡­ an idea I have never thought of¡­ If you use the permanent right to develop regions, it is true that it would be possible for you to revive the Cecil n. But allow me to be frank, this is going to be a very long-term business. Do you know how much unimednd there is in the kingdom? ¡°I know a few. My descendants have already told me on the journey here.¡± Gawain nced at Heidi and Reba beside him. ¡°Most of the livable ces for humans have already been divided among the territories. The unimednds are all those dense forests, poisonous marshes, ornd at the border of the Gondor wastnds.¡± ¡°So what do you n to do?¡± Viscount Andrew spread open his hand. ¡°Where do you want to rebuild your n?¡± ¡°That¡¯s something for me to think about.¡± Gawain smiled, but what came to mind was a view overlooking the earth from a high altitude. It was a satellite view of crazy precision and range that was absolutely inessible for humans of this era. The map, ingrained in Gawain¡¯s memory, was good enough to point Gawain in the path that he had to take though it might be an outdated record of years or decades ago (after all, Gawain had been disconnected from that bird¡¯s eye view). ¡°You just need to think carefully¡­ about how worthy would it be to invest in a founding father, who has participated in the Second Settlement and still currently holds the permanent right to develop regions.¡± Andrew looked down. For the first time, he carefully pondered over the matter. After a long time, he broke the silence, ¡°If your permanent right to develop regions can really be recognized by the royal family, then being a mere viscount, I¡¯ll be happy to help to the best of my ability.¡± The standard, sleek aristocrat-speak¡ªno errors, never stepping over the line, and still able to show respect. Reba¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Is it possible that the current king would not recognize the permanent right to developing new regions, that has been recognized by the founding fathers and ancestors of all countries?!¡± Gawain smiled and nced at the immature descendant. ¡°Of course he doesn¡¯t want to recognize it. In fact, there is a high likelihood that he will not recognize my status. Even if Charlie the First popped out of his coffin to prove that I¡¯m real, I¡¯m afraid the king and his staff pray from the bottom of their hearts that I would die on the spot and be buried back in the ancient tombs in the kingdom¡¯s southern border.¡± ¡°Why?!¡± Reba felt her values ??being challenged. ¡°You are one of the founding fathers! You¡¯re enshrined in the temple! The king and nobles have tomemorate you every year. Don¡¯t they want you toe back and serve this kingdom?¡± Just when Gawain was about to exin, Amber yelled across the table, ¡°Because they would lose their three days of holidays!¡± As the half-elfdy yelled out, she deliberately winked at Gawain, inciting an angry re from Heidi. ¡°Don¡¯t listen to her nonsense. I was only joking with her about that.¡± Gawain waved his hand. ¡°The real reason¡­ I¡¯m sure Heidi and Viscount Andrew should understand, right?¡± Heidi sighed. ¡°The King willmemorate the hero because the hero¡¯s reputation can be used to strengthen his rule, but he will never want the hero to return. Once the hero returns, that reputation will no longer be his to control¡­¡± As Andrew was there, Heidi held back some of the more politically incorrect ideas, especially when the king¡¯s title itself was questionable given that he was the descendant of a bastard child. ¡°So the problem that we have to concern ourselves with is very clear..¡± Gawain looked down at the Sword of Pioneers at his waist. ¡°And that is¡­ to bring my permanent right to develop regions into effect.¡± Chapter 21 Chapter 21: Closing the Deal Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios After receiving an invitation to dinner from Viscount Andrew, Gawain and the party were temporarily arranged to stay in the guest room in the castle. Upon Gawain¡¯s special request, Betty, the maid, Amber and the two soldiers were also allocated clean rooms. Viscount Andrew¡¯s castle was huge anyways. After dismissing the attendant, Heidi could not help but ask, ¡°Ancestor, do you think Viscount Andrew can be trusted?¡± Although he was their ¡®neighbor¡¯ of a neighboring territory, Heidi was well aware of the aristocratic culture whichcked integrity and honor. Though they often emphasized these two values, those were the very things that theycked. This was especially so in the wild, uncivilized southern borders far from the political center where the aristocrats lived in even more decadent ways. Now that Cecil n had fallen to their lowest point. Aside from the fact that an old ancestor suddenly popped up which gave them bonus points, Heidi really had no confidence that they would be able to have any leverage when dealing with the other aristocrats. ¡°Can he be trusted? I haven¡¯t considered that at all,¡± Gawain¡¯s answer surprised Heidi. ¡°I didn¡¯t even know what Viscount Andrew looked like a few hours ago.¡± Reba was startled. ¡°Ah? Then why did you discuss so much with him¡­¡± ¡°Because it was necessary.¡± Gawain looked at Reba. ¡°It¡¯s not too far off to say that we don¡¯t have any other choice at this juncture. Let¡¯s put aside those refugees who need to be sheltered and fed. Check your own pockets. Do you even have enough for the next meal? So we must ask for help. That Viscount Andrew is our only option. Do you know anyone else in the southern border besides him? On the topic of whether we can put our trust in him¡­ I don¡¯t know him, nor his n, and I¡¯ve only found out about the extent of his territory from you two days ago. How am I supposed to know if he can be trusted? ¡± Reba could not quite understand him. ¡°Then why do you think he will definitely help?¡± It was not Gawain who answered but Amber, who had been lying beside the table and stuffing grapes in her mouth. The half-elf rubbed her mouth and gave Reba an eye roll. ¡°Idiot, because he doesn¡¯t want to lose money.¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t want to lose money?¡± ¡°When Knight Philip brought the refugees to Tanzan Town, Viscount Andrew had actually already made the decision,¡± Amber said impatiently, ¡°He could have simply shut the gates and let the refugees go away or starve to death outside. They don¡¯t even need to talk about the mutual aidw. In such remote areas, the gold coins of merchant¡¯s are more useful than the kingdom¡¯sws. Now that Mr. Viscount has epted the refugees, it means that he is going to demandpensation from the Cecil n since he already has the intention and believes that Cecil n will be able to repay the debt. You see, the deal was already set up then. As for today¡­ it was only to expand and rify the terms of the deal.¡± Reba was stupefied as she looked at Amber. ¡°How¡­ how do you know these things? Is the prerequisite to bing a bandit so high these days?¡± Amber grinned. ¡°Is this so hard to understand? I don¡¯t know about the logic and rules behind how you aristocrats go about doing things, but at least I know that thieves don¡¯te back empty-handed. When ites to benefits, how different are you aristocrats to the thieves who don¡¯t want to go home empty-handed?¡± Reba immediately became furious. She pulled out her staff and summoned a fireball as big as someone¡¯s head. ¡°If you¡¯re not going to watch your mouth, why don¡¯t you see if I will shoot this fireball at your face!¡± Amber seemed certain that this young and immature leader would not actually do it for real as she smiled mischievously to provoke her. ¡°If you¡¯re so good, why don¡¯t youe out with an ice arrow~~¡± As soon as her voice fell, she felt a chill by her ear as an ice arrow brushed past her ear, almost grazing it, and ice formed on the wall behind her. From a distance, Heidi maintained her pose, pointing a finger, her expression chilly. ¡°The ice arrow you asked for.¡± A drop of cold sweat streaked down Amber¡¯s face. The ice arrow nearly grazing her ear was even more frightening than the ice arrow itself. She could not help wondering how high her magic control ability needed to be in order to reach this level of precision. The corner of Reba¡¯s mouth twitched as she thought, ¡®Aunt Heidi¡¯s offensive magic is as usual, not on target¡­¡¯ Gawain pped his hands, ending this brief pstick, ¡°Alright. We¡¯re all on the same side. Let¡¯s dial it down a little.¡± The old ancestor¡¯s intervention was still effective as Heidi and Reba both put away their staves to show their deference, willing or not. Though Amber had escaped a beating, she understood the principle of quitting while you were ahead (the main reason was because the ice arrow was really quite frightening). She ttened her mouth and kept quiet from then on. Just then, knocks came from outside the room. After gaining Gawain¡¯s permission, Betty, the maid, pushed open the door and walked in. ¡°My Lord, Madam Heidi, Lady Reba,¡± Betty greeted them all but skipped Amber. ¡°Knight Philip is here.¡± ¡°Oh, we were just waiting for him.¡± Gawain nodded. Then he noticed the pan in Betty¡¯s hand. ¡°Wait¡­ Why are you still holding on to it?¡± Betty batted her eyes, thought for a moment, and said, ¡°Because¡­ we¡¯re not home yet. If I leave it somewhere. I¡¯m afraid I might lose it.¡± Gawain clutched his head. ¡°You¡­ Okay whatever suits you.¡± A momentter, Knight Philip, the one who led the Cecil refugees break out came into the room. What surprised Gawain was that he was a fairly young warrior. He seemed to be only in his early twenties, with short hair of light golden color, deep eye sockets, and a tall nose. Although he was not outstanding in his facial features, the heroic air of a warrior, and his tall build made him stand out among ordinary people. Since they were not in battle, he was not wearing armor but a normal garment. With a longsword slung at his waist, some bandages were exposed at his arms and neck. Sure enough, he came out with injuries. ¡°My Lady, Madam,¡± Knight Philip saluted Reba and Heidi as soon as he entered the house. ¡°I¡¯m so d to see that you are safe.¡± ¡°Knight Philip, get up,¡± Reba quickly brought him to his feet. ¡°Thanks to you, those soldiers and civilians were saved.¡± She noticed the bandages on him. ¡°These injuries¡­¡± ¡°I got them when we were breaking out, but it¡¯s much better now,¡± Philip said quickly. ¡°Viscount Andrew sent a priest and an apothecary, but¡­¡± The young knight showed an awkward expression, looking embarrassed and troubled. ¡°You¡¯re referring to the gold and silver that we told you to take with you out of the castle,¡± Heidi went ahead and said, ¡°Don¡¯t take it to heart. That was supposed to be used in times of need. We said it when we told you to take it. Use it at your own discretion.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Viscount Andrew only took a part of the gold and silver.¡± Philip¡¯s expression seemed a little brighter. Then he lowered his voice and said, ¡°Before entering the city, I gave away some of it to a few trusted soldiers. Some of it was buried outside the city. I was worried that if Viscount Andrew was too greedy, at least a part of the money would be left to take care of everyone, or we could let the soldiers find a way to make a living¡­ ¡± Gawain nodded slightly. This was a young man with courage and the brains to go with. He could lead a mere dozen soldiers to defend arge group of civilians who had nobat ability in the breakout. This shows his bravery, and before entering another n¡¯s territory, knowing that he could notpete with the aristocracy, he thought of how he could preserve the owner¡¯s assets as much as possible and even thought of letting the soldiers make their own living. That was no easy thing to do. So he gave an expression of approval. ¡°Not bad. How many people survived?¡± Philip had actually noticed Gawain in the room from the beginning, after all, Gawain¡¯s size was really quite outstanding. After hearing his question, he finally had a chance to ask. ¡°Could you be¡­¡± ¡°It seems that Viscount Andrew has already told you.¡± Heidi nodded. ¡°This is Cecil n¡¯s ancestor, Anzu¡¯s founding pioneer, the First Ligh¡­¡± Before she could finish, Gawain quickly interrupted, ¡°Okay, there is no need to say the name that the old man came up with. It gives me goosebumps¡­¡± Before he could finish speaking, Philip already went down on his knee in front of Gawain. ¡°Grand Duke Gawain! I¡­ I heard the news, but I didn¡¯t think it was really true! You are the model for all knights. Ever since I was a child¡­¡± ¡°Okay okay, enough already!¡± Gawain quickly pulled Philip up. As a foreigner who took over someone else¡¯s body, he felt truly awkward like never before. ¡°Tell me how many people survived?¡± Philip calmed his excitement, and his expression turned serious along with the topic. ¡°There were about a thousand people who broke out that day. Later, after counting out the people who died of attacks by monsters, fell behind due to heavy injuries, died of illnesses, less than 900 have arrived in Tanzan Town alive¡­¡± ¡°How many exactly?¡± ¡°873, including me, sixteen official soldiers, thirty militia, and the rest are civilians.¡± Reba¡¯s body shook. ¡°These are what is left of the people of Cecil territory¡­¡± Heidi murmured, ¡°I never thought¡­¡± Gawain patted Heidi¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Do you know how many people we had when we ran out of Gondor more than 700 years ago?¡± Heidi looked at Gawain. ¡°At that time¡­¡± ¡°Hundreds of thousands of people.¡± Gawain sighed. ¡°So this situation is a real headache.¡± Heidi: ¡°¡­¡± At the same time, in Viscount Andrew¡¯s chambers, the viscount was writing a secret letter. The secret letter was written directly for the King. Due to the presence of the Gondor wastnds, Anzu had, since its founding, regarded the southern borders as the kingdom¡¯s most important defensive area. Even though the south had been peaceful for a long time, some regtions that hadsted for hundreds of years still remained. For example, in the southern borders, every nobleman was a direct vassal to the Anzu royal family. They had the right tomunicate directly with the king and were obligated to report matters directly to the king. ¡°Greetings, Your Majesty, from your loyal vassal. You should have read in the previous letter of the catastrophe that has fallen upon the Cecil territory in the south. As of now, something else happened. This event is so bizarre in a way that has never been seen before, but as I have personally confirmed, it is indeed real. Cecil n¡¯s ancestor, Anzu¡¯s founding pioneer, Gawain Cecil, leader of the Seven Generals, has recentlye back to life. I saw it with my own eyes, light shining down upon the wastnd of the Cecil territory. Those invading monsters were all destroyed by the light. Then, arge dragon appeared and went away (About therge dragon, I will write about this again in greater detail). I went to investigate myself. Upon meeting with Viscount Cecil, I saw his resurrected body¡­¡± Chapter 22 Chapter 22: Looking to the Sky Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios After putting a special mark in the secret letter, he rolled it up and meticulously sealed it with wax. Then, Viscount Andrew gently heaved a breath as he thought back to check if he had missed out anything or made any mistakes. It should be all fine. The details of what they agreed upon earlier had already been included in the secret letter. He wrote in a very real and credible manner. Viscount Andrew was quite confident in his ability toe up with the story. He thought that anyone who read the secret letter would believe that he was really the witness to ¡®that incident¡¯. The rest was up to the old King, who was far away at the capital, and whether he would be willing to believe this incident. No. Rather, it was up to him if he would want to recognize the truth of the incident. This was quite a risky move, but Viscount Andrew was not someone opposed to taking risks. Without taking any risks, he would never have stood out from the seven siblings and be the sessor to the Leslie n. He just did not expect that his new venture would involve the Cecil n. That was a n in decline, having withdrawn from the kingdom¡¯s politics a hundred years ago. Today, it had reached an extent that its numbers were so small that they were about to naturally die out. Viscount Andrew had always been kept up to date with news of his ¡®neighbors¡¯. Not only was this because their territories were beside each other, and thus they were engaged in trade, but it was also because the Cecil n¡¯s decline had been aggravated in the past few years, and if it were to continue at the same rate, Andrew could expect to double the size of the Leslie territory in his lifetime. The youngdy, who had quickly inherited their n¡¯s territory, was not qualified to be a leader. Though she might be hardworking, her n¡¯s territory was not something that she could sustain. It was just that fate had pulled a joke on everyone, in a way that no one could have expected. Upon hearing that Cecil territory was destroyed by monsters, he was stupefied. Upon hearing that those monsters were simr to those which appeared with the Dark Wave ording to historical records, he was stupefied. Upon hearing from merchants that a dragon had appeared, he was stupefied. However, when Reba and Heidi Cecil brought with them a man, who imed to be their ancestor, to the castle¡­ Viscount Andrew showed greatposure and readiness to ept that fact. That was because he had be used to being stupefied. But after ending the conversation with the ¡®great ancestor¡¯, Viscount Andrew returned to his chambers and thought that he had made the right decision. A dying noble lineage and a piece of burntnd were worthless. No matter how you tried to exploit it, nothing could be gained from it. If he wanted to make up for what it cost him, he might as well give up being an exploiter and just be the generous neighbor. Moreover, the ¡®great ancestor¡¯ being alive was very crucial. Viscount Andrew was already ny percent convinced to the truth of the matter. Whether Cecil family had the old ancestor with them made a huge difference. He sealed the secret letter in a silver tube, wrapped a magic thread around the silver tube, and then gave it to the old butler standing next to him, ¡°Give it to the best ranger messenger. Get him to ride the gryphon. Get him to deliver it to the Silver Castle after the first messenger arrives but before anyone from the Cecil n reaches.¡± The butler took the silver tube and was about to leave when Viscount Andrew stopped him. ¡°Wait. Also, go to the vault and return the gold and silver to the Cecils, all that was taken from them.¡± ¡°Yes, my lord. Is that all?¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough for now. Before they set off, I will prepare a little as a token for their journey.¡± The situation had taken a turn. The pensation¡¯ he greedily took from them was now like a hot potato on his hands. Returning the money was only the first step, but he should not be too hasty. Viscount Andrew thought carefully. He hoped that this ancient man from 700 years ago could understand his sincerity. Day quickly turned to night. Gawain, dressed in a nightshirt, opened the door to the balcony from his room and came to the terrace on the second floor of the viscount¡¯s castle. There was no moon at night in this world, but deep in the sky were more stars than on earth. Those twinkling stars brought cool light to the earth. Each ray of starlight was unfamiliar to Gawain. Ever since he came to this world, he liked to look up at the sky regardless of whether it was day or night. In the day, he looked at the huge and not too dazzling ¡®sun¡¯, and at night, he looked up at the moonless night sky. His gaze wandered among the stars as he tried to find an unmoving, special celestial body. But this was bound to be a futile attempt. There were so many stars, and he did not have enough knowledge or data. It would not be possible for him to locate the position where he originally overlooked thend. Even if he found it, he would not be able to make it out of all the stars in the sky. But he just could not help it because he knew better than anyone else the secrets hidden in this world¡¯s sky. There was something there. Perhaps it was some kind of surveince system, a satellite, a space station, or a ship. Although it was very likely that it had been shut down now, he could not rule out the possibility that there were others like it in the sky. He used to be part of that surveince system. This was the closest guess that Gawain hade up with after thinking about it for many days. If he did not have the experience of overlooking thend. If he had be Gawain Cecil upon arriving here, then he would not have this knowledge at all, and he would not have the corresponding concerns. But since he knew about this, as a modern-minded soul from Earth, he could not restrain his curiosity about the sky¡­ and his worries. What exactly was hanging in the sky? How would that thing or those things affect this ce? Would that thing or those things peacefully remain up there? Who created that thing or those things if there was a creator? What could be their motive? All this gave Gawain an indescribable sense of anxiety. It was just like if people on Earth suddenly found out that an alien spacecraft was parked in the orbit above them. Even if the ship had not moved for hundreds of thousands of years, it would be difficult for them to not worry. They would need to know where they came from and what they wanted before they could sleep at ease. And even without this worry, Gawain could not turn a blind eye to the sky just because he was inly curious. ¡°Speaking of which, you always look up at the sky every day, either at the sun or the stars.¡± A girl¡¯s voice suddenly came from behind him. Gawain looked back and saw the half-elf bandit girl sitting on the railing of the terrace, her back facing outward. She was smiling, and her legs were swinging under the railing, as though she waspletely not afraid of falling. Gawain looked at her. ¡°It¡¯s not polite to sneak into someone¡¯s balcony in the middle of the night and surprise them.¡± ¡°The night is my world. There are shadows everywhere. I can go wherever I want.¡± Amber swayed on the railing, and her body then blended into the shadows. In the next moment, she appeared on the other side of the balcony. ¡°Besides, you¡¯re a 700-year-old hero. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re scared of someone suddenly talking to you at night?¡± Gawain was embarrassed to admit that he did get goosebumps just now¡­ ¡°Speaking of which, just what are you looking at every day?¡± Amber looked at Gawain quietly, so she changed the topic. ¡°You can tell the direction by looking at the sun in the day. Could it be that you look at the stars at night for divination? You know astrology too?¡± ¡°What do you think is in the sky?¡± Gawain returned with a question. ¡°In the sky? The stars and the sun?¡± Amber answered casually. ¡°Oh, oh yeah¡­ you¡¯re not going to tell me that the pces of the gods are in the sky as well and try to preach to me, are you?¡± Well, I¡¯m not interested. I believe in the shadow and the Goddess of the Night, Lady Night. Lady Night¡¯s kingdom is in the deepest part of the starless night. It¡¯s apletely different ce from the real world¡¯s sky. I only need to close my eyes and pray for a moment to pay my respects! ¡± ¡°You¡¯re an actual believer of the Goddess of the Night?¡± Gawain looked at Amber in surprise. Although he did not hold any beliefs, he had learned quite a bit of knowledge from Gawain Cecil¡¯s memory of the religions of this world. Those gods and religions of all kinds was an eye-opener for him, and at the same time, he took them at a respectful distance. However, he never would have thought that the bandit who seemed far from devout was actually someone of a belief. ¡°Yeah, why not? Anyways, Lady Night neither asks for offerings nor sends any messages. I don¡¯t need to go somewhere at sometime to worship or make sacrifices or whatnot. I don¡¯t even need to pay a single coin, why not choose to believe?¡± Amber spoke casually of what a true believer might see as disgraceful. ¡°And the way of the shadows is somewhat rted to Lady Night¡¯s power. Sometimes I feel that my prayers actually make me stronger, but I always found outter that it was just a psychological effect from drinking too much.¡± Gawain¡¯s mouth twitched, and he decided to ignore the half-elf, who talked too much nonsense. She was a total disgrace to the elves. What was the other half of her bloodline? She was also a disgrace to that bloodline. ¡°Hey hey, why aren¡¯t you talking?¡± Amber was not going to let him off. ¡°You haven¡¯t answered me yet. What do you look at?¡± Gawain gave her a sidewards nce. ¡°Have you ever heard the saying that after death, the soul will return to the sky and wander among the stars. Every star in the sky is actually the soul of someone who died¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of it. I heard that after a believer dies, the soul will be taken away by the god that he believes in, and he can have all the fun in the world in that godly kingdom. For those who don¡¯t believe in anything, their souls will all be taken by the Reaper. The wife of the Reaper will then use an ironb tob away all their memories and throw them back into the world. So there are some people who say that all living beings are believers of the Reaper by default regardless of their beliefs,¡± Amber prattled on, ¡°Your theory is also quite interesting. People will go up to the sky after they die? Is this what the religions taught 700 years ago?¡± Gawain felt slightly awkward. ¡°No, this is¡­¡± ¡°Ah, yes! You died before!¡± Amber¡¯s eyes widened, staring at Gawain as though she had found a new continent. In a blink, she appeared before him,ing up close as she asked him impatiently, ¡°Did you rise up into the sky when you died? What is it like when you die? I wanna know!¡± ¡°Go go go away!¡± Gawain pushed Amber¡¯s face aside forcibly. ¡°When you die, you don¡¯t know anything, understand? I was just kidding!¡± ¡°Tss¡­¡± Amber stared at Gawain for a long time. After confirming that he really did not want to tell her, she turned her head away. ¡°Old people are so boring.¡± Gawain: ¡°Say that again?!¡± Suddenly, Amber disappeared. Chapter 23 Chapter 23: Heading for the Capital Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The people who had escaped from the nightmare in Cecil territory were lucky, but unfortunate. Burning houses,nd corrupted by the elemental power, terrifying giants walking out of the fog of chaos, friends and rtives who died tragically in the midst of all these events¡ªthey were like nightmares as they haunted the survivors. Even after they had already found safety in Tanzan Town, even with knights and soldiers protecting them, their fear had never subsided for even a moment. Because even among the soldiers donned in armor, few could actually sleep soundly at night. Many of them had to turn to alcohol to numb themselves. Those poor people who could not even afford to get drunk would have no choice but to endure the torment. Moreover, as refugees who had wandered to another territory in this day and age, it was certain that a good life would not await them. Thus, the situation seemed even worse. Knight Philip could hardly muster the ability in getting the soldiers to report regrly everyday, let alone being able to keep order among the refugees. Fortunately, the Lord had returned safely and even brought with her a strong pir of support. Outside Tanzan Town, Reba looked at the people of Cecil territory gathered before her. These people were dressed in shabby clothing and looked haggard. Although Viscount Andrew did provide basic necessities of amodation and food, Reba could not ask for more seeing as he was already far more charitable than the typical aristocrats in this day and age who would give alms only very sparingly to the people. For the people who had escaped from Cecil territory, seeing their Lord was a shot in the arm. The civilians of this age were not very wise and were psychologically weak. They did not have much loyalty toward the Lord. Though Reba could be regarded as apassionate and friendly lord (the main reason for this was that the youngdy was not very smart, so she did not learn the cunning and greedy ways of her aristocratic peers) But after all, she had not been in this position for even a year. In fact, with the poor flow of information, many people did not even know what their lord looked like. But their lord¡¯s appearance still served as a form of encouragement. As long as someone stood up and announced that they would continue to protect these pitiful, anxiety-stricken people, it was already enough. It would not matter to them who their lord was or how they looked like. The feudal system thatsted hundreds of years had crippled the people¡¯s ability to think, but it had also made them easily satisfied. In Gawain¡¯s perspective, this was cohesiveness built upon stupidity and ignorance¡ªbut it was effective. There were only a small fraction of the people who hade to see them off as even more had stayed in Tanzan Town to attend to their belongings or work to pay for everyone¡¯s food. Looking at these people, Reba wanted to say a few words, but she really did not know what to say. So she looked to Knight Philip. ¡°These people will still have to rely on you, Knight Philip. Before wee back, try not to lose a single one of them.¡± ¡°I swear!¡± Philip straightened his chest. ¡°I will protect every one of Cecil¡¯s citizens and assets!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget what I told you to do,¡± Gawain said. ¡°Viscount Andrew will provide the necessary help. You only need to send out those who are good on their feet and in their brains. Don¡¯t be stingy with the money. The things they have to aplish is more important than money.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± The young knight replied loudly, but he could still hardly conceal his bewilderment. As someone living in an unenlightened age and being specialized inbat, it was difficult for him to keep up with Gawain¡¯s thinking. ¡°But are those things really that important?¡± ¡°Of course it¡¯s important,¡± Gawainughed. ¡°You can call it gossip or public opinion effect. But don¡¯t underestimate these invisible forces. Once everyone starts talking about the same thing, even the king will not be able to sit easy. ¡± After making some arrangements, Gawain and Reba boarded the carriage provided by Viscount Andrew. Apanying them was Betty, the maidservant, the loyal Knight Byron, Amber, the super strong bandit, and twelve of the n¡¯s soldiers. These soldiers were not the cream of the crop because they had less than twenty soldiers in total, counting those that broke out along with Knight Philip and the two who came out with Gawain. Toe up with twelve fully equipped soldiers could be said to be thest remaining ¡®face¡¯ that the Cecil n could muster. The mature Heidi stayed behind to keep a rein on the situation back in Tanzan Town. But ¡®Aunt Heidi¡¯ was apparently quite worried about her niece¡¯s uing trip to the capital. She stood by the carriage, grabbed Reba¡¯s hand, and urged her, ¡°Don¡¯t forget your status and don¡¯t bring disgrace to the Cecils, but also don¡¯t get into conflicts with the capital¡¯s aristocrats. Be respectful when you see the king. Don¡¯t break the rules. Don¡¯t throw fireballs at people. The capital is not like our home. If you find something you don¡¯t understand, don¡¯t rush to answer. Go to your ancestor or Knight Byron to discuss it first because people will read into every word you say. The very most important thing is to listen to Ancestor especially when dealing with the aristocrats. You¡¯re not good at this, but Ancestor is a Grand Duke, he knows¡­¡± Upon hearing Heidi¡¯s instructions, he had a brooding feeling because he really did not know¡­ Not only did he not know, but the real Gawain Cecil did not know as well. When that founding hero died, Anzu was still led by a bunch of peasants. The court¡¯s practice back in the day basically revolved around drinking and having heated arguments with the king as a way to make advancements on issues. Thinking back on it, after more than 700 years, things should probably have changed¡­ But in order to not drive the already overly neurotic nth great granddaughter intoplete madness, heid his hand on Heidi¡¯s shoulder, and gave her an assuring look. ¡°Rest assured, I know.¡± So with Heidi¡¯s rxed smile, the clueless Reba and the seemingly all-knowing Gawain, embarked on a journey to the capital. At the same time, Knight Philip dispatched some people as Gawain had instructed before departing. Those were people from Cecil territory selected for their quicker wits and people quick on their legs and tongues employed from Tanzan Town. There were even some hoodlums who would do it for a few copper coins. Dealing with these people was particrly ufortable for the young knight, and the task they were set out to do left the knight even more baffled. The only thing they had to do was to scatter in all directions to ces where there were crowds, the taverns, the ck market, and the shacks in the slums, where they would spread the word. It would be best if they could find bards along the way and spread the word to them. Thus, these events were seen happening in many ces within the southern district. Haggard strangers from foreignnds went to crowded areas and spoke in weird ents. Looking mysterious yet earnest, they spoke of simr things. ¡°Hey, have you heard? Something happened to the Cecil n in the south! Their territory was destroyed by monsters and dragons! I heard that it even disturbed the departed souls underground. The legendary ancestor of Cecil was awoken and rose from his coffin¡­ Yes! It¡¯s that legendary Gawain Cecil. He awakened from his long slumber! He must have risen to destroy those monsters¡­¡± ¡°Sigh! Why would I lie to you! People in the south are all talking about this. You can just go to Tanzan Town or Woods Town to ask around about this. And do you see my clothes? I¡¯m one of those who escaped from the south. I tell you, I saw it with my own eyes when Cecils¡¯ ancestor was resurrected!¡± Almost everyone talked about the same thing, and at the end they would all earnestly swear that they had witnessed those strange things themselves. Even the people, who were not recruited by Knight Philip, would manage to keep at least eighty percent of the original message when they continued to spread the rumor. If any one were to gather all the rumors, they would be surprised to find that at least one thousand people were standing in the tomb and watching when the Cecils¡¯ ancestor was resurrected, and there would be also 10000 of them outside looking in¡­ However, in this era, anyone capable of doing this would not pay attention to these rumors among the peasants in the streets. Those people who believed and spread the news¡­ they would not be too discerning about it. In the carriage heading towards the city of St. Soniel, Gawain gazed out disinterestedly at the scenery as he pondered about how he should face His Majesty, the King, who sat high atop the Silver Castle in St. Soniel. He did not know how much effect woulde out of the task he had instructed of Knight Philip. In fact, he did not even have thirty percent of confidence in it. This was a world filled with ignorance and was quite at odds with itself. The existence of magic had made many things much more convenient, to such an exceedingly advanced state, as they were being used to enhance production in various ways. However, things like magical powers and other supernatural powers were only controlled in the hands of a few whilemoners did not possess them. Or perhaps they did not need it, so those whocked this power fell unimaginably far behind. Shouting was their means ofmunication, walking their means of travel. Rumors could spread quickly in towns because gossip was a form of entertainment for the peasants after a day of hard work. However, it was ten times harder to spread the news from one city to another because the unchecked wilderness had be a huge obstacle that impeded travel. Moreover, each n had controls in ce on who entered and left their territories. Without first obtaining permission of their lords, they had to risk being hanged if they were only intending to visit the neighboring territory¡¯s vige to buy a chicken! The agreement on freedom of movement signed between the Cecil n and the Leslie n (Viscount Andrew¡¯s n) could address the problem of the flow of people, but it could not address other difficulties. But it was at least better than doing nothing. Gawain¡¯s objective was very simple. It was to spread the story of ¡®The resurrection of Cecils¡¯ ancestor¡¯ as far as possible. The wider it spread, the better. It must not only be a secret known within the aristocratic circles but also among themoners and even among the poor. If possible, it should even spread to the extent of bing like supernatural and horror stories. In fact, this was the direction some of those rumors were evolving into. In the process of dissemination of this information, more and more would be added to the message. Those superstitious and ignorant medieval people would add a lot of details to it ording to their own understanding. Gawain did not care about the details at all. He only wanted the news to continue spreading. Then everyone would know that Cecils¡¯ ancestor had been resurrected, and that it was during the middle of the monsters¡¯ attack on the kingdom that the legendary founding pioneer woke up¡­ Chapter 24 Chapter 24: Journey to the Capital Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Gawain had not been walking at a fast pace. Although Reba seemed a little anxious along the way, Gawain still conducted the journey at his own pace. He allowed the group to stop at each town along the way. Upon stopping, he instructed the soldiers to disguise themselves as travelers or mercenaries to spread the news of ¡®The kingdom¡¯s founding Grand Duke Gawain Cecil hase back to life¡¯ and ¡®Grand Duke Gawain will soon arrive in the city of St. Soniel.¡¯ At the same time, he would also employ local bards and hoodlums to spread simr but more bizarre versions of the news. The funding they had received from Viscount Andrew was sufficient for him to aplish these things. At first, Gawain was still worried that neither he nor Reba had any experience dealing with the local tyrants and that they might encounter difficulties as they carried out these tasks. However, they did not expect that Knight Byron, who had traveled with them, would show his extraordinary skills. Though the middle-aged knight was not very powerfulpared to his peers, his ability to deal with those loafers was impressive. Upon arriving in a city, he did not need much time before making connections with those ¡®rats¡¯. Before the soldiers spread the news, the various rumors about the southern border began to spread from the bottom rungs of the city¡­ Gawain was reminded of hearing about Knight Byron¡¯s background from Reba. Byron was not a true noble, but he used to be a mercenary who had traveled extensively. He was taken in by the previous generation¡¯s Viscount Cecil, after an incident and was able to rise up to the knight ss. From the looks of it, it seemed that his experience as a former mercenary had not been wasted. And Amber was the other person who had been of great help and performed just as Gawain had expected. She was indeed very proficient at dealing with those hoodlums. He was between describing her as being very professional versus being very adept at business¡­ Gawain had given the half-elf girl some money to bribe those hoodlums, and when she was done with it, she returned with even more money¡­ Of course, such a behavior was strongly condemned by Reba, who had a good upbringing. In order to keep up a good image for his descendants, Gawain had no choice but to press Amber¡¯s head and make her promise to return the stolen money and to never do that again. This was a huge blow to Amber as though her values were being condemned. Gawain thought that it was probably impossible to teach her proper values. Besides allowing the news to continue spreading, Gawain had another motive that was hard to talk about¡ªhe needed to understand the world better. It was not because there was a huge 700 years of difference between the knowledge from the memory he had inherited and the current reality, but because he was not even a person of this world. The images he had seen in the sky could at most be used as a map, while the memory he inherited could not be readily and flexibility used. On several asions, he tried to search for something within the memory, but he did not know the ¡®keywords¡¯. And after all the wasted effort, he realized that what he needed urgently was to understand this world. This process had been quite smooth. He saw the poor and backward southern viges of Anzu Kingdom, the bustling and lively central cities, the wilderness, the fortresses built by humans. All these were slowly blending together with the map he saw when overlooking thend. Inferring from a few details, he confirmed that the test¡¯ top-down map in his mind should not be too outdated. It was probably a record left about ten years ago. That was thest image he saw when he was hanging atop the sky. In this slow-paced world, a map from ten years ago was absolutely usable. With regards to leaving the southern border for so long and whether there might be any problems that could arise in Tanzan Town, Gawain was not as worried as Reba. He believed that Heidi would be able to deal with things. And he could be quite certain that Viscount Andrew would properly fulfill the terms of the deal. It was not that he trusted in the Viscount¡¯s character, but he believed that the benefits of the deal was good enough that it would bind him to the Cecil n. Before leaving the southern border, he instructed Knight Philip to spread the news through every channel. In addition to letting everyone know about the resurrection of Gawain Cecil, it would also bring the survivors from the Cecil territory into the focus of everyone¡¯s attention. Viscount Andrew, who sheltered the survivors, would have no choice but to continue taking care of the refugees until Gawain Cecil returned from the capital, and everything was settled. No matter how long the journey took, the journey would soone to an end. Two months after leaving the southern area, the towering walls of the city of St. Soniel finally appeared before Gawain and the group. This was a city built on a in. It was of a scale far bigger than those of the poor and backward southern cities. The white walls and neat light blue roofs were the city¡¯s distinctive features which had given it the reputation of being ¡®The White City¡¯ and ¡®The Blue Crowns¡¯. Ever since the founding King Charlie the First led his people to cultivate thend on this in and built this city, the city had undergone countless expansions and reconstructions. The first walls made of earth and stones were no more, leaving behind only a few symbolic walls in the older parts of the city. The newly built city walls made ofrge stones were ten timesrger than the original. These stones were obtained from the rocky ridges in the north, and the hard rocks in the eastern area. Molten copper and lead filled between the bricks. Within this thick and sturdy city wall, crystals blessed with earth elemental power was buried every hundred meters to ensure that it would not crack and disintegrate. This luxury was something that the pioneering ancestors back in those days would never have even dreamed of. Standing below the walls of St. Soniel, looking up at the stone bricks dazzling under the sunshine, he realized that he could not find any such associations in his memory. This city was no longer the same ce as the small city in Gawain Cecil¡¯s memory. With proper entry passes and a reliable status of aristocracy, Gawain and the party entered the city without any hups. The King, Francis II, who ruled over the entire Anzu Kingdom, awaited these visitors from the south in his royal pce, the Silver Castle, and he was especially keen to meet the special guest who lived 700 years ago. Actually, he had already been waiting for many, many days, to the extent that he was almost going to get a nervous breakdown. This old ancestor was too tormenting. The King did not like to be waiting like this. From all over the southern parts, information from every town from the south to the north had almost never stoppeding in. Official reports from from every level of officials and news gathered from the people could almost be stacked up to one meter on the desk. Among those reports were at least a hundred versions of the news, not including versions thate in different dialects. Regardless of which version it was, the main story was talking about the ancestor who suddenly unveiled his coffin and led his descendants straight for the capital. However, the reports kepting every day, while the old ancestor¡­ What was keeping him!? The initial n made after receiving the secret letter from Viscount Andrew had long been abandoned, and the strategies discussed with his trusted advisors had also failed as the ancestor took a scenic tour and paraded himself around the cities. Now, everyone knew about Gawain Cecil¡¯s return. Of course, considering thatmunication in this era was not very efficient, it would be quite an exaggeration to say that everyone knew about his return. However, this news would at least be known among the people with the ability to gather information such as those traveling merchants and aristocrats. Thus, there was little that Francis II could do. He would have to sit in the Silver Castle, openly receive the returning legendary Grand Duke, openly speak with him, and openly send him off. At least, in every aspect that people would take notice of, he had to do it in an open fashion. However, Gawain was not nning to let that King be relieved so quickly. Or perhaps, he had already achieved his first objectives. Now, he wanted to test the the King¡¯s attitude and of those around the King. Thus, instead of keeping a low-profile and directly going to the Silver Castle in their carriage, he ordered the soldiers to take out the banner already prepared in the carriage not long after entering the city. The banner was drawn with the Cecil n¡¯s emblem, and the sword and shield emblem of the Anzu royal family. The two emblems were drawn side by side. It was restored ording to his memory. It was the banner that Gawain Cecil used when he was the Grand Duke of the southern border. Even if they had only twelve soldiers, they had to bring out a presence as though they were guards of honor. Cecil n had indeed declined, but even if they had declined to their current state, the n which had followed the founding king in pioneering, it was established in their roots as warriors and they still had a little pride preserved. They defended the people and thend and never went easy on the battlefield. Reba, who was only seventeen now and could only put out fireballs, could be said to be Cecil¡¯s weakest leader yet. She was lousy in both politics andbat. Her brain might have even been caught by the door before, but even she could lead thest few n soldiers as they defended the castle and let the remaining civilians break out. This was all thanks to the sense of honor passed down through the generations. Therefore, even though the Cecils had the poorestnd in the southern borders, it was still able to cultivate the strongest warriors of the southern borders. Even if there were only a dozen or so of these warriors left. The soldiers raised the banners and rode on horses in a two-row formation. Watching the emblems waving on the banners, they seemed to have also been encouraged by this as their heads were held high. Behind them, Reba and Gawain also got off the carriage and rode together with the soldiers. Byron was at the front. The mercenary-born, knight, who came into his sster in his life, tried his best to present himself like a real aristocrat so as not to disgrace the n which he had sworn allegiance to. But Gawain rode the horse beside him and whispered to him, ¡°Rx. Put aside all the rules ofportment. Back in the day when we came here, some of us even carried logging axes on our backs.¡± At the end of the line, in the carriage where Gawain and Reba was supposed to sit in, now sat the bandit girl and Betty, the maidservant who had dozed off. ¡°Aristocrats are really some sick species, right?¡± Amber looked outside the carriage, turned back, and poked Betty¡¯s arm. ¡°Why don¡¯t they sit in a carriage when they have one, and instead they go showing off on their horses? They¡¯re nuts.¡± Betty tilted her head a little, looking as though she was nodding, but suddenly a snot bubble came out. Amber batted her eyes as she looked at Betty, and suddenly noticed the pan she was holding. Immediately, she was up to mischief as she used her excellent skills as a thief and quietly went closer to the pan¡­ Betty suddenly hugged the pan and stared at Amber in a startled expression. ¡°No! The Lord said that this is mine!¡± Amber: ¡°¡­?¡± Chapter 25 Chapter 25: Journey to the Capital (2) Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Even though he only had a dozen soldiers with him, even though the name of Cecil had long been estranged from the politics of the kingdom, and even though the n¡¯sst estate in the capital had been absorbed by the kingdom a hundred years ago, Gawain still entered the city mboyantly, going so far as to fly the n¡¯s colors of seven hundred years ago. The g could only be flown in Gawain Cecil¡¯s lifetime. Doing so now was not so much as revealing his existence, but sending a signal to the royal family¡ª ¡°It isn¡¯t the seventeen year-old Viscountess entering the city, but the Grand Duke of the South.¡± Upon hearing this report from his Chambein, Francis II immediately understood what this ¡°ancient man¡± was implying. The old king stepped out onto the terrace of the Silver Castle and gazed in the direction of the entrance into the city the Cecil n was taking. He was unable to make out anything at this distance¡ªthis city was now so muchrger than it had been before, sorge that even standing on the highest point of the Silver Castle could not yield him a view of the city¡¯s limits. Would the ancient man who had been asleep for seven hundred years feel surprised when he stepped into this city? Would he realize that seven hundred years had already passed and everything was not the same as before? His Chambein was still by his side, waiting for his orders. Francis II looked away and turned his attention back to this ordinary-looking middle-aged man. ¡°Receive him as befit a duke, then tell him that I will meet him tomorrow at noon. Invite him to rest a day in Silver Castle to relieve the fatigue of his journey.¡± The Chambein received the order, but before he could retire from the room, Francis II called out to him again. ¡°Also, with the exception of rescheduling the meeting, all of the Grand Duke¡¯s requests should be fulfilled to the best of our ability¡ªtreat him with the utmost respect.¡± The Chambein retreated. A handsome young man with short blonde hair and d in fine clothes walked up to the King, he had been standing beside a pir nearby all along. ¡°Father, do you think it¡¯s true that the Grand Duke has been ¡®resurrected¡¯, or is that a hoax?¡± ¡°That¡¯s unimportant.¡± Francis II looked at his sessor. ¡°Although we have received that letter from Andrew, and we have a lot of evidence, whether or not this ancient Grand Duke is for real remains to be determined. For now, I can only say¡­ It doesn¡¯t seem like a hoax. That resurrected ancient one is giving us a big ¡®surprise¡¯.¡± The young man lowered his eyes and put on an air of humility as he asked, ¡°Why do you think he hase?¡± ¡°The purpose of his arrival can only be guessed before the meeting takes ce. Judging by the style of rumors he has stirred up on the way here, he will certainly not make his intentions known clearly in advance.¡± The old King shook his head. ¡°You should find an opportunity to interact with him and judge his attitude, but you must be careful. We¡¯re dealing with an unprecedented situation, and we don¡¯t want to provoke him.¡± The young man promised this, and turned to leave the room. Meanwhile, Francis II turned around and continued his observation of the city, but sighed internally. This heir of his was still too young. He was still inept at hiding his true thoughts. He had shown so much interest in the man who had fallen from the sky¡ªor rather, crawled out from the earth¡ªthat he could sense his eagerness with a single nce. But it was not such a big deal actually. It was better to present this opportunity to him, rather than letting him get in touch with the man privately. After watching his Chambein ride away from the castle, Francis II nodded and said to the air, ¡°Dark Raven, go and survey Gawain Cecil and his party, and report everything back to me.¡± No sooner had the King spoken then a veil at the foot of a pir stirred slightly, though no one appeared. ¡°Also, don¡¯t get too close. If he is really that wonder from seven hundred years ago, you will be found out if you venture too close,¡± added the old King. The veil under the pir did not move. ¡­ Gawain and his party entered the city of St. Soniel from its main entrance, riding on the main road of the city on horseback. Almost half the city had gotten wind of the news, and the party met the procession the King had sent to wee them before they reached the Silver Castle. The entourage weing them was very ostentatious and steeped in extravagance. A red carpet was rolled under Gawain¡¯s feet from somewhere deep in the Silver Castle. Costumed attendants and maids strew petals along the way, and a trumpeter and a drummer yed music from either side. All this seemed like His Majesty the King had taken more than a day to make these preparations¡ªbut Gawain was still certain that if he hade into the city in a different manner, or entered it earlier, the wee reception would have been different. Only the Heavens knew how much nning this King had done to deal with such an asion. Even though Gawain himself had never interacted with nobility or had any experience rubbing shoulders with the nobility, there were much rted knowledge and experiences from the memories in his mind. Although Gawain Cecil was a pioneer of the Anzu Kingdom, he had also lived through the glory days of the Gondor Empire¡ªhe could not see what Anzu would be like seven hundred yearster, but he knew how the Gondor Empire looked like seven hundred years ago. At its height, the human empire seven hundred years ago was moreplex than any of the continental countries could imagine. ¡°Please follow me to the Silver Castle. His Majesty the King has already prepared the most luxurious rooms and the best dishes, in addition to spring water to relieve the fatigue of our distinguished guests. The meeting is set for noon tomorrow, so please have a good rest tonight.¡± A seemingly calm reception official¡ªfrom an unknown family of the noble court¡ªstood before Gawain, sprouting words of courtesy. Gawain turned to look at Reba beside him, but saw that this silly girl was gawking at everything with wide eyes. Although she had tried to keep herposure along the way, the Silver Castle in front and the grand weing ceremony stunned the noble from the countryside. Her sight was no longer sufficient for her, to the point where she did not even know if she should watch the orderly and splendid guards of honor, or look at the majestic pce in the distance, which wasyered with silver foil on the entirety of its exterior. ¡°I¡¯d thought that the King would be dying to see me.¡± Gawain shrugged but did not get off his horse, instead looking down at the reception official. ¡°After all, it is quite difficult to meet a person who has just jumped out of a coffin.¡± The reception official paused for a moment, probably not expecting the legendary Grand Duke to speak in this manner. However, he quickly regained hisposure and said, ¡°His Majesty has arranged for the meeting to take ce tomorrow in consideration of the difficulties during your travel.¡± ¡°Is that so¡­¡± Gawain deliberately paused for a long while. He waited until the reception official was about to break out in cold sweat before continuing, ¡°I am thankful for His Majesty¡¯s well intentions. However, since we¡¯re not meeting today, there is no need for me to enter his castle¡ªI¡¯m not used to staying in the Silver Castle.¡± The reception official¡¯s expression changed. ¡°Then, where¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be morefortable in my own home.¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°It¡¯s just that seven hundred years have already passed, and I wonder if 4 Crown Street has already been torn down?¡± Upon hearing the name ¡°4 Crown Street¡±, the reception official and the officers of the inner court balked at the suggestion. Even though Francis II had instructed them to cater to Gawain¡¯s every want, they had never expected him to request such a thing! That was where Gawain Cecil¡¯s mansion in the royal capital had been seven hundred years ago. Even though Gawain Cecil was the Gawain Cecil of the Southern borders, and spent most of his time in his southern fief, he, like the other pioneers of his time, had his own residence in the capital. The residences were mansions built by Charlie I for every pioneer on Crown Street¡ª the street closest to the Silver Castle. It was the custom in those days for the pioneers to stay in their own fiefs unless they had consultations with the King in the Capital. Seven hundred yearster, all of the pioneers (with the exception of one who just came back from the dead), had already died. However, every one of the houses on Crown Street still retained their facade from then, with the Crown even funding renovations and repairs for seven hundred years to ensure their permanent existence for years toe. They had, in reality, be a kind of living fossil, just that this living fossil was still inhabited by people, by the still-living descendants of the pioneers, who had inherited their ancestors¡¯ estate and belongings. That is, with the exception of the Cecil n¡¯s¡ªever since the birth of the talented Grumman Cecil, 4 Crown Street had been absorbed by the Crown¡­ ¡°4 Crown Street¡­¡± The reception official stammered, ¡°That indeed does not exist anymore, but it has been renovated many times¡­¡± ¡°Oh, that is for certain. After all, it is just a mansion, which is not as sturdy as a castle.¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°But since it has undergone renovation, it should be quite well preserved right now, isn¡¯t it? It won¡¯t be a problem for me to stay there, would it?¡± ¡°Of course not¡­¡± The reception official was about to say that he had to consult the King before deciding, but could not bring himself to say the words after looking at the spurious smile on Gawain¡¯s face. ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°I know, it¡¯s been absorbed by the Crown, right?¡± Gawain did not want to put a mere errand runner in a spot of bother, and thus volunteered, ¡°But I¡¯ve heard that no one is staying there now¡ªin fact, no one has stayed there for a hundred years, right?¡± ¡°That is correct. After all, thete King had left¡­ many things behind, which no one has dared to take away. Also, up until today, no one is eligible to inherit anything from it, so 4 Crown Street is still vacant.¡± Gawain continued smiling. ¡°Since there isn¡¯t anyone inheriting the ce, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem for me to return to stay at my home for one night, is there?¡± ¡°It¡¯s absolutely no problem at all.¡± The reception official remembered the order the King¡¯s Chambein had given him and could only nod. ¡°Then, please wait, your Excellency. I will lead you there¡­¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need. I still remember the way to my home.¡± Gawain waved a hand. ¡°You can go back and tell the King that I¡¯ll visit him punctually in the castle at noon tomorrow.¡± He then turned his horse around. Before he left, he even patted Reba¡¯s head. ¡°Silly child, let¡¯s go.¡± It was only then that Reba jolted. ¡°Ah? Lord Ancestor, are we not staying in the castle today?¡± ¡°What¡¯s so great about the castle? The year we erected the castle, I told Charlie that thend he chose to build it on wasn¡¯t good. In the end, its roof cracked on its third year. Come on, I¡¯ll show you where I used to live. Now, that¡¯s a home.¡± As he watched the retreating figure of the free-spirited Gawain, the cold sweat which had been long simmering on his head finally dripped down. He then grabbed a person beside him and ordered, ¡°Quick, send for druids who can shapeshift into a bird! Go to 4 Crown Street and make haste on the preparations!¡± Chapter 26 Chapter 26: Was This Still His Old Residence? Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Gawain did not let the party get there too quickly because he could tell that the reception team had to rush their preparations so that the house at 4 Crown Street would be ready for its owner¡¯s return. He did not want to trouble the workers who were only there following instructions. Though he had led the party for a detour around the streets, when he arrived at 4 Crown Street, there were still some people in attendants¡¯ uniforms with sweat over their foreheads as they ran in and out of the house. But fortunately, they were almost done with the preparations. A tall, thin middle-aged man wearing a white wig and a ck bow tie, looking like a butler, came out from the mansion to greet him. He stood before Gawain¡¯s horse and bowed, ¡°My Lord, your mansion is ready. I am the one responsible for managing these estates. My name is James ine. It is my honor to serve you during your stay in the capital.¡± ¡°ine¡­ I remember this name,¡± Gawain thought for a moment (searching the memory), and he chuckled, ¡°Ah, oh yes. Hawley ine, Charlie¡¯s chambein back in the day. ¡®ine¡¯ was the name that Charlie gave him.¡± James ine, the middle-aged man, was a little surprised. Everyone who was fortunate enough to meet this ancient (who even knew his own ancestor) would probably feel the same way. ¡°Yes¡­ Yes, Hawley ine is my ancestor. Our family has served as the royal family¡¯s chambeins for generations. The royal family¡¯s estates in the capital are all managed by the ines¡­ ¡± Gawain chuckled. ¡°Yeah, my house is also now part of the royal estates.¡± James ine immediately broke out in a cold sweat. This topic was definitely ranked highest in awkwardness index in the capital today. To illustrate, it was as good as tying you to a chair and reciting your sob stories you wrote in your blog when you were fourteen¡­ But Gawain was only joking with him, and he quickly changed the subject. ¡°Don¡¯t stress yourselves over this. I won¡¯t be staying long.¡± James ine stood up straight. ¡°As ordered, I will do my best to serve you. It is my responsibility to prepare the mansion.¡± ¡°You mean like clearing out the ticket booth at the entrance and the tour guides inside?¡± ¡°¡­ Huh?¡± How troublesome it wasmunicating with people of a different world. The same jokes would not work here. Interest waning, Gawain waved it off, dismounted from the horse, and handed the reins to the chambein, who was already waiting beside him. Then he led his (n+1)th great-granddaughter and a group of people into this 700-year-old ancient mansion. Indeed, as the previous inner court official mentioned, these historic and significant houses on Crown Street had not only been preserved, but they had also maintained their original look over the years with constant repairs. Even if unscientific things like magic existed, many things should have decayed in the span of 700 years. Thus Gawain was almost certain that at least half of the things here were no longer the original ones but only replicas. But he was not concerned about these things anyways since he was not even the real Gawain Cecil. After passing through a small garden, vestibule, and a short corridor, it was the main hall. Being the mansion of the founding Grand Duke, 4 Crown Street was indeed a little too shabby. Basically any n that could afford to buy an estate in the capital would be able to build a house twice the size of this. Thus, Amber muttered as soon as she entered the door, ¡°That¡¯s it? It¡¯s far worse than I thought¡­¡± ¡°This was built seven hundred years ago,¡± Gawain looked at the half-elf. ¡°At that time, the Silver Castle was only slightly bigger than this.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s pretty good¡­¡± Reba said softly. ¡°Apart from being spacious, the castle I lived in doesn¡¯t seem to be better than this in every other aspect¡­¡± Amber rolled her eyes at her and said, ¡°That¡¯s because you guys have almost squandered all your inherited properties.¡± ¡°No throwing fireballs here.¡± Gawain held down Reba and Amber¡¯s heads. ¡°And you, dial it back a little. Stop asking for trouble. One day when you really meet a shadow master, you might just die on the spot.¡± After telling Knight Byron and the soldiers to follow the chambein to find somewhere to rest, he told Betty to go to the kitchen to prepare dinner (the youngdy¡¯s pan finally came in handy), and then Gawain started walking around the main hall. ¡°They really preserved these things¡­¡± After walking two rounds, Gawain sighed lightly. The memories in his head kept surging forth and matching with the items in his sight. Though many of the items were no longer the original ones, the familiarity of these things gave him a strong sense of nostalgia. Following behind Gawain as he walked around, Reba looked through the objects in the main hall with curiosity and mixed feelings. Some of the descendants of the early pioneers were living right here in Crown Street, but as the descendant of the greatest of the pioneers, the lord of the Cecil n, Reba only just learned of how the house in which her Lord Ancestor lived looked like. There were many things here that she had only read about in the n¡¯s books, such as the ancient battleaxe that was hanging on the wall of the main hall. ¡°I won this when I fenced with Charlie back in the day. Actually it¡¯s not some powerful weapon. It¡¯s just a dwarf¡¯s battleaxe.¡± Gawain pointed at the axe on the wall, saying casually as he collected the memories, ¡°I wonder how those dwarves who only grow up to my waist can be so strong. Such arge axe is really heavy for human soldiers, but they can swing it around like it¡¯s nothing. ¡± Reba picked up on the name that Gawain mentioned, ¡°Charlie¡­ Do you mean the founding King Charlie?¡± ¡°Charlie Moen, the one called Charlie I today. Who else could it be?¡± Gawain chuckled. ¡°He is the only Charlie that I¡¯ve ever mentioned.¡± Although he was only wearing Gawain Cecil¡¯s shell, being able to brag as though he had experienced it first hand was reallyawesome.jpg. However, Gawain was not simply using this to boast about his first hand experience, but he would indeed need to be familiar with his current identity in many asions as the identity of Gawain Cecil would apparently be very useful within the foreseeable distant future. However, Amber was not interested in things such as a n¡¯s history or the kingdom¡¯s insider stories. After going around the hall and pondering over how Gawain would beat her up if she stole something here, this job-oriented half-elf who cared for her life even more, sat down on the sofa, shook her feet as she looked around. ¡°Speaking of which, did you insist oning here so that you can take away these items? After all, your descendants are already about to squander away all the family property. There aren¡¯t many chances like this where we cane up with an excuse to move these things away¡­ ¡± Gawain was dumbstruck. ¡°Where did you get this idea?¡± Amber said delightedly, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s just a normal line of thought. If you are concerned that there are too many things here to carry, you can leave it to me. I¡¯ll take them out for you. No one will find out. With my ability, it¡¯ll just take me three trips, and I¡¯ll be able to pretty much clear things up here¡­ ¡± It was truly a rare breed of bandit to so casually discuss with the original owner about how she could steal their items. Now, Amber was no longer merely just a disgrace to elves, but she had also be a disgrace to bandits¡­ It seemed like an incredible achievement for one to go from being a disgrace of one¡¯s own race to a disgrace of one¡¯s own ss. ¡°Save the effort. If I really wanted to take something away, I wouldn¡¯t even need your help,¡± Gawain waved her off and interrupted Amber¡¯s unrealistic idea. ¡°Even if Francis II was silly, he wouldn¡¯t even be bothered about something as trivial as this. ¡± Amber batted her eyes. ¡°Okay then, you¡¯re right. Most of these things around the house don¡¯t seem like they are worth much anyways. They¡¯re mostly replicas. Only the axe and the vase at the door are originals¡­ Oh, the vase is a replica too. ¡± Damned. This girl had already appraised all the items here in such a short time?! If you were so good, why could you not spend a little energy to watch that mouth of yours and build up your nerves? Seeing that no one was responding to her, Amber started to look for a new topic to talk about after shaking her legs for a while. ¡°Speaking of which, why do you have to drag me here? I¡¯m not a knight of your n, nor am I a soldier. I¡¯m just a thief who passed by. How can I be of any help?¡± ¡°First, you dug my grave. Although you said you went there to take refuge, ording to the kingdom¡¯sws, the punishment for this crime is hanging. As the one who pardoned your crime, don¡¯t you think that you have a duty to do something in return for me?¡± Gawain looked at Amber. ¡°Second, I want your ability. Of course, I¡¯m not talking about your ability to steal things but your talent as a rogue. We are in the capital. Who knows how many people are watching us, everyone of us, for various motives. Byron is a knight who is only good at frontal assault. Reba can only use fireballs. I have not fully recovered my strength yet, so I really need you, a highly skilled master of shadows. Does that answer your question, Miss Amber?¡± Gawain became serious in his tone in thetter half, and Amber was also affected by this serious tone, her expression was stunned for a while. She did not expect Gawain to speak to herself so solemnly. As a thief, who had a negative reputation among aristocrats, she did not think that a noble would appeal to her so solemnly. What more, he was the legendary Cecil Grand Duke. This would allow her to brag about it for at least half a year! ¡°You¡­ Since you say it like this, I¡¯ll help you then.¡± The half-elf girl said as she turned her face away unnaturally. ¡°But you need to praise me more. The part where you said I¡¯m a highly skilled master of shadows. I won¡¯t ask you for money if you can say it again twice¡­ ¡± Gawain turned his head to look at Reba. ¡°Can you control a fireball such that it just sticks to someone¡¯s face but not kill them?¡± Amber: ¡°?!¡± However, Amber did not get to experience the fireball sticking to her face because the butler from the ine n appeared. ¡°Your Excellency, you have guests,¡± James said politely as he bowed slightly, ¡°Prince Edmund is here to visit.¡± Chapter 27 Chapter 27: Issue of the Right to Inheritance Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Gawain met the Prince in the guest room. Reba was also there as Gawain took her along so that she would get more exposure. Edmund Moen was the most highly regarded son of Anzu¡¯s King Francis II. Gawain had not known the Prince before, but he specifically turned to Heidi and Viscount Andrew for this journey to the capital to catch up on information of the royal family, so he learned quite a lot about the royal family. Francis II was already of old age, but he had a few children. Besides his young son Edmund Moen, he only had another son and a daughter. Among them, the eldest son Wales was extremely mediocre, timid, and guileless. He had been a cause of worry for the old king for a long time. For the first half of his life, he was the only son of the old king, so Wales had been the crown prince for 17 years. Butter on, Francis II had a son in his old age. An adored concubine gave birth to a pair of twins for him. They were Princess Veronica Moen and Prince Edmund Moen. Compared to his mediocre eldest son, Wales, the twins were outstanding, showing extreme talent at a very young age. They were highly praised by their court teachers for both their martial arts and intellect. The old king, who had been worried about his heir, was saved. Almost without hesitation, he rescinded his eldest son¡¯s status as crown prince and prepared to transfer the right to seed the throne to his new children. No one from the court or from the people had any objections to this, and even Prince Wales epted the arrangement indifferently. The inheritance of the Anzu throne was not limited by gender, but Edmund Moen in the end became the crown prince, not by the old king¡¯s decision, but because Princess Veronica announced early on that she was going to give up the right to inherit the throne, and she joined the Church of the Holy Light, bing a nun in the Glory Cathedral (she had risen to a high priest in the meantime), which had obviously been nned in advance. The old king naturally gave his daughter his blessings and sent her to the church. Soon after, he made Edmund the crown prince, and thus the session of the Anzu royal household waspleted in a fairly calm manner. Many people thought that Princess Veronica¡¯s ¡®conversion¡¯ was actually a chess-like move from the royal family. With this method, the king of Anzu would have inserted people from the royal bloodline as high-ranking members within the independent Church of the Holy Light. Moreover, a princess who gave up the throne and devoted herself to the Holy Light was indeed a character that the church could not turn away regardless of its symbolic significance or in the context of what they would stand to gain from it. But at the same time, there were also contrasting opinions that considered this to be a sign of the increase in the influence of the Holy Light church and the erosion of the royal family¡¯s power. There were many people on both sides, but in Gawain¡¯s opinion, they should belong to the Strategic Fooyou Agency1. After all, they were just talking nonsense¡­ Gawain was not interested in the power moves of the royal household. Or perhaps he had not reached a level at which he could have any opinion on this matter, so he was only focused on the young person before him. Edmund Moen was a handsome man with both the soldierly yet refined, schrly air about him. His manners were almost good enough to be textbook examples. Upon meeting, he only gave a brief greeting. Gawain muttered to Reba, ¡°Did you see that? Watch and learn. Stop always thinking about throwingrge fireballs at people.¡± Reba wanted to remind her ancestor that it was he who was urging her to use a fireball just a while ago, but she kept quiet as she was afraid of taking a beating. Edmund wore an appropriate, thoughtful smile. ¡°I hope you will feelfortable staying here. If the chambein and the maidservants are not doing a good job, you can just tell Butler James.¡± ¡°Rest assured. There is nothing morefortable than staying in my own home.¡± Gawain sat down on a high-back chair. ¡°You have kept this ce up pretty well. It¡¯s almost the same as it was seven hundred years ago¡­ You even restored my favorite tea set. That¡¯s great. Have a seat, don¡¯t stand on ceremony.¡± ¡°Preserving the hero¡¯s former residence is to safeguard our honor,¡± Edmund said curiously and respectfully, ¡°You might find this funny, but I grew up listening to your stories. I even collected a set of replicas, weapons and armor you used back in the day. I imagined that one day I could be a pioneer like you too, protecting the people¡­ Unfortunately, regardless if I¡¯m the crown prince or the king, I can¡¯t simply do whatever I want.¡± Gawain looked the Prince up and down several times until the Prince fidgeted awkwardly and said, ¡°Is there anything wrong with the way I look?¡± ¡°Rx. You don¡¯t have to talk to me like I¡¯m some old-fashioned old man,¡± Gawain waved his hand. ¡°I died 700 years ago, but I was thirty-five years old when I died. That is not much older than you.¡± Edmund gave an awkward expression. ¡°Um, you¡¯re right. I can¡¯t help but add those seven hundred years to your age¡­¡± ¡°Surely there will be some generational gap after that 700 years,¡± Gawain chuckled. ¡°For example, we talked in a much more straightforward manner back in the day than people do now. We would get on with the main topic of discussion after a fight or a drink, people nowadays have to babble about their pleasantries before getting to the point.¡± Edmund was stunned for a moment, and he suddenlyughed as though he had a weight off his mind. ¡°I knew it. You won¡¯t be as difficult to talk to as my father thought. He even kept reminding me that I should pay attention to etiquette, and I told him too much of these nonsense would annoy people.¡± ¡°See. This is the style of talking that I like.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get to the point then. Your reason foring to see me today is to sound out information from me, right?¡± ¡°¡­ That is a little too straightforward¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s just the way we ancients are.¡± Gawain waved his hand, thinking that those guys who had been dead for hundreds of years would not jump out of the grave toe and beat him up. At least, he was the only human to be able to do that, so he could say whatever he liked. ¡°So you don¡¯t have to try to hide it. Your old man sent you here to get information on what my motives areing out of my grave so suddenly, right?¡± Edmund shrugged. ¡°This is not what my father meant. He is very careful. Even if he wanted to learn about your motives, he won¡¯t do such a reckless thing as sending me to meet you. I came here of my own intention. And I¡­ Indeed, I am curious about your purpose ofing here.¡± Gawain motioned for him to continue. ¡°You have been awake for so long. You must have known that many things have changed in these seven hundred years, especially¡­ what happened a hundred years ago,¡± Edmund said, ncing at Reba, ¡°Are you here because of interest in the Cecil n? ¡± ¡°This question is too vague. I definitely came in the interest of the Cecil n, but the question should be which aspect of it did Ie for?¡± Gawain looked to the Prince. ¡°From my point of view, there are many things that I can bring up in the interest of the Cecil n. The most obvious one being Cecil n¡¯s session to the title of Grand Duke and the southernnds. That is a huge topic for debate, isn¡¯t it?¡± Edmund froze for a moment. He seemed unsure whether Gawain was being serious or not, but he forced a smile and replied, ¡°Your title andnds were inherited by your descendants after you died. Following that, your descendant vited thew of the kingdom and could no longer continue to retain their titles andnds. This is all ording to the kingdom¡¯sws¡­ ¡± Gawain adjusted his posture, leaned toward Edmund, and gave an ambiguous smile as he said, ¡°Yes, but ording to thew, my heirs can only inherit my title andnds after I die. If I am alive, only my eldest son can take on a title that is one lower than mine and have the limited ¡®Right to act as representative¡¯ (See note in next paragraph). And all Cecil descendants apart from the eldest son will only have noble status but not have any legal rights to act as a substitute. Obviously, I¡¯m alive now, and nothing in Anzu¡¯sw mentions, for the case of a resurrected person, when a right to session shoulde into effect or be invalid, and how the conflicts that arise during the failure period should be dealt with.¡± (Right to act as representative, in Anzu¡¯sw, refers to the right of a qualified noble heir to act in the name of the n, giving him the privileges and at the same time the responsibility for any risk of the undertaking.) Edmund: ¡°?!¡± Gawain spread open his hand. ¡°So in the first ce, the session is invalid. A hundred years ago, Grumman should not have been a marquis, nor should he have any legal rights to represent the Cecil n. You only took something from someone who was not even the right sessor.¡± Reba looked at his ancestor, dumbstruck. She never thought that one could actually perform such a maneuver. Meanwhile, Amber, who was eavesdropping with her ear against the wall, turned and gave Knight Byron a look. ¡°He¡¯s good! He¡¯s even more shameless than me! ¡± Prince Edmund¡¯s expression was almost on the verge of cracking. He twitched at the corner of his mouth. After some time, he finally said, ¡°But when thew was enacted, who would have thought that you woulde back to life¡­. Besides, you did die once.¡± ¡°That is why when you¡¯re talking to me, put aside those logic and rules. They have be invalid the moment I opened my coffin,¡± Gawainughed. ¡°Of course, I did note in vengeance for thends and titles taken from my descendants. I know what that good-for-nothing descendant did a hundred years ago. If I was there, I would have whipped him to death too. The decision from the royal family was not wrong, and I have no intention of overthrowing it. I just want to let you know that if I really wanted to nitpick over the kingdom¡¯sws in the interest of the Cecil n, there would be many ways for me to do that because there¡¯s just arge part of thew that revolves around whether I died or not.¡± ¡°Okay, okay, I understand.¡± Edmund raised his hands in surrender. ¡°You were saying that people 700 years ago were straightforward and not good at beating about the bush, but it seems now that you are even harder to deal with than my debate instructor.¡± ¡°I have not only been through the early uncivilized years of Anzu, I have also experienced the Gondor Empire when it was at its peak, so don¡¯t underestimate an ancient from 700 years ago.¡± Gawain curled his lips. ¡°In uncivilized times, we can be savages that devour through feathers and raw meat, and in civilized times, we can give a wine 36 names, each name apanied by a so.¡± ¡°¡­ This is indeed impressive,¡± Edmund submitted. ¡°Can we then discuss in detail about what you are going to talk to my father about at noon tomorrow¡­¡± Gawain nodded, thinking that this was just as he had expected. Aspared to the meeting they would have in front of the public the next day, the real talks was actually taking ce today¡­ Chapter 28 Chapter 28: New Guests Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Edmund Moen smiled as he left. The negotiation seemed quite satisfactory to the Prince, but he declined Gawain¡¯s invitation to stay for dinner¡ªhe said that he had to return to the Silver Castle as soon as possible, for the old King was still waiting for his good news. Reba only spoke after Edmund left. ¡°He seems like a very genial man¡ªI¡¯d thought that the Crown Prince would be a very difficult person to deal with, with all the etiquette and what-not¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s because he¡¯s looking at this seven hundred year-old ancestor right here, and not a ruined Viscountess from the borders.¡± Gawain shot Reba a look. ¡°Do you really think this is how he usually behaves? It¡¯s the total opposite, because he acted in a manner that is exactly my style ofmunication, he must have done his homework beforeing here.¡± Reba eximed, ¡°Ah?¡± Gawain thought for a while before exining to her, ¡°Negotiation tactics, in summary, are just speaking in the right manner to the right people. At first, he began his visit with the bearing of a Prince paying a visit to a high-ranking ¡®aristocratic patriarch¡¯, and disyed just the right amount of politeness and sternness. After he noticed how I spoke and behaved, he immediately became more light-hearted and humorous in order to make me open up and talk more. That¡¯s a great skill.¡± Reba scratched her head. ¡°¡­ Huh?¡± Gawain sighed. ¡°¡­ I think you should stick to researching how tounch fireballs.¡± Reba could feel Gawain¡¯s intense exasperation even if she was not that smart. Immediately, she became a little nervous. ¡°Lord Ancestor, am I¡­ a little too dumb regarding this?¡± ¡°Everyone has their own talents. Yours doesn¡¯t happen to be in this area, so you don¡¯t need to force it.¡± Gawain patted Reba¡¯s head (being tall meant he could do anything). ¡°Also, to be honest, I don¡¯t really like ying mind games with other people too. I much prefer the days when a whole group of people put life and death out of the picture, only working hard to carve out a living in the wilderness¡­¡± Reba nodded as if she understood what he said, before continuing curiously, ¡°Oh yeah, Lord Ancestor, was what you said earlier true?¡± Gawain said, ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Reba asked earnestly, ¡°Did all of you really give thirty names to a single wine, and even pen sos after those names in those days?¡± Gawain sighed. ¡°Of course it¡¯s true.¡± ¡°That sounds so cool!¡± ¡°Actually, it was due to our poverty then. At that time, the pioneers hadn¡¯t even arrived at the ins of the Holy Spirits, so it was really difficult for us to feed everyone without agriculturalnd. We only gave one wine over thirty names because we only had one kind of wine then, and it was ourst keg too. We penned sos after the names for nothing other than entertainment. So, you need to know that all theplicated manners and rules of the nobility are all a result of having nothing better to do, and are basically the stuff of boredom.¡± Reba¡¯s eyes were sparkling. She felt as though she had gained some tremendous knowledge¡ªthese were the things that Aunt Heidi would never teach her! Just then, the window to the room was pushed open. Amber hopped in through the open window and threw herself onto the chair. Swinging her legs back and forth, she bantered with Gawain, ¡°You¡¯re interesting, old man! Hearing what you just said has elevated my view of you past all the other nobles!¡± ¡°Stop calling me an old man; I¡¯m still in the prime of my life!¡± Gawain red at Amber. ¡°And aren¡¯t you supposed to be out patrolling? Are you trying to ck off bying inside?¡± Amber was rocking her body on her seat as though she could not sit still for a second. ¡°I did patrol the area, and having found nothing, I¡¯m back for some water. You can¡¯t prevent me from resting¡ªthen again, how can you be so sure that someone is going to sneak in? Look at the Prince; he entered through the main door¡­¡± ¡°If the Prince came in by flipping over a wall, then Charlie should also have bounced out of his coffin like I did.¡± The corner of Gawain¡¯s lips quirked. ¡°But not everyone who wants to talk to me will enter from the main door. I¡¯m staying here today, to wait for these people.¡± ¡°Okay, okay, okay. You¡¯re the boss.¡± Amber waved a hand. She poured herself a cup of tea and chugged it down before walking over to the window. However, she turned back just as she was about to jump out again, snatching away two pieces of muffins Gawain had prepared for tea. ¡°It¡¯s cold outside. I¡¯ll eat something to warm up.¡± Gawain regretted not having his Sword of Pioneers in hand. He then turned to his n+1th great-granddaughter. ¡°You should head back inside to rest. You have to be in your best condition when we meet the King tomorrow.¡± Reba nodded and followed with a question, ¡°What about you, Lord Ancestor?¡± ¡°I¡¯m used to sleepingte, and I was nning on going to my study,¡± Gawain said, ¡°Since I¡¯m considered a returning visitor, I have to see how much this ce has changed.¡± Reba obediently bade Gawain goodnight and turned to leave the room, while he stood there for a while before walking to the study located on the second floor. Even though Gawain Cecil was famous for hisbat skills, he was not just a martial artist who only knew how to wield weapons. In fact, he was a semi polymath and herbalist as well, and he liked to read books in his leisure. Thus, apart from having an armory for himself in the mansion of 4 Crown Street, there was also a substantial study inside. Gawain mused as he sat in front of the restored desk, his fingers tapping lightly on its surface. His gaze wandered between the quaint bookshelves and pictures hanging on the wall, eventually returning to the table. The memories that did not belong to him swelled up in his mind again, causing him to feel a strange sense of familiarity towards the objects in front of him. He marveled at the painstaking efforts of theter generations¡ªnot only had they restored the furniture, but the quills and papers on the desk were ced in the positions where Gawain Cecil used to have them, to the point where this intimate restoration made him feel a little fearful. It seemed like someone knew he woulde back, and had specially prepared the ce for him. Even though the memories were clear, they ultimately did not belong to him and he was thus unable to rte emotionally to them. Gawain quickly looked away, and got up from the seat. He got down to the ground and started groping at the floor under the table. A secretpartment was revealed and he felt his fingers touch a piece of cold metal. After feeling for a ring on the metal¡¯s surface, he lifted it out of of the secretpartment. It was an exquisite little box that exuded a cool silver light. Despite being seven hundred years old, it still looked brand new. Upon seeing the little box, Gawain then sighed with relief. It was still here. Most of the things in this mansion were perhaps no longer original. However, there were some things that could be preserved for more than seven hundred years, such as a little Mithril-forged safe. The box was iid with intricate patterns of magic, but also had an emblem of a sword and shield cast with adamantium and ferrosm on its surface. Next to the emblem was some exquisite lettering, as well as the joint surnames of Gawain Cecil and Charlie I. These markings and words, along with the secret incantations passed down through generations of Moens (the royals of Anzu), ensured that if the main house was ever rebuilt and this little box found, it would once again be ced in its original location. However, this was also because Gawain¡¯s ¡°resurrection¡± had not been toote. The old incantations and deterrent forces of the ancestors were bound to lose their effectiveness over time, especially since this was the second dynasty, which meant that the first dynasty had already fallen into the abyss. If he had arrived a littleter, and this mansion had undergone anotherplete renovation, no one would be able to guarantee the whereabouts of the little box. Gawain ced the little box on the table. If the most important purpose for their journey to the capital was to obtain the ¡°permanent right to develop regions¡±, then the second-most important purpose was this Mithril safe right in front of his eyes. He had not brought Reba to look for this box not because he did not trust his theoretical descendant, but because he was not certain of the box¡¯s existence. If he mysteriously told her that ¡°your ancestor¡¯s going to show you something interesting¡±, led the girl over, and found nothing after scrounging the ground, it would be really embarrassing. Gawain channeled magic onto the surface of the box ording to the memories in him before dabbing a drop of his own blood onto the emblem in the middle of the box. The inside of this small magical object immediately turned with a crisp mechanical sound, and the lid popped open slightly. There were very few things inside. Other than a palm-sized crystal which had already lost its magical power and was only useful as ornaments now, there was a palm-sized tinum disc. Gawain put the crystal aside temporarily and took up the disc, inspecting it. Its surface was also engraved withplex patterns of magic, but other than that, there were also a few characters that looked like they were floating on it, vibrating constantly. They were seals used tomunicate with the elements. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve got the key now¡­¡± Gawain muttered something under his breath and stuffed both the crystals and the disc against his chest. However, just as he stood, a slight breeze whipped across his ear. He swiped up the dagger on his desk immediately, his muscles tense, preparing to fight. ¡°With such acute senses and reflexes, it does seem like you¡¯re the real deal,¡± a voice belonging to a young woman floated in through the window. It was only then that Gawain noticed that the window of the room had been opened at some point, and a veiled woman in a purple dress was hovering in the air and walking on nothing towards the window. ¡°Please rx. If people like us fight, we¡¯d probably surprise half the people in the cit¡ª¡± Before the girl could finish speaking, a swift ck shadow darted down from the roof, apanied by Amber¡¯s cries, ¡°Little thief! I finally caught you¡ªAiya!¡± Amber, Master of the Shadowy Arts with her insane, monstrous talents of stealth and shadow travel, was sent flying through the air by the mysterious woman¡¯s casual punch because she only had abat skill that rivaled one-and-a-half geese. However, the mysterious woman seemed to be surprised as well. She was still stunned afterunching Amber through the air. ¡°Just now¡­ What was that?¡± Gawain, with a dagger in his hand, was still on his toes. ¡°That¡¯s my bodyguard, if I¡¯m not wrong.¡± ¡°Ah, my apologies,¡± the mysterious woman apologized quickly. Such an attitude was surprising. She looked in the direction where Amber had fallen and turned to exin, ¡°I attacked instinctively because she rushed out so suddenly. But don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s alright; at most, she¡¯ll feel dizzy for a while.¡± Gawain eased up a little, but still maintained his stern attitude. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I apologize. It seems like there was ack of consideration regarding my appearance.¡± The mysterious woman stood on the windowsill and bowed politely. ¡°The Mithril Vault sends its greetings to you. Allow me to introduce myself. I am your VIPmissioner, Melita Ponia. I am in charge of all your savings in the Mithril Vault.¡± Gawain frowned. ¡°My Little Pony?¡± Chapter 29 Chapter 29: Mithril Vault Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Upon hearing Gawain¡¯s reflexive reply, the mysterious woman who wore a veil was stunned for a moment as she batted her eyes in confusion. ¡°My name is Melita Ponia. This pronunciation may indeed be a little different from the namesmonly used in northern regions¡­¡± Gawain quickly recovered from his distracted line of thought. ¡°Oh, sorry. Don¡¯t mind me. I¡¯m the one who didn¡¯t pronounce it correctly.¡± He coughed in an effort to regain his seriousness (and to keep the atmosphere from bing too awkward). ¡°So what brings an agent from the Mithril Vault here sote at night and that you even had toe through the window for?¡± The woman jumped down from the window sill and came up to Gawain. ¡°I have no choice but toe in through the window. After all, I don¡¯t know how many eyes are watching this ce. And since the thing you left in the Mithril Vault is ¡®top secret¡¯, ording to the agreement, this process, regardless of whether you are depositing or withdrawing, must be kept confidential.¡± She stared at Gawain with eyes that gave off a mild purple gleam under the night sky. Although her face covered by the veil hid her expression, her eyes were obviously watching intently. Gawain¡¯s mind flew into cerebration. He knew about the Mithril Vault. Or more urately, the inherited memory contained records rted to the Mithril Vault. The Mithril Vault was not some mysterious organization. In fact, the vast majority of intelligent creatures in this world knew of its existence, but at the same time, no one would dare to say that they knew what this ¡®Vault¡¯ truly looked like. On the surface, it was a treasury withprehensive services. It could help you store money and keep your treasures. As long as you paid the fees, you could safely leave anything to them for safekeeping. At least, that was what the Mithril Vault was made known to be. In fact, up till today, there had been no news of things being lost from the Mithril Vault. At the same time, the Mithril Vault also provided lending services. They had countless branches and agents in this world. As long as people met a certain level of creditworthiness, anyone could find them easily and borrow money or other things from them. There were only two things to be taken note of. Firstly, how much you could borrow depended entirely on how the Mithril Vault ¡®rated¡¯ you, and this rating criteria had never been made public. Secondly, you must pay it back. Mithril Vault would ensure that every single coin it lent out would be recovered with interest. Just as no one had ever heard of items being lost from the Mithril Vault, no one had ever heard of cases where a debt to Mithril Vault was not paid. There was a rumor of a cunning fire elemental lord who tried to challenge this rule. Even though elemental creatures did not need money, this unconventional elemental lord still borrowed a huge sum from the Mithril Vault. Then it returned to the elemental world, intending tough at the mortal world. But in the end, it still had to pay its debt. On the third day after his debt was due, the elemental lord¡¯s core and its elemental fragments of elementals appeared at an auction in the north. The money obtained from the auction turned out to be equal to the sum of his debts andte payment fees. It was evident that the Mithril Vault not only dealt with humans but also with all intelligent races of this world. Anyone who needed financial help was a potential client of the Mithril Vault. Even the strange elves in the south and the dwarves in the east, who were as tough as rock, were no exception (it was said that the Mithril Vault even had branches in the kobold caves). No one knew which race founded this organization¡ªhuman, elves, or what have you. It just existed. Even the Dark Wave seven hundred years ago had failed to impact its operation. In fact, a loan was taken for the establishment of Anzu Kingdom, but at least Charlie I paid the money back in the end. The vault¡¯s agent was still watching Gawain curiously, who remained poised as he quickly sorted out the messy thoughts in his mind. He realized that this unexpected visitor tonight probably came because of a deal made seven hundred years ago. Gawain Cecil, had evidently been a client of the Mithril Vault, but unfortunately¡­ There was no memory of this! Gawain had no idea what the ancestor of Cecil n had kept in the Mithril Vault seven hundred years ago! An idea quickly came to him. He was going toe up with an excuse to hide hising up empty on searching the memory, but as the words were about to leave his mouth, he noticed My Little Pony¡¯s scrutinizing gaze, and it stopped him as he held back the urge to say it. This woman was very mysterious. Before he understood more about her, he had to reduce the number of variables. Lying might be inconvenient as there were some special races that had the special talents of detecting lies. He calmed down and looked into Melita¡¯s eyes. ¡°What did I keep back then?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t remember?¡± Melita¡¯s eyes curved slightly, as though she was smiling. ¡°Is it because you¡¯ve slept too long?¡± ¡°I slept for seven hundred years. I probably did forget some things.¡± Gawain knocked on his head. ¡°Speaking of which, even if the person dies, do you still hold the items for safekeeping?¡± ¡°Usually, the death of the client indicates the end of the arrangement. After that, the entrusted item will be dealt with in two ways. If there is an assigned heir, we will give the entrusted item to the heir. If there is no legal heir, the entrusted item would be returned to the Mithril Vault.¡± Merita was really smiling. She raised her hand slightly, and an exquisite little safe deposit box appeared in her hand. ¡°But the things you kept then were very special. You bought an indefinite storage service for it. This means that as long as the Mithril Vault is still running, your item will be stored permanently, and only you can retrieve it.¡± She added, ¡°You paid a lot for this service. When news of your death came, we thought this would end up as an annoying dormant bank ount. But now it seems that nothing is certain.¡± Gawain frowned, realizing that the whole matter might be moreplicated than he had initially imagined. But this was not the time to think about these things. First, he must get that item before he could try to understand this. ¡°Can I have the item back?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t remember the arrangement then. This is indeed quite a pickle. But rest assured, the Mithril Vault has encountered all kinds of problems before. We have plenty of experience and are able to deal with any cases.¡± Melita said as she held the safe deposit box in her hands. ¡°Forgetting is only a trivial problem. Please ce your hand on this rune. This ancient magic can naturally verify your identity.¡± Gawain pondered for about two seconds. Upon mustering the knight¡¯s skill of Danger Detection, he did not sense any danger from the safe deposit box, and there was no curse on the rune or other negative energy fluctuations. After confirming this, he ced his hand on the rune that looked like a paw print. A faint wave of heat transmitted through his skin. The little safe deposit box clicked, and the lid opened. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Gawain asked, sounding surprised. Merita smiled. ¡°It¡¯s Mithril Vault¡¯s mission to do our best to enhance the convenience for clients. This can help clients to pay their bills quicker. Of course, your bills were already paid seven hundred years ago.¡± Then, she opened the boxpletely and brought it forward to Gawain. Gawain looked down and found that there was only one crystal inside that had lost its shine. Wait. Why does this crystal look so familiar? Gawain temporarily suppressed his questions and looked up at Merita. ¡°By the way, why would youe find me now? Was this also part of the agreement?¡± ¡°No.¡± Melita shook her head slightly. ¡°It¡¯s just that we also needed some time to verify your resurrection. Initially, I wanted to meet you on your way to the capital, but the route that you took was really¡­ too circuitous. I didn¡¯t know what you nned to do, so I decided to just wait for you in the capital. Anyways, I have been waiting here for a long time. The rice in the capital is very expensive and the rent isn¡¯t cheap. But seeing as you¡¯re a VIP client, we won¡¯t charge you for this.¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± What was the point of bringing it up then! Gawain tilted his head and said unhurriedly, ¡°Rice is indeed very expensive in the capital. The bodyguard in my care eats a lot too. After you just injured her, I¡¯m afraid the cost of healing will not be cheap. Likewise, I won¡¯t ask you to pay for this either.¡± Melita: ¡°¡­¡± My Little Pony returned a stiff smile since he would not be able to see through the veil anyways. Then she shook her head, raised her hand to pass him something. ¡°So Mr. Gawain Cecil, this transaction is sessfullypleted. As a VIP client of Mithril Vault, you will receive a gift.¡± Gawain took it curiously and realized it was a silvery white ring. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°The Mithril Ring. All VIP clients will get it afterpleting their first transaction. With it, you can always contact your exclusive agent, the VIP executive. If you encounter any financial difficulties in the future, or if there is a treasure that you need to entrust for safekeeping, you can contact me directly. Of course, if it is for the general transaction for small sums, you can also take this ring directly to the nearest Mithril Vault branch, and you¡¯ll be able to get good deals with it.¡± With that said, she turned to the window where she came from. Gawain held up the ring in his hand. ¡°Well, I hope I¡¯ll never have to borrow from you.¡± Merita had stepped onto the windowsill again. Hearing that, she turned her head and smiled. ¡°Trust me, Mr. Gawain. Everyone can face financial problems. Mithril Vault will always wee clients in need.¡± Gawain waved her off upon hearing the same rhetoric that was used to promote credit cards in his life. ¡°Okay okay okay, I got it. Miss My Little Pony. You should get back quickly. The rice in the capital is really quite expensive.¡± Melita¡¯s foot slipped. Perhaps it was hearing about the price of rice or ¡®My Little Pony¡¯, but she did not turn back this time as she simply vanished into the air. A momentter, she appeared in a small attic on the top floor of the mansion. This was a ce where people would not normallye to. It was used to store misceneous things, and now there were some extra bedding, pillows, pans, bowls,dles, and pots, and what have you. Merita did not lie. She did wait here for a long time¡­ As she packed her luggage, the agentdy shook her head. ¡°Luckily, it was your rice that I ate.¡± Chapter 30 Chapter 30: There are So Many Visitors Tonight¡­ Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Gawain stood in front of the window and waited for a while until he made sure that the breath of My Little Pony had disappearedpletely. He let out a deep breath and closed the window quickly. Just as the windows were about to shut, a ck shadow jumped up from below and Amber screamed: ¡°Uncle, I saw a thief just now¡­ smack.¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± After a while, Amber, who was both physically and mentally traumatised finally stood up firmly. This unfortunate half-elf had ice on her face and she put her hand on her head. She red at Gawain and said, ¡°How can you do this!¡± ¡°How would I know that you were going to dash in from the window?¡± Gawain looked at her. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with all of you today? Why can¡¯t youe in through the main door.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a bandit! Aren¡¯t you looking down on my profession if you ask me toe in through the main door?¡± Amber was furious. ¡°To add on, someone hit me! You haven¡¯t evenpensated my injuries, how shameless of you. Are all nobles so stingy?¡± Gawain looked at the energetic Amber and confirmed that she did not suffer from much injury other than from mming into the window. He shook his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t have money now, I¡¯ll pay you when I have it.¡± Gawain continued before Amber said anything, ¡°I¡¯m your senior and I won¡¯t lie to you okay?¡± Amber¡¯s eyes widened, ¡°Remember that you said this, my memory is good!¡± Gawain waved his hand and the clumsy half-elf stood by the side obediently. He then walked to the desk and looked at the crystals on the table. There were five crystals, one of them was entrusted to him by Ms Melita. It was a treasure which had 700 years of history and was most likely an important item which Gawain Cecil had requested the Mithril Vault to safekeep. However, he could not recall anything and the four other crystals were found inside the Mithril safe in the study. However, Gawain did not know about the origins of the few crystals. He had some impression of the Mithril safe but when it came to the items in the safe, all he knew was that the round tinum te was actually a key which could unlock a secret storeroom. As for the remaining crystals, he only remembered Gawain Cecil putting them into the safe but could not recall where they were from. It seemed that all of his memories regarding the crystals had been removed. Gawain fiddled with the crystals which were made from the same material but of different shapes. The mysterious crystal from the Mithril Vault was obviouslyplete and perfectly symmetrical and it was like a spindle with the size of a palm but it did not have a sharp tip. There was a faint blue glimmer at the heart of the spindle. The four other crystals taken out from the safe were obviously fragments and they belonged to another spindle. Gawain tried to piece them together and realised that he could only piece two-thirds of the spindle. ¡°What is this?¡± Amber was so bored that she wanted to fly although she stood by the side for only a few minutes. She could not contain her curiosity and rushed to Gawain. ¡°Crystals? They are so dull¡­ and don¡¯t look like they are worth much money.¡± Gawain said without looking up, ¡°Thankfully they look worthless, otherwise I would kill you before you tried to take them away.¡± Amber pped her chest in an exaggerated way and said, ¡°Wow! You nobles are so cruel!¡± Gawain looked at her with curiosity. ¡°Why do you talk about the nobles all the time, do you have a feud with them?¡± ¡°No feud, isn¡¯t it normal for the poor to scold the nobles?¡± Amber rolled her eyes and continued, ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have anyone else to scold, so no matter what happens, the nobles are always at fault.¡± Gawainughed and looked at Amber. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to act like a peasant, the peasants would not have such audacity.¡± Amber wascent. ¡°Of course, typical peasants don¡¯t know the Shadow Walk~~~¡± Gawain did not want to entertain this fellow who was full of nonsense and waved his hand to ask her to call Reba. ¡°Call that little lord?¡± Amber blinked and looked at the crystals in front of Gawain. ¡°Wait a moment¡­ are these things really costly?¡± Gawain did not know how Amber managed to make such associations. ¡°What makes you think so?¡± Amber¡¯s analysis was cogent. ¡°Judging from the situation and thinking about the agent of the Mithril Vault which you mentioned just now, it is obvious that you are going to announce your will. Don¡¯t tell me that the family inheritance of the Cecil n actually lies in these crystals?¡± Gawain broke out with cold sweat and said, ¡°I¡¯ll pin you to a wall with a sword if you don¡¯t go out now!¡± Amber transformed into a shadow instantly and disappeared into thin air. Gawain breathed out slowly as the talkative half-elf finally left and he could finally calm down and think about the question which made him feel uneasy. What was the secret behind his ¡°revival¡± or rather ¡°possession¡±? Initially, he thought that everything was a coincidence and had flown to the maximum lifespan of some device in the sky. Then he identallynded on a family¡¯s tomb when he was thrown down by the escape system. However, it seems that for now¡­ his arrival may have been an ident but Gawain Cecil¡¯s revival was not. A person with limited life and in fact may pass away very early would not purchase a permanent storage in the Mithril Vault. Unless he knew that he woulde back and collect it in the future. Of course he might be extremely affluent, but the likelihood of it happening was too low. Gawain subconsciously wrote three words on the table using his finger: Who am I? Gawain was from earth and he transmigrated to this ce after dying due to a ne ident in his previous life. Although he had not fully understood the situation, he had been hanging in the sky for more than ten thousand years and witnessed the vicissitudes of life and then became a human. It had only been two months since he became Gawin Cecil. Memories in tact, perfectly well personality and a clear and logical mind. Therefore this was not what he was most worried about. Then Gawain Cecil might have encountered a problem. Was his revival disrupted by this visitor who came from the sky? He thought carefully and thought that it was indeed suspicious that the person¡¯s body did not dpose for 700 years. Perhaps that legendary man had nned to revive in the future 700 years ago. (For reasons such as his unfilial descendents about to squander their family inheritance, monsters invading their country to destroy it or both terrible matters happening at the same time.) However, the strong-willed man who wanted to defend his home even till his death forgot something and his n was foiled by a soul whichnded from the sky¡­ This way of thinking seemed to make perfect sense! Gawain frowned and countless possibilities went through his mind but he was unable to prove most of them. The only thing which he could prove was that he was still himself. He did not think aboutplicated and meaningless questions such as ¡°being unable to identify subconscious changes, the brain cannot feel itself thinking and the person whose thoughts are affected would not realise it¡±. He felt that spending time on philosophical things was a waste of time for now. He only had to make sure that his thoughts were under his own control. Only when his mind was clear, could heplete what he wanted to do. Footsteps outside the study interrupted his thoughts and he heard Amber chattering outside the room. ¡°Let me tell you, your ancestor is odd, he met the agent of the Mithril Vaultte at night and then requested to meet you. I feel that he probably wants to announce his will¡­ in addition, that agent punched me and you have topensate me¡­¡± Cracking sounds of fireballs were heard. Amber¡¯s voice: ¡°¡­Of course I¡¯m not asking you to pay now¡­¡± The room door opened and Reba appeared at the doorstep while Amber stood by the side and stuck her head out to look around. ¡°Lord Ancestor, were you looking for me?¡± While Reba was asking, she sized up Gawain. Although that half-elf who talked irresponsibly could not be trusted most of the time, the thoughtful feudal lord still observed Gawain¡¯s expressions to see if he was really intending to announce his will¡­ Gawain looked at Amber, ¡°Wait outside to stop people froming near. If someonees in this time, not only would you not get yourpensation, you won¡¯t even get your pay.¡± Amber pursed her lips and whispered as she walked towards the window, ¡°As if you have ever given me any pay¡­¡± Gawain shouted, ¡°Must you leave by the window?!¡± Amber, who was very professional returned to her position through the window. Gawain sighed because he felt that there was no way for him to reason things out with that shameless person. Therefore he turned around towards the study table and put away the few crystals as he did not know about their uses yet. After that, he took out the round tinum te which he took out from the safe earlier from his bosom. ¡°What Amber said is notpletely wrong because I do have something for you.¡± Gawain then emphasized, ¡°However, I am definitely not distributing my inheritance.¡± Reba looked at the round tinum te in Gawain¡¯s hands and asked, ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± ¡°A key which can be used to open¡­¡± Just as Gawain was speaking, Amber screamed from the top floor. ¡°Little thief! I¡¯ve caught you again!!¡± Immediately after, sounds of people running were heard but Gawain was shocked because he did not hear the person which Amber attacked screaming. Did a goose that knows the shadow walk sneak onto the roof? (Heavy fog) Then he instantly grabbed the weapon next to the table and wanted to go and find out more together with Reba. However, before heunched any attack, he saw a ck ball of shadow and Amber jump out of the fog and in her hand was an unconscious young man who was wearing a ck vest and had ck hair. Gawain looked at him and thought to himself. ¡°There are ¡­so many visitors tonight.¡± Chapter 31 Chapter 31: The Shadow Guard Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Honestly speaking, Gawain was quite surprised to see Amber capturing someone. He would not have been so shocked an hour ago, however he lost hope for herbat ability ever since that shadow master was beaten up by a bank promoter called My Little Pony. Rather than a guard, she was more like an rm¡­ It was true that Amber¡¯s shadow techniques were superb, hence it was expected that she would be able to spot an assassin or spy¡­ however little did anyone expect her to capture the person directly. Just as Amber captured the man, hasty footsteps came from the outside of the study. Immediately after, Knight Byron opened the door and rushed in. ¡°Your Excellency, what happened here?¡± He was supposed to be guarding the main door downstairs but he was rmed by themotion upstairs. In contrast, when Melita visited and punched Amber right in her face, not muchmotion was caused¡­ ¡°It¡¯s okay, just a little thief and I have captured him,¡± Gawain waved his hand at Byron and continued, ¡°you may go back and guard the ce because tonight may not be so peaceful.¡± Bryon looked at the study with confusion and saw Amber feeling proud of herself and the rogue copsed on the floor. However, due to themand issued, he nodded and said, ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How did you capture him?¡± Gawain looked at Amber with surprise after Knight Bryon left and said ¡°Did you win?¡± ¡°What does that expression mean?!¡± Amber was frustrated due to Gawain¡¯s reaction. ¡°Although mybat ability is rtively weaker, but I¡¯m not so terrible that I can¡¯t beat anyone at all, okay? Previously, I managed to tackle a monster called the ¡®Mutant¡¯.¡± Gawain continued staring at her. ¡°Of course, this fellow is stupid.¡± It was expected that Amber had something else to add on. ¡°He could have won if he tackled me face-to-face but he insisted on showing off his shadow moves. I took him down with one kick. He passed out after his spirit shook between the shadow and physical realm.¡± Gawain looked at her with shock and thought to himself. ¡°Only a monster like you could think of such barbaric attacks.¡± Shadow Walk was the signature skill of the rogues and almost every one of them was skilled but their ability remained iparable to that of Amber and the difference in their abilities made their skills seem like twopletely different skills. Normal rogues could only hide temporarily in the physical realm and shuttle back and forth between the physical and shadow realms(the mages call this the ¡°edge of shadow¡±). It was an extremely dangerous technique and one had to be as precise as dancing on the edge of a knife. Any mistake could cause one to fall into the shadow side and be pulverized by the unknown things in it. As for Amber¡­ who knew what ability she had. Under normal circumstances, rogues only need to focus on their footsteps and they did not have to worry as long as they did not take the wrong step. As the ¡°Shadow Walk¡± was also known as the lonely road, hence every rogue knew that even the most powerful master of shadow would not be able to enter someone else¡¯s path. Therefore, every skilful rogue was able to perfect the skill of ¡°dancing on the edge of the knife¡±, however that was the usual case¡­ Things would have been different if you were dancing on the edge of a knife and a monster withbat ability of as high as 1.5e kicked you suddenly. At this time, Amber was still full ofcency. ¡°It was so interesting at that time, this fellow was in a stupid position and went into the shadow mode with a sh. However, I saw him clearly and he wanted to sneak beside me while waving a small knife. I pretended as though I did not see him and kicked him when he stood next to me¡­¡± Reba did not entertain Amber and squatted beside Gawain to examine the unexpected visitor together. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that he cannot wake up.¡± Gawain shook his head and said, ¡°It is hard to say, normal people would be an idiot even if they didn¡¯t die when they got a shock on the edge of the shadow realm.¡± As they were speaking, the rogue lying on the floor twitched and he started to slowly regain consciousness. Under normal circumstances, a trained rogue would pretend to be dead at this moment and control his heart rate and breathing so that others would not be able to tell. However, this rogue could not control himself due to the huge blow and before he realised that there was something amiss, he was already staring at Gawain. The nameless young man had a dull look in his eyes and everything before his eyes seemed to be unexpected. Immediately after, he wanted to bite the poison hidden in his mouth to kill himself only to realise that the poison had been taken away. He could only choose to keep his mouth shut and remain quiet. ¡°What is your name?¡± ¡°What is your motive?¡± ¡°Who sent you here?¡± Gawain asked him a few questions but did not get any reply and the man pretended to be deaf. Amber took out her little dagger and spun it. ¡°Should we extort a confession using some torture? Although I¡¯m not very professional, but I have witnessed some techniques in the past, when I sneaked into the dungeon to steal things.¡± Reba was confused. ¡°What did you steal from the dungeon?¡± ¡°I bet you don¡¯t know about this.¡± Amber started sharing happily. ¡°Many prison officers would hide the treasures which they got from the prisoners in the secretive corners and transport the things away when they are changing shifts to avoid being discovered by the patrolling officers or leaders. I pick those times to do it¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think about it, there is no use torturing him.¡± Gawain interrupted Amber who wascent. ¡°The shadow guard of the royals are trained to serve the King hence they are the cream of the crop. Other than outstandingbat ability, their willpower is impressive too. Thankfully you could capture such an expert and I think you can boast about it for more than half a year.¡± As he was talking, he looked at the stunned young man and said, ¡°However, when I was alive, the royal shadow guard was only a personal bodyguard and the most they would do was gather information from dangerous ces. Why is that they have degenerated into having to pilfer after 700 years?¡± The captured shadow guard looked at Gawain in shock and Gawain continued before the former spoke. ¡°You want to ask me how I managed to tell your identity?¡± The shadow guard nodded. ¡°Rubbish, I was the one who came up with the title and set up your training system,¡± Gawain pat the shadow guard¡¯s face and continued, ¡°I was the training officer of the first batch of royal shadow guards!!¡± Amber was dumbfounded and looked at Gawain who was almost 2 metres in height. ¡°As a knight¡­ you became the training officer of the rogues? You taught them how to move stealthily?¡± Gawain smiled and said, ¡°No, I trained their stamina and fencing.¡± Amber was confused. ¡°Why do rogues have to learn fencing?¡± ¡°Obviously, to kill all witnesses when they are exposed.¡± ¡°As a rogue, isn¡¯t being exposed during a mission the same as failing?!¡± ¡°No, for Anzu¡¯s rogues, being exposed is only the start of the mission¡­ however, the one before us didn¡¯t seem to havepleted the courses well. Perhaps the courses which I have left behind 700 years ago are no longer in use?¡± The shadow guard lying on the ground looked miserable because he found out that all those torturous trainings were left behind by the person standing in front of him. Although 700 years had passed and the courses had been revised so many times, the foundation courses did not change drastically. Stamina training and fencing were two of the trainings which had remained. Seeing the changes in the shadow guard¡¯s expression, Gawain knew that the trainings in his memory still remained. ¡°Francis II sent you here right?¡± He looked at the young man lying on the floor and smiled amicably. ¡°However, I believe that His Majesty the King wouldn¡¯t send someone to assassinate me when more than half of the capital knows that I¡¯m here. Hence he asked you toe and spy on me?¡± The shadow guard remained quiet. ¡°However, he should have reminded you to stay further away because there is too much risk and Gawain Cecil did not falter even if the Cecil n did. Are you being overconfident¡­ or did you not follow the instructions?¡± The shadow guard said something. ¡°You are insulting my mission, I¡¯ll kill myself and you don¡¯t have to worry about me.¡± ¡°Nonsense!¡± Gawain pped him. ¡°Your life has been toofortable, how did you degenerate to this stage?!¡± The shadow guard looked at Gawain in confusion as if he did not understand what Gawain said. ¡°What is the use of the royal shadow guards? They are meant to protect the king, the country and thend! Your responsibility is to tackle the viins who want to tear the country apart and not help the muddle-headed king to spy on a pioneer who built the country! If you were captured by the enemies on the battlefield, I would have respected you for your courage, but you are here, in my house! Are you suggesting that I am a traitor who wants to tear the country apart by saying that I am insulting your mission?! Or are you saying that capturing you is an insult to Anzu?! Are you saying that the people of Anzu are now against the pioneer who built the country?!¡± The young shadow guard was at a loss after hearing Gawain¡¯s scoldings. ¡°No¡­ That¡¯s not what I mean¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, your opinion does not matter.¡± Gawain interrupted him and stood up. ¡°I am not so petty to be angry at a junior so you can leave now.¡± The young shadow guard never expected things to end this way(he probably did not expect any of the events that happened tonight), he looked at Gawain in confusion as he could not believe his ears. Even Amber and Reba were shocked. Gawain repeated his words and said. ¡°I said, you can leave, do you want me to send you off?¡± The shadow guard got up slowly and asked. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Of course, I can¡¯t kill Francis II¡¯s man and I do not intend to bring you to the the Silver Castle under everyone¡¯s attention although I feel like doing so. It¡¯s a pity that I have passed the age to let my emotions sway my decisions and I can only let you off.¡± Reba seemed to have something to say but she kept it to herself because of Gawain¡¯s stern expression. The shadow guard moved to the window slowly and before he left, Gawain suddenly said, ¡°I don¡¯t intend to tell anyone about what happened today, it¡¯s up to you¡­ how you want to update His Majesty about this matter.¡± ¡°¡­Thank you for your mercy.¡± After saying those words, the silhouette of the shadow guard disappeared in the air. Gawain pursed his lips and said ¡°¡­Another one that leaves by the window.¡± Reba finally found a chance to say something, ¡°Lord Ancestor, are you really going to let him off so easily?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Gawainughed. ¡°I definitely have to let him off.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t he need to be punished? The fact that His Majesty sent someone to spy on this ce suggests that¡­¡± ¡°Reba, remember this, if you want to get arger benefit then you have to be farsighted.¡± Gawain patted her head and continued, ¡°It is nothing to let a small pawn get away, there are still potential benefits.¡± ¡°Potential benefits?¡± Reba blinked her eyes. ¡°For example?¡± ¡°It depends on what that young shadow guard tells the king and there are only two possibilities.¡± Gawain opened his hands. ¡°Either Francis II doesn¡¯t get to sleep in peace in theter part of the night or¡­ he has another shadow guard who is not loyal.¡± He turned around and looked at the moonless night sky as he was speaking. ¡°Rtive loyalty means absolutely no loyalty and this sentence makes a lot of sense.¡± Chapter 32 Chapter 32: Inheritance, it¡¯s really inheritance Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Frankly speaking, Reba did not know these things very well and she was still a little confused even though Gawain had exined it to her once. One thing she knew for sure was that her Lord Ancestor did not seem very pleased with the current king, Francis II. ¡°Although we do not need to antagonize the king, we need to be wary of him.¡± Gawain answered casually after hearing Reba¡¯s queries, he then looked at Amber, who was standing at the side and said confidently: ¡°The Second Dynasty, don¡¯t forget that it¡¯s the ¡®Second Dynasty¡¯, to the royals who did not get their positions in the proper way, the Cecil n are now people from the past even though they were the heroes who built this country¡­ We may not have such concerns, but Francis II does and because of this, I have decided to be wary.¡± ¡°Are you going to find fault with His Majesty the King?¡± Reba blinked and asked. ¡°No, I don¡¯t actually want to find fault with him.¡± Gawain shrugged his shoulders and added, ¡°I just want to stir things up.¡± Reba responded, ¡°Ah?¡± Gawain had difficulties exining the issue with Reba hence he changed the topic. ¡°Forget it, this is not important, let¡¯s continue the previous topic. Amber¡­¡± Amber raised both her hands to show that she understood before the instructions were given. ¡°I know I know, go out and keep a look out right, haish, what a hard life¡­¡± ¡°No,¡± Gawain raised his brows and continued, ¡°What I mean is that you can stand by the side but of course you can go back to your room and rest if you are bored. You must be tired after all the things that happened tonight?¡± Amber looked at Gawain in disbelief. ¡°Ah, why are you so kind all of a sudden?¡± She shook her head immediately and moved to the study desk. ¡°I¡¯m not going to go back. I¡¯m going to see what the two of you are going to do¡­ don¡¯t tell me that you are allocating your inheritance?¡± Gawain shook his head and did not entertain the half-elf then ced that round tinum te on the table once again. ¡°You mentioned that this is a key.¡± Reba still remembered what Gawain did not finish saying just now. ¡°Is this the secret treasure of our n?¡± Amber immediately pricked her ears to listen and pretended to be looking around and her actions were extremely exaggerated. Gawainughed and said, ¡°It is indeed a treasure and it is a hidden treasure-house located at the southern borders but it was initially prepared for King Anzu. Of course, to the current king, that is not considered a huge sum of wealth but to the king who escaped to thisnd to expand the country in the past, it was half of the wealth of the expeditionary army.¡± Reba¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°It used to be the first line of defense for the Anzu Kingdom because during those days, nobody knew what would happen the next day.¡± Gawain smiled and revealed the main purpose of this trip. ¡°During that time, the pioneers escaped to the northern parts from the Gondor wastnds. We moved, categorized and congregated the survivors in the Gondor wastnds while collecting all kinds of resources. As a result, the team grew in size and became more conspicuous thus a huge team of monsters from the wastnds discovered us when we were passing through the Dark Mountain Range. The main army protected the civilians hence their speed was slower than that of the tireless monsters and a terrible battle broke out. We suffered heavy losses due to that battle and when we calcted our losses after the war, Charlie and I noticed one thing: those monsters would not stop and if we continued carrying all our assets with us, the entire team may die. Thus the two of us made a decision¡­ We left the assets which would slow down the team drastically behind and hid them deep within a fort located in the deserted border. At the same time, we created a powerful seal for the treasure and as a result, the entire team headed towards the north more easily. You all know what happened subsequently. The pioneer team managed to get themselves established in the north and created a new centre for the country in between the ins of the Holy Spirit and the northern mountain range. Charlie I built a city in the Soniel area but¡­ the treasures remained in the south.¡± Reba was curious and she asked, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you take them back?¡± ¡°Initially it was because the time was turbulent and it was costly to do so.¡± Gawain exined. ¡°At that time, pollution was worsening and the monsters even expanded the dposed zone to the northern parts of the Dark Mountain Range. Hence the ce where we hid the treasures became a polluted area and sending a team there was not wise. More importantly, we found rich resources in the mountain ranges in the north and the ins of Holy Spirit also produced a rich pool of wealth. These newly added wealth exceeded the resources left behind in the south not long after. Due to these two reasons, people started to forget about the treasures in the southern mountain range.¡± Reba looked at the round tinum te in Gawain¡¯s hands, ¡°But they haven¡¯t been forgottenpletely¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, the pioneers certainly remember where the treasures were hidden. Although those resources would be increasingly worthless in the future, they still remained as a ¡®memento¡¯ for that epic creation of the country. At that time, we had already expected the Dark Wave to recede and our descendents would be able to collect those treasures safely. Therefore, Charlie and I made an agreement: the two families would keep this secret and pass it down to our descendents, the Cecil and Moen ns would know about it and we would take the treasures out when the Dark Wave ended and the new kingdom needed this wealth. Think about it, Charlie would love a secret that had been passed on for hundreds of years, treasures of the royal family and the pioneers of the country and assets hidden in the mountains which could only be unlocked by an authentication object. ¡± Amber sized up Gawain and said, ¡°Did you two make that decision because the both of you were drunk?¡± Gawain, ¡°¡­.You could say so.¡± Reba looked at her Lord Ancestor in a daze and said after a while, ¡°However, as the heir of the Cecil n, I have never heard of this story¡­¡± ¡°This way of inheritance tends to be problematic.¡± Gawain sighed, ¡°I passed away too quickly at that time and I didn¡¯t have enough time to tell my descendants about this¡­¡± Reba, ¡°¡­¡± ¡°However, Charlie¡¯s side seems to have passed down the secret very well to his own descendents.¡± Gawain coughed twice to make the situation less awkward and raised the round tinum te in his hand. ¡°I came here to find out if the key was still here, since it¡¯s still here, it means that the royal family of Anzu did not take those assets in the past 700 years. Charlie knew about the secrets, so do his descendents, except for his illegitimate son.¡± Between years 635 to 636, an internal conflict destroyed the lineage of the royal family and the King did not have any offspring and all his siblings died during the conflict. In the end, the Grand Duke of the North found amoner who was an alleged illegitimate son of the royal family to inherit the throne¡­ Even if that illegitimate son was real, he would not have known about the secret of the treasures in the south. ¡°Those things¡­¡± Reba¡¯s eyes shed as she looked at the ¡°key¡± then she frowned. ¡°Can we use it freely? It is¡­¡± Gawain nced at this (N+1)th great granddaughter and said, ¡°Of course you can, you are the descendent of the Cecil n and you should have some confidence. I buried those things together with Charlie, who else in the world other than Charlie has more rights than me to inherit those treasures? I don¡¯t believe that Charlie can hop out of a coffin like me¡­¡± Reba thought for a while and turned around suddenly to grab Amber¡¯s arms,¡±You must not go and excavate the royal tomb!¡± Amber: ¡°¡­What?¡± This half-elf immediately shuddered and looked at Gawain with anxiety. ¡°Wait a moment! I¡­ I have heard such a huge secret¡­ are you going to make use of this opportunity to kill me?¡± At that moment, Gawain really wanted to give her a p using a sword. ¡°Do I have to wait till now if I wanted to kill you?¡± Amber was still nervous. ¡°Then why did you let an outsider like me listen to what you two have said¡­¡± ¡°First, I trust you for now and second, I know that you are smart.¡± Gawain raised the round te in his hand and continued, ¡°The only audacious thing which you can think of now is to steal this round te but this te can only be activated using the blood of the Moen or Cecil n. Since it is difficult to determine whether the blood of the Moen n is still existent, it is obvious that the only thing which you can do if you want to get some benefits is¡­¡± Amber took a step forward and held her head high then said with a sense of justice, ¡°It is my utmost honour to serve the hero who built this country. I, Amber, would be loyal to the best of my ability, how can we mention money when ites to something so epic?¡± ¡°Then I really won¡¯t talk to you about money¡­¡± ¡°Of course, I¡¯m okay if you insist.¡± That was the first time for Gawain to see this shameless person simultaneously exude such a strong sense of justice¡­ There were no other visitors in thetter part of that night. Gawain did not need to use the mouse trap and nails which he ced on the windowsill¡­ Although those things were quite useless for rogues who did not really know or believe in science¡­ On the second day, Gawain and the group arrived in the Silver Castle after having a good rest. The reception official who attended to them was the same as the one who met them on the previous day and Francis II replicated the grand weing ceremony yesterday. It must be said that he had put in a lot of effort to make things grand. For this time, the Silver Castle even sent out two teams from the army to pass messages. They patrolled the two main roads outside the royal district to clear the crowd and used magic to amplify the message. ¡°Gawain Cecil, the pioneer of Anzu is about to enter the Silver Castle.¡± It seemed like Prince Edmund had passed Gawain¡¯s message to his father well and Francis II had put on a good show to the outsiders. Gawain did not know how the Shadow Guard reported the situation when he went back. However, it would be obvious from Francis II¡¯s reactionter. After checking his attire and making sure that the Sword of Pioneers was worn in the most eye-catching ce, Gawain entered the Silver Castle with his head held high. Chapter 33 Chapter 33: The Meeting Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios After a slew of work, Gawain finally entered the Silver Castle in the most high-profile manner possible with many people watching. The poor had no time to care about this. The normal people were uninterested in this. The small-time merchants and city residents only had leisurely interest in this. But almost every informed noble followed this event from the beginning. But the towering, silver castle walls blocked most of the view. The lower and middle ss nobles were not allowed to enter the Silver Castle. In the early hours of the morning, the King had ordered for information channels from the higher ups be cut off. Thus, they had no choice but to watch the grand procession as it entered the castle, and at the end of it, talk about the information announced earlier that were not kept secret. The Grand Duke of the North, Victoria Wilder arrived at Silver Castle three days ago. The Grand Duke of the West, Baldwin Franklin and the Grand Duke of the East, Ss Lnd, arrived at the Silver Castle an hour ago. Several advisors and the King¡¯s Hand entered the castle. The gate was closed, and no one knew what was going on inside. Was this a banquet? A secret discussion? A dispute? Or might it even be an assassination? Countless pairs of eyes wandered as they watched the castle. Noses were twitching nervously, sniffing for hints of a scheme or opportunities. Mouths opened and closed as they spewed new ideas and rumors. Listeners were wise to not take these news as truth because no one would know what the resurrected one who died seven hundred years ago would talk about with the King. Francis II did not host any annoying banquets, nor did he summon Gawain to the royal court. Instead, he decided that they would meet in the Oak Hall next to the meeting chamber just as Gawain had requested. The Oak Hall was an old ce. Its existence could be traced back seven hundred years ago when the foundations to the Silver Castle had just beenid. The castle then, did not look like it was covered in silver as it did now. They called it ¡®silver¡¯ only for the mere reason that Charlie I could note up with a better name. Being the oldest room in this castle which had seen countless renovations, the Oak Hall had been imbued with magic by a powerful court druid 400 years ago to ensure that its main wooden structure could be preserved forever (in actual fact, the magic had to be recharged every hundred years). Although the size of the Oak Hall was only one-third the size of the meeting chamber, the small and old hall was actually the most extraordinary ce in the castle. Only nobles who were counts or higher-ranked could be present in this hall, and only matters of relevance to the fate of the kingdom were to be discussed here in secret. A round oak table was ced in the middle of the hall. The King sat in the spot in the star chart which represented the ¡®crown¡¯. On his right hand side sat the King¡¯s Hand, Eden. He was a middle-aged man with thinning hair and brooding eyes. On the King¡¯s right hand side sat the Grand Duke of the North, Victoria Wilder. Further on the left and right sides respectively, were the Grand Duke of the West, Baldwin Franklin and the Grand Duke of the East, Ss Lnd. There were also several others whose names Gawain could not be bothered to remember. And the royal advisers sat in another row of chairs behind the King. Reba was the only one beside Gawain. Amber and Knight Byron were definitely not eligible to be present here. Thus Gawain simply left them in the mansion at 4 Crown Street. He had never even thought about bringing Amber to the Silver Castle. Given how thedy bandit was so dedicated to her profession, she would definitely scrape off all the silver foil on the walls outside the castle. Besides the King¡¯s Hand and the group of advisors, who seemed to be there to fill the numbers, the others were all descendants of the pioneers from when Anzu was founded (including the pioneer Gawain himself). This meeting was already very special before it began. As a founding pioneer, Gawain did not need to make salutations to anyone in the hall, so he simply went to sit down in his seat. Meanwhile Reba was obviously a little nervous. She squeezed her fist and took several deep breaths to calm herself down, forgetting that she had to greet the King. But no one would hold her for it in this situation. This was the benefit ofing to the meeting with her authoritative ancestor. Since he wore a Grand Duke¡¯s attire and the Sword of Pioneers at his waist, once Gawain walked into the room, everyone cast their gazes at him. Until the living fossil sat down on the chair, those eyes continued to watch. This was not in line with the aristocrats¡¯ etiquette, but it was hard not to look. A 700-year-old person had popped out of the coffin and was walking right in front of them. How were they expected not to stare? As they watched, many were still wondering whether Gawain was in fact as true as they heard him to be. Or perhaps they were wondering how Francis II would see it. Just then, the old King stood across the table. He had gray hair and looked very old. But he still had an imposing manner and vigor. He led the three grand dukes and the other participants to rise as well. Gawain looked at him and heard him speak solemnly. ¡°Anzu is blessed by the gods that we have the honor of witnessing the pioneering hero who lived seven hundred years ago. We are grateful to you and your generation for your sacrifices and contributions. Thisnd and everyone on thisnd will never forget the great pioneers. As the sessor of the Moen n, together with all the descendants of the pioneers, let us salute our ancient hero.¡± The King bowed down, and every descendant of the pioneers (including the three grand dukes) did the same. Now, the King had dered that Gawain Cecil had indeed been resurrected. With regards to the issue of whether it was appropriate for the King to bow down to the Grand Duke, there was nothing wrong with that. After all, Gawain, who died seven hundred years ago, was not just a Grand Duke here. He was a symbol. Every year, everyone here would bow to the statue of Gawain Cecil and the other pioneers several times. Now that there was an actual pioneer standing right before them, what was wrong with bowing? But Gawain had a feeling that there was something not right. A secondter, he realized it, and his expression was odd. ¡°Thest time so many people bowed to me was when I was lying in that coffin¡­¡± Everyone: ¡°¡­¡± The whole atmosphere became awkward. Fortunately, everyone here had also gone through their share of awkward situations(although this was the first of its kind). They quickly recovered from it and stood up. The Kingughed, ¡°It¡¯s only natural that the younger ones salute their elders.¡± Gawainughed too. Although on the outside, he was much younger than Francis II, his tone was exactly like an elder, ¡°Although we have quite the age gap, your expression when you make excuses is exactly the same as Charlie¡¯s back in the day.¡± Gawain Cecil also dered that Francis II was truly of the Moen bloodline. With that said, Gawain and the old King smiled at each other. The King in particr heaved a breath of relief and even looked a little pleased with himself. Everyone at the scene was very sharp (perhaps with the exception of a certain dense descendant who was so unlike her elders), and had the ability to analyze the dispositions of one¡¯s eighteen generations of ancestors from just a whiff of one¡¯s fart. Thus just the simple exchange between Gawain and Francis II was enough to inform them of the tone of the meeting, and they could also tell that the ancient Grand Duke and the King probably had already reached somemon understanding beforehand. Thedy sitting on the left side of the King seemed to frown slightly, but upon taking a second look, her expression had returned to normal. As one of the three grand dukes, she caught Gawain¡¯s attention. She was a woman in her thirties, as mature and beautiful as Heidi, but much more colder and aloof than Heidi. She wore a white dress, silver fox fur over her shoulders, white silk gloves, and a head of curly silver hair. She seemed like she was surrounded by ice and snow. Her ice-queen-like beauty was so eye-catching in the oak hall, a good example showing that the color white was indeed very reflective. The left side of Francis II was brighter than his right side¡­ That was the current Grand Duke of the North, Victoria Wilder. Gawainpared the information he had just drawn from the memory to the person before him. At the same time, he recalled the establishment of the Second Dynasty. It was the northern Wilder n that brought the bastard child into power. But now it appeared that the descendant of the bastard child was no longer controlled by the Wilder n. Noticing the ¡®Ice Lady¡¯ looking across at him and nodding with a serious face, probably saying hello, Gawain waved back. ¡°You have facial paralysis just like your ancestor. I told Wilder back then to marry a lively southern girl so as to counteract that face of his, but he wouldn¡¯t listen. Now see what it did to his descendant¡­¡± The Grand Duke of the North twitched in the face slightly. Then Gawain looked at the Grand Duke of the West and the Grand Duke of the East. With what information he had from his memories, he chatted a little about things regarding their ancestors. Then he finally turned to look at the empty space between the King¡¯s Hand and the Grand Duke of the North. There was no chair in that spot. That was originally where the Cecils should be seated, but the chair was removed ever since a hundred years ago. Since then, the four Grand Dukes was reduced to three, and there were no more Grand Dukes from the south of Anzu. The nobles directly subordinate of the royal family became the group of rulers in the south, and the Cecil n was pushed into the farthest corner. Noticing how Gawain was looking at the seat, everyone, including Francis II, could not help but hold their breaths. The atmosphere seemed to be tense for a moment. Then the meeting went from friendly greetings and chats into the meeting¡¯s main segment, the part where the arguments begin. But Gawain only gave it a brief nce before he gave a rxed and even disdainful smile. He looked at the King across the table. ¡°Let¡¯s get on with it. My descendant, Reba Cecil, will now tell you about the disaster that urred south of the kingdom. Everyone, that is the real problem.¡± Chapter 34 Chapter 34: Negotiations Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios When her name was suddenly mentioned, Reba quivered. To a sessor of a declining n, all these things that were happening before her eyes were things that she would never have dreamed of. Even when she ran into the woods to fight wolves and was smacked dizzy by their paws, she had never had such a feeling before. Watching her ancestor talking cheerfully and wittily with the other big figures, she had even forgotten that she was also one of the important participants in this meeting. But at least Reba had the merit of being stubborn. Even if she was a little confused, she calmed herself down with her strong, almost dead nerves. After gathering her words, the little lord from the south began to exin about the nightmare that happened in Cecil territory to the King. Everyone listened attentively. Even if they had not expected that such a youngdy would be speaking, the disaster itself demanded their serious attention. Those present had already had some knowledge of the incident in the south. The news was brewing throughout the entire southern region. Various versions of rumors were spreading all around. Of course, this was all thanks to Gawain. Gawain sent people mainly to spread the news of his ¡°resurrection¡±, and not to talk about the disaster. However, disasters were inherently good catalysts for the spreading of rumors. After two months of brewing and spreading, the news had already be well known in the south. The civilians might not have the channels to learn about the truth, but the nobles were notcking in that. Through various means, those present had more or less learned of the event. Francis II even had secret reports from many nobles in the south. However, no matter how detailed the reports were, they could not be more urate and reliable than hearing it from one who had personally been involved in the incident. With Reba¡¯s increasingly fluent narration, the pieces of the story of the disaster slowly came together and was linked to the Dark Wave of seven hundred years ago, and the emergence of a dragon shrouded the whole story in another confusingyer. Gawain sighed softly as he looked at the King and the nobles with furrowed brows. Only a while ago, these people were still more concerned about the resurrection of the founding Grand Duke and whether the Cecil n was seeking benefits from the royal household, and perhaps hadpletely forgotten that the main reason for the Cecil n toe to the capital was actually to give a report on those monsters. But how could they be med when Gawain¡¯s presence was so prominent? What was more, he was the one who caused his own presence to be so prominent. ¡°¡­ Now most of the Cecil territory has already be scorched earth. The dragon¡¯s me contained magic, and thends that it has scorched will not be able to grow food for several years. My people have no choice but to seek shelter with Viscount Andrew.¡± Reba had already stood up. With clenched fists, her timidity and nervousness from before was gone. ¡°Your Majesty, and all the lords present, although the Cecil territory is small, this disaster is a signal. We may not know why the dragon appeared, but the monsters brought a real disaster. Those monsters appeared seven hundred years ago and led to the destruction of the Gondor Empire. My ancestor has experienced it all firsthand.¡± Francis II started whispering with the King¡¯s Hand and the Grand Duke of the North. Several others also lowered their heads in discussion. It seemed that they had notpletely ignored the information that Reba had brought them. They should be thankful of the continuous spreading of news, the secret letter from the south, and Gawain Cecil¡¯s very presence. Without these, all that an aristocrat from a declining n could garner froming before the King to report on the monsters and the dragon destroying their territory would only be ridicule. Forget bringing about a discussion, they might even bring guilt upon themselves. However, it was hard to tell how much the news meant to them and how much of a response they would put up. After all, the world had been too peaceful for the past seven hundred years. ¡°Grand Duke Cecil,¡± said the tall, thin man sitting a few seats to the left of Gawain. He was Grand Duke Baldwin Franklin of the West, who looked refined in manner. ¡°I believe that your descendant has been honest about this matter, but this thing sounds really unbelievable. Forgive me, but are these monsters really¡­ the monsters from the Dark Wave seven hundred years ago? ¡± ¡°I have dealt with them for twenty years until I died. I would recognize them even if you turned them into ashes,¡± Gawain said gravely, ¡°And I have fought against them again, and I can confirm that those were the same monsters that emerged from the Dark Wave. It¡¯s a pity that they would quickly disintegrate once they die, leaving behind no samples of their corpses at all. Moreover, the dragon that appeared after burned the entire territory. Now there is no way to send someone over to check on the situation in Cecil territory. ¡± Baldwin Franklin and Grand Duke Ss Lnd of the East, who sat beside him, looked at each other. Seeing that, Gawain said, ¡°If you think the Cecil n deliberately exaggerated the truth to exchange for your sympathy, so as to take this opportunity to return to the center of power, you can just say so.¡± ¡°No no no, we won¡¯t think of it that way,¡± said Grand Duke Baldwin hurriedly, ¡°We just need to¡­ confirm these things. After all, it involves the Dark Wave seven hundred years ago. The magnitude of this¡­ is on a scale bigger than what any single human kingdom can face alone¡­ ¡± ¡°But they are already at our doors!¡± Reba stood up, unable to hold herself back. ¡°I saw those things!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Calm down.¡± Gawain pressed Reba¡¯s shoulders to sit her down. He turned to look at Francis II. ¡°I understand why you would be cautious. After all, the cost of starting a war is enormous. I have also brought some evidence with me. These are weapons and equipment used by our warriors in the south. Though the bodies of those monsters cannot be preserved, their weapons will inevitably get elemental contamination when fighting them. The corrosive substance left on those weapons should provide you with something to take reference from. I believe that even the most brilliant royal schrs will not be able to find any samples from the real world that would match these corrosive substances.¡± Two strong chambeins lifted up arge box. After opening the box, several worn-out swords and some contorted armor fragments were disyed in front of everyone. Those things seemed as though they had been soaked in strong acid. The originally bright and smooth metal surface was now filled with holes, and it looked dirty. The metal that was most severely corroded by the elemental power even turned into a texture simr to rotten wood whererge pieces of debris could break away with a slight twist. ¡°Now they are harmless. You can touch them directly with your hands, but until half a month ago, these pieces of steel were still disintegrating,¡± Gawain exined as he watched the King and the nobles examining the samples, ¡°If the historians in these seven hundred years have not been toozy, there will definitely be records of these in the history books.¡± ¡°There is, there is¡­¡± Francis II said as he nodded. ¡°Also, we found a notebook of a wild mage coincidentally. His notebook mentioned the eruptions of the red spots of the sun and signs of a surge in magical power¡­¡± Gawain reported all the information that he had. But it was clear that the information from the wild mage¡¯s notebook had not garnered much attention. For most of the people present, those things were not as convincing as the fragments that fell from the swords and armor on the table. ¡°Do you know where the dragon went?¡± Finally, the Grand Duke Victoria Wilder of the North broke the silence. She seemed to care more about the whereabouts of the dragon than those monsters. ¡°Or might you have any idea of what its purpose might be?¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know about that.¡± Although he was older, it did not mean that he was more knowledgeable than the people present. Gawain Cecil, who lived seven hundred years ago, had never once faced a dragon. Well, at least not in his memory, he did not. After seeing those crystalsst night, Gawain no longer put that much trust in the memory he inherited. ¡°Actually¡­ three months ago, there was a rumor about a dragon in my territory,¡± said thedy Grand Duke, clearly and unhurriedly. ¡°Someone imed to have seen a dragon flying from the cold mountains farther up north. But in the end, there were no other witnesses, and it was confirmed that the one who started the rumor was drunk. He mistook the blowing snow in the mountains for a dragon.¡± Gawain immediately probed further, ¡°Did that person describe how the dragon looked like?¡± ¡°No.¡± Thedy Grand Duke shook her head. ¡°But I can continue my investigation when I return.¡± ¡°You must, not only for the dragon, but also those monsters,¡± Francis II said. ¡°See if simr things have appeared in other parts of the kingdom, or if there is any unusual signs of magical power surges.¡± Reba could not help but speak up again, ¡°But investigating alone is not enough. We must also prepare for battle. Those monsters will appear without warning. If we don¡¯t make preparations in advance, we won¡¯t be able to defend in time. If we were to wait for the investigators to find their traces, it would definitely be toote¡­ ¡± Grand Duke Ss Lnd of the East looked at Reba disapprovingly. ¡°Are we supposed to prepare every soldier across the kingdom in wait for these monsters that we don¡¯t know when might appear, or if they would even appear?¡± Reba replied reflexively, ¡°It¡¯d be great if we could do that¡­¡± ¡°That would be impossible. We can¡¯t just mobilize all the soldiers in the country for just an imagined possibility. The local aristocrats will start rebellions for it, and it would damage the royal family¡¯s credibility,¡± Grand Duke Ss said with a serious face. He was strong and tall, with a typical soldierly demeanor. ¡°Besides, we also have to deal with the threat of the Typhon Empire from the east. That kingdom is like a wolf. They have been trying to take a bite off Anzu for some time already.¡± After the destruction of their homnd, the survivors of the Gondor Empire broke out in four directions. In the end, kingdoms were established in the north, south, east, and west. The Typhon Empire was a kingdom located in the eastern part of the continent, and it was currently the most powerful of the four kingdoms. Anzu¡¯s human nations in the north, south, and west all coexisted with the kingdoms or races that had already existed before. But Typhon was the only kingdom in the eastern part of the continent. One could easily imagine its power and how they operated. Anzu and Typhon were adjacent to each other. There were alsorge plots of fertilends and bountiful mines at their borders, which naturally became a point of contention. In the first few hundred years, the human nations that shared the same origins were still all about brotherhood and keeping peace, but long-term peace was simply an ideal. In the Anzu¡¯s civil strife one hundred years ago, the Typhon Empire took the opportunity to make a slight move on the border. Following that, the two kingdom¡¯s rtionship began to take a drastic turn. Now there was pretty much no peace between them. There were norge upfront wars, but the small fights had never once stopped. Currently, the south of Anzu was barren but peaceful; there were no conflicts between the other kingdoms and Anzu in the north; the tribal kingdom of Augari in the west had always been Anzu¡¯s ally. Among the four borders, only the east border had been under the pressure of war in the current century. Grand Duke Ss Lnd, who was thebat type, would never agree to divert military power to guard against those illusionary monsters. For him, those creatures that were as good as legends were no more of a threat than the Typhon soldiers loitering right under his nose. Chapter 35 Chapter 35: Aplishment Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Everything was just as Gawain had expected. News from the south would unsettle the King and the nobles, and with the warning from the resurrected ancient, this tension might rise to a level of panic, but it would just stop there. Those who had not experienced the Dark Wave and could not imagine it would not bepelled to take action. Even if Gawain brought some swords and armor corroded by the elemental power as evidence, it would not be enough to drive them to make a higher level response. After all, there existed some cases of ¡°unusual phenomenon¡± where swords and armor were corroded by magical power, thus they could not be definitive evidence that the Dark Wave would make aeback. In fact, even Gawain himself was making some bold spections based off the information from his memories. He was not even very confident himself that that the end of the world wasing. There was nothing wrong with Francis II¡¯s response. He could not simply put the entire kingdom into a state of preparedness for battle based upon his sudden news alone. Even if he wanted to, therge, backward feudal system did not allow him to do so. And even if the Dark Wave really came, it would not be wise to conductbat preparations now across the whole kingdom. The monsters in the south and the magical power surge were only a sign. They were not even the vanguard of the Dark Wave. The real Dark Wave might take months, or even years to happen, (if it was going to happen), but before then, it would be only calm. During the period of calm, to require the battle preparedness across the kingdom when no evidence could be found, perhaps the Moen family back in their heydays might be able to do so, but the Second Dynasty now¡­ had already lost its ability to rally supporters. Francis II even ordered the Grand Duke of the East not to make a move. A resurrected founding Grand Duke¡¯s prestige might be very influential, but if to use such prestige to interfere in the kingdom¡¯s order would probably be an overreach. Gawain understood this very clearly. The power of his words here was as good as a flower scepter, pretty but powerless. The basis of the Cecil n was almost gone. It had nond, no soldiers, no generals, and even the travel expenses to the capital were borrowed from others. For a n that had always been quite pragmatic, this was quite an awkward situation to be in. So Gawain held down Reba, who still wanted to say something, looked at the King opposite and said, ¡°We have delivered the report and brought up a warning. It is up to you to decide how you are going to deal with this specifically.¡± ¡°We will take your warning seriously,¡± Grand Duke Victoria Wilder said in a cool voice. ¡°All investigations will begin immediately after the meeting, and we will bring the news to you at the quickest time.¡± ¡°Investigation¡­ Well, I guess that¡¯s the only way.¡± Gawain nodded, and he changed the topic. ¡°That¡¯s all for now. Let¡¯s now talk about Cecil n¡¯s matters.¡± This time, the atmosphere became tense instantly. ¡°Rx, don¡¯t look like ¡°the old ancestor popped out of the coffin and is demanding that the paper money burned over the years be cashed out to him,¡± Gawain joked, waving his hand, and then he realized that no one seemed to get his corny joke¡­ Damned awkward. ¡°I know what happened a hundred years ago, and frankly, I really want to kill that degenerate descendant.¡± Gawain¡¯s face twitched, and he dived straight into the topic. ¡°So I have no intention to reverse the verdict. I just want to get back something that belongs to me personally.¡± Francis II and the Grand Dukes looked at each other. Their expressions seemed rxed. Gawain went ahead to talk about the earth-shaking event a hundred years ago, and they all seemed relieved. After all, it was so pressuring for anyone to start speaking on this sensitive topic that their blood pressure could rise to two hundred. It was truly a breath of relief that this living ancestor could be so empathetic towards the younger generation. But after heaving a breath of relief, they became tense again. What were those things that belonged to Gawain Cecil? Everything belonged to the lord. This was the rule of the aristocracy. Everything in the old Cecil n, including the fief, vassals, and the titles, etc., all belonged to Gawain Cecil. Which one was he referring to? Everyone was tense in their bodies where others could not notice while only Francis II looked quietly at Gawain, and nodded calmly. ¡°Rx. Most of my things from when I lived have already been passed on to my heirs. That worthless descendant squandered some things, and I can¡¯t force them to be returned,¡± Gawainughed. ¡°What I¡¯m referring to is that which cannot be inherited, for example¡­ my right to develop new regions.¡± The nobles and the advisors looked at each other. Then the schrly, well brought up gentlemen anddies were immediately reminded of the ancient and sacred decree on pioneering. It was a gloriousmemoration of the Second Settlement. It was a testimony to mankind¡¯s bravery in surviving the most desperate situations, the ordinary people¡¯s vow to not yield to the natural forces. Up till today, it was still part of the basicws of the four nations. It was aw which would no longer have a chance to take effect, but one that also no one dared speak out to repeal. The original version of the pioneering decree was even engraved separately on a tinum te, enshrined in the halls of every nation. But everyone only kept it as a memorial! It was for posterity! It would be a symbol to proper continuation of the legacy! Suddenly this was going to take effect again?! However, apart from shock, the expressions on people¡¯s faces hid faint relief, and this change in expression did not escape Gawain¡¯s eyes. So he also rxed himself and began to discuss with the people present about the permanent right to develop regions. Gawain believed that this would not be too difficult. Compared to a living ancestor returning to the world to ask for the cashing out of paper money burned for the past hundreds of years and also the vast expanse ofnd he had seven hundred years ago, that could have been a nation by itself, a permanent right to develop regions was hardly anything. Though it might sound scary, it would not affect the vital interests of anyone present, and since there would be no conflicts with their interests, it would be easier to discuss with each noble (including the King himself). And this was also the result of Gawain¡¯s deliberate push. He had kept a high-profile along the journey, spreading all kinds of news, and even when he entered the capital, he took out the banner from seven hundred years ago, appearing in an overbearing manner. This was meant to make people think that the living ancestor was trying to reverse the verdict for the Cecil n and recover all the n¡¯s fief, thus making everyonee up with a way to respond so as to cross verbal swords when the time came to protect their own interests. However, Gawain¡¯s objective was only the permanent right to develop regions. This difference was basically equivalent to shopping for a watch, where the original price was 860,000. After a discount of 25%, it would feel like one had gotten a great deal. One would even begin to suspect if the watch might be a fake. But even if the watch that costs 25 was fake, the ancestor was real. If he really just wanted to have his permanent right to develop regions¡­ what could they do? Okay-okay-okay-we¡¯ll-give-Take-it-old-man-Go-open-up-thends-and-don¡¯te back.jpg. If Gawain had not done any groundwork before and brought up the permanent right to develop regions from the beginning, perhaps things would not have gone so smoothly. The greedy nature of the aristocracy would want to extract a piece for themselves even on such a matter, but with so much preparation done, it became much easier to talk about the pioneering right. The King and the Grand Dukes present did not have much of a discussion before agreeing that the right to pioneer itself should be recognized. It must be recognized even if they did not want to since it was not only Anzu that agreed and signed the permanent right to develop regions, but in fact the four major human kingdoms at the time had also recognized this decree. These witnesses also included the elves from the Silver Empire in the south of the continent¡­ Those secretive and particrly longevous elves. They had an average life expectancy of 3,000 years or more. They were extremely particr about caution and good faith that they were known to be very stubborn. When signing the permanent pioneeringw back then, the elves were one of the witnesses. In order to make this decree more solemn and credible, a copy was even written in the elvennguage and given to the Silver Empire for safekeeping. Although everyone knew that it would be impossible for the first generation of pioneers to live for so long, the humans insisted on putting a ¡°permanent¡±bel on it and to have a longevous race to be witnesses. Probably a human quirk¡­ Anyway, the representative of the elves at the time said that ¡°humans are truly strange¡± as they brought their copy back to their kingdom. Then the Elf Queen happily stamped her copy. After seven hundred years had passed, the Elf Queen, who was only a young and ignorant elf who recently ascended to the throne, was now¡­ still the Elf Queen¡­ She could still remember the stamp she made back then. How could they not recognize thisw? In any case, Gawain mentioned that if Anzu would not recognize the right to pioneer, he would take his n around the continent to the Silver Empire since there were still undeveloped areas around the forest of the elves. There were also some acquaintances of his there. They would surely get along with the Cecil n¡­ The founding ancestor having to leave the kingdom because he could not stand being demeaned in his own kingdom, took his n to another race¡¯s territory to live in the trees. How could people show their faces around if word were to spread about this? So everyone present agreed that the right to develop would be preserved, but the concrete details about the ces where he could develop¡­ this would make the next round of discussion. ¡°There is no more uncultivatednds in the kingdom. Every inch ofnd has its owner.¡± The King¡¯s Hand, Eden Alfred stood up. This steady man, Francis II¡¯s right hand. He knew well about all the states of the kingdom. ¡°Beyond the kingdom, there are few uncultivatednds in the border areas with other countries. Even if there are, those are ces that cannot sustain life. Take the buffer regions by the Gondor wastnds. Grand Duke, where do you intend to open upnds?¡± Gawain waved his hand. ¡°Bring the map.¡± When the map was presented, Gawain looked at the map and could not help but frown slightly. Even though the world had convenient magic, assistive abilities such as bird¡¯s eye, forest sensing, and surveying that could help people draw maps, the map before him was still very crude. There were even some problems with the scale. Compared with the ¡°satellite view¡± in his head, this was almost as good as a doodle. Perhaps it was because magic was too convenient that it affected the development of many things? Gawain pondered,paring the map with the urate one in his head. Then he pointed his finger to an area on the rough map. ¡°I¡¯ll start from here.¡± It was a mountain range on the borders of the Gondor wastnds and Typhon. The Dark Range. Chapter 36 Chapter 36: The Banquet Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The Dark Range. Everyone was stunned when they saw the ce which Gawain had pointed out. The first person to break the silence was the Grand Duke of the West, Baldwin Franklin. His eyes were wide open and he said, ¡°Are¡­ are you sure?¡± ¡°Is anything wrong with it?¡± Gawainughed and said. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that ce is owned by someone.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant¡­¡± Francis II shook his head and added, ¡°The entire Dark Range and the southern areas are not owned by anyone and they fulfill the requirement for expansion but that ce is near the Typhon Empire and on its south connects directly to the Gondor wastnds, so¡­¡± The Dark Range was part of the southern border of the Anzu Kingdom and the eastern part extended all the way to the Typhon Empire. The western part of the mountain range ran for a few hundred kilometres and curved gently towards the south to blend into the dposednd of the Gondor wastnds. Technically, the ins in the southern parts of the Dark Range belonged to the Anzu Kingdom. However, the area which could be controlled by the kingdom stopped at the northern parts of the mountain range and the control there was rtively limited too. One of the most important reasons behind this was the existence of the Gondor wastnds. That piece ofnd remained shrouded by the chaotic elemental and dark powers. The surging dposing power made thend barren and it was filled with deadly toxins. Although the affected parts no longer spread, the waves of toxin storms at the borders of the wastnds and the monsters that appeared every now and then were deadly threats. Throughout its history, the Anzu Kingdom attempted to expand into the southern parts after the situation in the country had stabilized. They even wanted to get back the Gondor wastnds but all their efforts were futile. The purification process of the wastnds was exceptionally challenging and repetitive, the effort put in far exceeded the returns. The expansion points built painstakingly in the early days would be destroyed by the toxin storms and monsters before they could take effect. Therefore, the Anzu royals retreated all the expansion teams and stopped their mission at the northern part of the Dark Range. Subsequently, due to the development of the northern parts and the diplomatic rtions established between the kingdom and the Violet Kingdom, the kingdom¡¯s focus was ced on the northern parts instead. In addition, the ¡°Fog Month Civil War¡± which happened a century ago caused the the Cecil n in the southern parts to be torn apart overnight. The situation in the southern parts worsened and deteriorated and till today, there was not much difference between the entire Dark Range and most of its surroundings and the wastnds. The fumes from the wastnds came across the mountain ranges and dposed the ins of the northern parts. However, Gawain merely smiled at this. ¡°In those days, I saw much worse. When ites to political and internal conflicts, I may not be as good as you juniors but I¡¯m much better than all of you when ites to countering the terrifying forces of nature.¡± Time.to.boast.whether.is.it.true.or.not.jpg. Since Gawain was so confident, the rest at the scene did not worry about him anymore. To the king and the other nobles, their top concern was when the problematic Gawain would leave and not whether he could survive in the south. What more could they say since Gawain volunteered to go to that deserted ce? Time to send that great ancestor away! If it was not because of some details which needed more consideration, Francis II would have gotten the carriage ready for Gawain and his people long ago. After confirming the most important decision about the expansion, Gawain made Francis II admit a few ¡°insignificant matters¡± as well. First, Gawain Cecil¡¯s status as the Grand Duke had to remain but it would be his own title and non-transferrable to his descendents. Only when the Cecil n has zed new trails in the south or made some contribution when Gawain passed away again (correct), will the descendents receive their title ording to their contributions. This was an illogical proposal and it was proposed due to the conflict of interest between Gawain Cecil¡¯s status as a Grand Duke and what happened a century ago. Nobody dared to take away the title of a pioneering Grand Duke but they could not allow a viscount n to rise in rank and be a grand duke, therefore this idea was proposed. Honestly speaking, this did not abide by anyw of the Anzu kingdom, but how could you talk about logic when it came to someone who jumped out of a coffin? What logic was there when basic science was non-existent!? Anyone with discerning eyes would know that the so-called ¡°cannot inherit temporarily¡± was merely dragging time so as to answer to the system of the nobles. Apart from this, the Anzu royals had topletely recognise the Cecil n¡¯s rights to govern the newly expanded territory. Just like how the founding king of the country acknowledged the ruling rights of anyone who zed new trails. Together with some minor agreements, Gawain got what he wanted in the end. An undisturbed country within a country. In fact all these details had been decided long ago. Gawain had some connections with the king when Prince Edmund visited him, all they were doing now in the Oak Hall was for the sake of formality. Nobody at the scene had any objection because the Cecil n was going to a barrennd and they would not jeopardize the interest of anyone here no matter how muchnd they opened up. It would be easy to resolve the conflict if there were no conflicts at all. Francis II signed the documents to ze new trails and announced the ancientws. The Cecil n would own the rights to open thend centred at the heart of the Dark Range and its surroundings. He also announced the help given to this mission: a hundred-men team of craftsmen and apprentices and the rations and cloth needed for the first year. The craftsmen and apprentices would work for three years and afterwards they could choose to stay or find other jobs. If anyone stayed, the Cecil n had to pay 30 gold coins to the royal family to ¡°purchase¡± each of them. Although that was not a lot of support, Gawain was content because it addressed the urgent needs of the impoverished Cecil n. The gold, silver and coal in the mountains could neither be transformed into food directly nor turned into skilled craftsmen. Therefore, in this peaceful era, ¡°trailzer¡± or pioneer had be a historical word and nobody was willing to leave their peaceful hometown and go and open up a piece ofnd next to the Gondor wastnds. The 100 craftsmen and apprentices would be the most precious asset. This could be considered as Francis II¡¯s kindness towards Gawain on behalf of the Anzu royals. It was to appreciate this pioneer and his descendents. The deal ended and everyone was satisfied. At the end of every satisfactory agreement was a feast. The oak hall was sealed again and there was a great feast at the second level of the castle. Good wine and delicious food were served and the King celebrated the return of a legendary hero together with his most trusted nobles. Many unknown nobles appeared out of nowhere and the banquet hall was bustling. Those who appearedter did not qualify to enter the Oak Hall but the nobles who had the right to know about the oue of the meeting had been waiting in the different lounges in the Silver Castle for half a day. They waited till the chambein ran into the banquet hall and rang the ceremonial bell and appeared with a smile. It was Reba¡¯s first time attending such ceremonies. This young feudal lord was in a dire state and she had never seen such a luxurious ce before. Due to the rejection of the Cecil n by the other nobles, she rarely had the chance to attend grand banquets. She attended her most extravagant banquet when she was 16 years old, her father hosted a bustling banquet but there was only a long table filled with food. It was iparable to the feast in the Silver Castle. The entire hall was filled with long tables and on the table was sumptuous food which anyone could take. The centre of the hall was meant for gentlemen anddies to dance and a well dressed band yed music on the stage at the side of the hall. The mages were casting magics at the four corners of the hall and they created all types of beautiful lights and falling snow in the air. Getting the precious mages to enliven the atmosphere was incredible to Reba. His Majesty the King¡­ is so rich. At the start, Reba wanted to keep a straight face and pretend to be mature and calm. However, very quickly, the little girl side of her defeated the calm side of her, she held Gawain¡¯s hand and asked him many questions. Gawain smiled and he boasted based on his memory and imagination as someone who had transmigrated. The nobles noticed Reba¡¯s hillbilly manner but they did not reveal their contempt even if they felt it in their hearts. Gawain Cecil was beside Reba all along and this ¡°parent¡± pressured them to restrain their emotions and smile at Reba. Afterwards, a few youngsters approached Reba to invite her for a dance. It was probably because they thought that the Cecil n had an ancestor now and there was potential benefit to build rapport with them. However, all those people were blocked off by Gawain. What a joke, as someone who was so gullible and stubborn, Reba could not even survive in the southern parts of the Kingdom, how was she going to deal with the shrewd fellows from the capital. ¡°Overprotecting your child will hinder her from growing.¡± A gentle voice of a man came from the back of Gawain. ¡°Viscount Reba has reached maturity and you should let her interact with the upper ss.¡± Gawain turned around and saw the Grand Duke of the West, Baldwin Franklin and next to him was the Grand Duke of the North, Victoria Wilder. ¡°I died too early in the past and I don¡¯t have much experience bringing up children.¡± Gawain shrugged and said carelessly. Baldwin: ¡°¡­¡± Victoria:¡±¡­¡± ¡°I feel that Reba won¡¯t have time to entertain others even if I didn¡¯t stop her from doing so.¡± Gawain pointed to his (N+1)th granddaughter while he was talking. That Viscount was lying on a nearby table and gorging herself on the food¡­ ¡°She¡¯s really¡­ enjoying herself.¡± Grand Duke Baldwin said dryly. Gawainughed and looked at Victoria Wilder who was indifferent and silent. ¡°Rather than talking about educating my descendent, I have some questions for thisdy from the Wilder family.¡± Chapter 37 Chapter 37: The News About The Dragon Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios After listening to what Gawain said, Victoria nodded slightly whereas Grand Duke Baldwin raised his brows and said, ¡°Do I have to excuse myself?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Gawain took a ss of red wine from the tray the chambein was holding and turned around to look at Victoria. ¡°It¡¯s about dragons.¡± ¡°That¡¯s indeed a rumour.¡± Victoria said emotionlessly, her tone was as cold as the wind in the north. People who did not know her might even find her unapproachable. ¡°I¡¯ve sent people to investigate about it, other than a drunkard, no one saw any trace of the so-called gigantic dragon on that day.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not talking about that time but for these centuries in the north.¡± Gawain looked at the female Grand Duke¡¯s eyes and continued, ¡°From my death till today, how many rumours have there been about the gigantic dragon in the north?¡± Victoria¡¯s brows raised slightly and Grand Duke Baldwin looked at her with curiosity and said, ¡°If you put it that way¡­ it seems like the stories about ¡®gigantic dragons¡¯ are ¡®specialties¡¯ from the north?¡± ¡°It is true that there are asional stories about dragons in the north and there are even small groups worshipping dragons but those are basically just superstitious beliefs.¡± Victoria shook her head. ¡°The north is mountainous and there are often snowstorms in the valleys and mountains. The people living on the mountains view those snowstorms as the roar of the dragons. The north lies next to the Sacred Dragon Kingdom where people call themselves the descendents of the gigantic dragons and worship dragons openly. The people living in the mountains are influenced by them and it is natural for weird stories to spread. In fact, the Wilder n hasn¡¯t seen a real dragon after living in the north for 700 years, those stories are fictitious.¡± ¡°However, a real dragon has appeared now and it flew past my eyes.¡± Gawain said dryly. ¡°I will inform you if there¡¯s really a dragon.¡± Victoria said emotionlessly and she seemed to smile. ¡°I thought you were going to invite me for a dance just now.¡± ¡°I better not because I¡¯m not good at this. It has been 700 years and I don¡¯t know how modern dance is like.¡± Gawain shook his head with a smile and waved his hands. ¡°Please go ahead and enjoy yourselves, talking to a 700 year old living fossil like me is boring, I can look around on my own.¡± The two Grand Dukes kept a straight face at the same time (Victoria kept a straight face the whole time) because they usually said that to the juniors or young nobles during banquets. It had been so many years since someone said that to them and they seemed to go back to their childhood days¡­ Yet they could not rebut¡­ Gawain sighed with relief in his heart when he saw the two Grand Dukes leaving. It was indeed not so simple. When he heard the Grand Duke of the North talking about the appearance of the gigantic dragon during the meeting, he thought that it was an important clue. The dragons had left thisnd for too long, it had been a few thousand years and there were no clear records about the appearance of dragons. It had been so long that those powerful creatures were bing mythical creatures to most people. However, for Gawain who had been hanging in the sky for years, dragons were familiar to him. After witnessing a gigantic dragon, he organised his memory and counted the number of times the dragons had appeared. After filtering once, he realised that most dragons were from the north. No matter how long the time interval was, be it a thousand or more than ten thousand years, regardless of whether it was one dragon or a group of dragons, they all came across the mountain range in the north before entering the earth. Every time gigantic dragons appeared, they seemed to have a clear destination and headed straight towards the deepest part of the earth. They would leave immediately after their mission was done and wasted no time at all. It was a pity that Gawain had a limited view in the sky and he could only see part of thend and a bit of the coastline in the south. He was unsure of where the north extended to, hence he could not conclude whether the dragons appeared behind the mountain range in the north or from further ces in the faraway seas. However, he had a feeling that the gigantic dragons would appear again. Gawain and his people did not stay in the capital for too long and they departed on the third day. The help which the King had promised them would arrive on ater date: the rations could not be transported onnd because half of it would be consumed by the people and horses. If the rations were to be transported by the river, they had to wait for half a month for the water level in the Duoergong river in the ins of the Holy Spirits to rise. It took time to gather a hundred-men team of craftsmen and apprentices and it was mainly about waiting for different associations to send out those anti-social and unlucky people with no backgrounds. Then select the 100 most unlucky people to form the team and this process was rather time consuming. Ensuring that these people could embark on the journey before the rations were loaded onto the ship was considered incredibly efficient. Gawain could not wait for all this because he had finally gotten the right to pioneer which he wanted. There were many ns in his mind awaiting to be implemented and he could not wait to leave the capital after receiving the big pile of documents from the King. They took their own sweet time on their way here but rushed on the way back and Gawain could not wait to fly straight back. At this moment, Gawain genuinely envied the ¡°teleportation magic¡± in those fantasy novels, only if he could teleport and he could reach home immediately by opening a door without all the hassle. Unfortunately, although such magic existed in the continent of Loren, it was not as advanced as those described in stories. The magics used by differentmunities were basically about hitting someone with a fireball or throwingpressed Ao energy in someone¡¯s face. There were records of teleportation and space storage magic but they were generally myths. For instance, those first legendary elves who had disappeared long ago were able to teleport. Some people said that the dragonnguage magic, which was the origin of many magics in the world had records about the magic of space¡­ It was a pity that no one had ever seen it. On the other end, the Grand Duke of the North, Victoria Wilder had returned to her castle in the north, the Bitter Winter Castle. The Grand Dukes safeguarding the four parts of the kingdom could not leave their territory for a long period of time. Although the situation in the north was stable, someone had to take control. Therefore, Victoria Wilder left the Silver Castle and returned to her territory by riding the fastest gryphon after her first meeting with Gawain. She casually threw her thick and warm robe to her servant and walked quickly into the castle. She sat down in her office and a typical looking woman with ck hair and eyes walked up to her and ced a cup of warm tea on her table. After that, the woman massaged her with consummate skills. ¡°You look really tired.¡± That woman finally opened her mouth, her voice was deep and reassuring. ¡°The pioneer of the country has been revived, that legendary Gawain Cecil.¡± Victoria said with a low voice and she continued, ¡°He looks exactly the same, his Sword of Pioneers is also the same, I used the lie detection magic boldly and it turns out that the things he said were all true.¡± The woman who seemed like a maidservant rebutted Victoria. ¡°Highly skilled liars can hide from lie detection and even if the magic was effective, it may not work all the time. There are exceptions for magics and you can¡¯t be over reliant on it.¡± Victoria shook her head. ¡°Maji, I still have my intuition.¡± ¡°Intuition¡­¡± The woman who was called Maji murmured. ¡°What do you intend to do?¡± ¡°That hero who revived didn¡¯t seem like he wants to interfere with the current political system and he only came for the permanent right to develop regions.¡± Victoria talked about her experience in the capital emotionlessly. ¡°What I¡¯m concerned about is his attitude towards the King, initially I thought that this pioneer would take the legitimacy of the lineage of the Moen n seriously and confront the royal family about it. However, he openly acknowledged Francis II as the descendent of the founding king¡­ I didn¡¯t expect this.¡± ¡°They probably discussed about it in private.¡± Maji stopped her massaging motion for a while and said, ¡°You¡¯re too careless.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Victoria frowned. ¡°For now, I¡¯m afraid that it will be even harder to control the king¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯re going to¡­¡± ¡°No.¡± Victoria shook her head. ¡°The Wilder n does not want power but wants Anzu to prosper forever.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re not going to take any action?¡± Maji continued massaging her. ¡°You are too gentle.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like what my father¡¯s generation did and it is no longer suitable in today¡¯s world.¡± Victoria looked up subconsciously at the wall as she said that. On that wall was the emblem of the Wilder n and five portraits. One of it was the founding king, Charlie I and the other four were the pioneer knights. Those portraits were the standard portraits in every noble family. Next to the portrait of the ancestor of the Wilder n was the portrait of Gawain Cecil. That mighty man wore armour, held the Sword of Pioneers and looked afar as if those sorrowful eyes could transcend time and space and see the future. This made Victoria think about how he revived after 700 years and she shuddered. ¡°Danger?¡± Maji¡¯s voice came from the back. ¡°Take down the portrait of Grand Duke Cecil.¡± Victoria said drily. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be appropriate to hang it here anymore.¡± ¡°Take it down? May I?¡± ¡°¡­He told me that himself, he said that he is not used to being hung onto the wall when he is still alive.¡± Victoria sounded tired. ¡°He is our senior and our ancestor¡¯s close friend, I have to listen to him.¡± ¡°Okay then.¡± Maji nodded because she had no other alternative and walked towards the portrait to take it down. At that moment, Victoria spoke again. ¡°Oh, Maji, you are from the mountains right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then do you know about the¡­ dragons? What do you think of them?¡± The woman with ck hair and eyes stood with her back facing Victoria, she remained silent for a while and shook her head. ¡°Those are just ridiculous myths.¡± ¡°But there really was a dragon which appeared in the south at the Cecil territory.¡± ¡°Did it?¡± Maji took Gawain Cecil¡¯s portrait down and continued, ¡°Then it probably isn¡¯t something good.¡± Chapter 38 Chapter 38: It Is So Worrying Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Gawain Cecil returned safely, bringing with him the document signed by the King as well as the news regarding the Royal Pce¡¯s help for him. Viscount Andrew, who had waited at Tanzan Town for nearly three months, felt that he had made the right decision: the nation-founding hero 700 years ago had not let him down. He was not merely a warrior like what he was worried about, but a scheming and strategic figure. However, he did not expect the hero to choose the Dark Range as his starting point for the re-establishment of his n. As a noble n located at the southern boundary of the town, Viscount Andrew was naturally familiar with the Dark Range. In fact, the original Cecil territory and the Leslie territory were both in the northern parts of the Dark Range. On a good day, one could see the magnificent natural shield easily by looking up. The mountain range blocked out the unhealthy air from the wastnds, which led to it inhabiting numerous monsters and bing the main subject of weird tales, making people shudder just from the name of it. Even the most reckless hunters would seldom go to the Dark Range to make a living ¨C albeit the northern leaders opened up the hunting rights in the mountains. The original Cecil territory was located slightly west of the northern part of the Dark Range, with Tanzan Town in the northeast direction, while the ¡°new Cecil territory¡± chosen by Gawain was in the southeast of Tanzan Town. These three ces roughly formed a triangle, just that the ¡°new Cecil territory¡± was the closest to the Dark Range out of the three. In fact, its southern part led directly into the mountains. The White River flowing in front of Tanzan Town had a tributary that extended into the ¡°new Cecil territory¡±. In terms of transportation, that new ce was actually quite decent ¨C it could receive aid and resources from Tanzan Town and at the same time enjoy reduced trading costs should the territory develop further in the future This was however on the premise that Gawain could settle stably with his people in this barrennd. In the castle of Viscount Andrew, the scrawny yet stern nobleman seemed troubled, ¡°Pardon my bluntness, Sire Grand Duke. the first stop that you have chosen isn¡¯t really¡­ suitable. Although there is an abundance ofnd, it¡¯s too close to the Dark Range. With theck of protection from civilization, the monsters in the mountains are great threats. Furthermore, during the Fog Month every year, there¡¯ll always be unclean wind blowing from the wastnds and passing through the mountains. The fit and healthy soldiers may remain unharmed but the poor and powerless citizens and serfs may not be able to withstand it¡­¡± ¡°You should have seen the map and know that even though I had many ces to choose from, the situations are roughly the same,¡± Gawain disapproved. ¡°Out of the spots surrounding the Dark Range, the one I¡¯ve chosen is already the best ¨C unclean wind can be suppressed by medicine and magic and I will think of solutions to tackle the issues. Once we get through the first year, we will be able to extract the ores from the Dark Range and the territory will then be stable.¡± How could he possibly reveal that the reason he chose such a ce was because the country¡¯s treasures were buried in the mountains 700s ago? He should at least wait till he opened the treasure chest and had all the things in his hands before letting others know about this. Even then, they must not know too much ¨C it was impossible to hide itpletely as the supplies were bound to be put to use. Once they were used for building, even a fool would be able to guess the truth. Until the supplies had been used, it would be best to keep things known to as few people as possible. Seeing how stubborn Gawain was, Viscount Andrew could say no more. He just reminded him, ¡°These are all your decisions and I naturally will support you to the best of my abilities. But please also remember our very first deal.¡± Gawain grinned. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the Cecil n never owes. To let you have your peace of mind, shall I give you a piece or two of these antiques I have on me as a deposit?¡± At this moment, Reba, who was sitting at the table reporting to Aunt Heidi about everything at the capital, lifted her head and looked towards Gawain with dazzling eyes, her ancestor had the same thoughts as her! Did that mean she had inherited the family style? Heidi smacked the back of Reba¡¯s head, ¡°Stop looking around, continue and tell me more, when you were at a banquet held by the King, all you did was busying yourself with the food?!¡± ¡°I also drank ¨C I have reached maturity, I can drink a bit¡­¡± Looking at the dimwitteddy, Heidi had a look of hopelessness, ¡°Oh my god¡­¡± As for Viscount Andrew, of course he could not ept Gawain¡¯s ¡°good will¡±, so he frantically waved his hands, ¡°No need, no need. I believe in the reputation of the Cecil n and the promise of the nation-founding hero¡­ Then, when do you intend to depart?¡± ¡°As soon as possible,¡± Gawain nodded, ¡°We¡¯ll leave once we¡¯ve gathered the supplies. The aid promised by the King won¡¯t be here for another month and I ought to let my residents settle down in their new home first.¡± To the people who had escaped from the disaster in the old Cecil territory, the three-month long recuperation had ended and the return of the Lord from the capital implied that they had to immediately prepare to wee a new life. Even if the majority of them had no idea what their new life would be like. Knight Philip and Knight Byron had been dispatched with some men to Tanzan Town to purchase necessary supplies and materials for constructing the new territory ¨C food, tools, tents, medicine, and every other necessity that they had never imagined. The things required piled up like mountains. Even Heidi, who had always been facilitating the management of the territory, and Byron, an old knight of the Cecil n, had no idea where to begin. Nobody knew what was needed to rebuild a territory from scratch. Only Gawain could provide some help in this aspect ¨C during the great founding period 700 years ago, the forefathers of Anzu build their home from scratch. Gawain¡¯s memories were a valuable experience for everything needed to be prepared during the founding period. Of course, with apse of 700 years, those experiences of Gawain might not be entirely useful, but the basic theories were about the same. No matter how the tools developed and transformed, the problems faced by the founders in the wilderness were still the same, which were just food, clothes, amodation, healthcare and hygiene. As for the problem of funding, Viscount Andrew had earlier returned the Cecil n their gold and silver. With the addition of the money saved by Knight Philip, although not much, there was just enough to gather the starting supplies. The refugees from the Cecil territory wandered around the town, buying goods and pushing carts, which caught the attention of the locals. The locals had all heard about the news of the revival of the nation-founding hero as well as the return of thedy feudal lord from the capital. Naturally, they therefore knew that those ¡°foreigners¡± who had been living in the town for three months would finally be leaving. Most of the people of the lower castes in Tanzan Town were not really bothered by theing and going of these ¡°foreigners¡±. But these ¡°foreigners¡± had to purchase many things before departing, which could greatly benefit the town¡¯s businesses. Hence, their hatred towards the lord reduced by a lot ¨C prior to this, the lord requisitioned a huge number of shacks to amodate these ¡°foreigners¡± and those poor refugees could not even fork out a few coins, earning themselves much loathing from business owners. While the two n knights went around collecting supplies, Gawain tasked Heidi and Reba with counting the number of the Cecil residents and listed more than 800 survivors into a detailed register. ¡°Get all the details, down to the name, age, gender, health and skills of each individual. Then, group them into their families and at the same time, make another list with just the carpenters, masons and cksmiths. Yes, if possible, allocate everyone a serial number for ease of checking.¡± This was the task that Gawain gave to his two great-great-great-great¡­ great granddaughters. He thought the task was very easy but it unexpectedly put the two granddaughters into a state of confusion. They probably had never heard of basic information registrations and how these sorts of ¡°forms¡± were made. ¡°Not even a basic poption registration had been done before?¡± Upon seeing the perplexed looks on Heidi and Reba, Gawain felt even more confused himself than them. ¡°Then, how did you count the poption in the territory?¡± Reba replied innocently, ¡°The area around the pce is under the charge of Aunt Heidi and the few knights are in charge of their own ces. A rough estimate of the number of males, females, elderly, and children would do. As for who are cksmiths and carpenters, the people living there all know one another. We just ask around.¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± What the heck? Just ask around? Is this the legendary way of ruling the country: by using the eyes, satisfying the people with the expression and bringing peace to the world with a holler? Upon noticing the rapidly changing face of Gawain, Heidi immediately became nervous, ¡°Lord Ancestor¡­ did you and the founding King count the poption at that time using the sort of form that you speak of?¡± Gawin quickly rummaged through the information in his mind, and a split of a momentter, his face turned pale. Screw it¡­ it was even more chaotic at that time. The Gondor Empire copsed overnight and the Capital which was thriving and developed was torn apart. The lucky ones who survived the first wave of attacks were all people from the remote regions ¨C that ancient empire was a ssic example of an imbnced society, of which the state of development was even close to a deformity as seen by Gawain. As the magic skills in this world depended on the magic focal point and natural magic focal points were limited, all the advanced technologies of the Gondor Empire were umted around the strongest magic focal point of ¡°Deep Blue¡± in the centre of the maind. As for the remote regions with weak magic focal points¡­ they were unbelievably behind the times. Therefore, after the Dark Wave exploded at the ¡°Deep Blue¡± as its starting point, all the advanced technologies as well as the highly intellectual poption of the Gondor Empire were sacrificed. Those who survived were sifted out again and again by the subsequent persistent radiation. Eventually when the pioneers led everyone out of their fate, the human civilization could be said to have been utterly destroyed¡­ To put it bluntly: the four kingdoms were built by a group of illiterates led by a group of elementary students. In this world where superpowers existed, individual powers at the top were able to offset the overall disadvantage brought by the backward civilization. Therefore, it was possible for the four kingdoms to be established under the perseverance of pioneers who were bursting with fighting spirits and then withstand the pressures from various aspects during the early years of founding. But, but, but! It had been 700 years! 700 years, how was it that these unfilial descendents did not make a single improvement? Chapter 39 Chapter 39: The Dark Mountains Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Of course, even though he wasining internally, Gawain knew there was nothing he could do about how this world had turned out. The development of a civilization came with its own rules, but was also fraught with uncertainty. Sometimes, an explosive breakthrough in technological innovation could advance a civilization to greater heights, but in most cases¡ªespecially in cases where feudal ignorance was overwhelmingly dominant¡ªthe development of a civilization could stagnate for hundreds of years. In a world where supernatural forces existed, ss mobility was highly restricted, which would only exacerbate the effects of the cmity it had experienced. The existence of supernatural powers awarded many conveniences to the people beyond their time. However, at the same time, such powers had also shackled the development of this world¡¯s civilization. It allowed the upper sses to live easy,fortable lives, but ensured total dominion over the majority of ¡°normal people¡± who had no powers of their own. Due to the scarcity and arbitrary nature of ¡°magical talent¡±, it was difficult for society to develop upon it as a driving force. And because it did not add value to the masses, the lucky few whose magical gifts manifested would only be new aristocrats and would not, and did not have the power to change the fates of the majority. Supernatural powers did not belong to ¡°normal people¡±, and this was a rule that was taken for granted. Therefore, this made society¡¯s progress move at a snail¡¯s pace, for on the one hand, the normal people, who made up the majority of the poption, had no power to change their current circumstances, and on the other hand, the upper ss, who enjoyed the convenience of superpowers, simply did not see the need for social progress. In fact, even themoners did not think societal progress necessary¡ªthey just prayed that one day, they would wake up with magical talent. In a world where frost arrows existed, who would think of inventing refrigerators and air-conditioning? However, frost arrows were just frost arrows. They could not make eating ice cream on a hot summer¡¯s day happen, nor for doctors to preserve serums and create vines anytime, anywhere. This was the case in this day and age anyway. Gawain was quite certain that this was wrong. Having supernatural powers should not be a limiter on societal progress, and this ce should not be forever trapped in the Middle Ages. The so-called ¡°magic¡± was after all only a form of energy utilization, and its flexible and convenient nature should be the driving force of development, not a shackle¡ª except none of this was something that could be solved right now. He stressed the importance of his understanding and the synthesis of statistics to Heidi and Reba in more detail, as well as other points to take note of when drawing up the forms. Of course, since they had never collected such statistics, and that the uneducated masses were also unlikely to provide their family names and ages, he thus rxed the requirements of the forms, only requiring them to gather the information of the craftsmen, while themoners need only register their names. Everything else had to wait until the new territory was built. No one had ever collected the statistics of themoners, for to the aristocrats, the lives ofmoners had no value¡ªnot even as cannon fodder in war. The only role of the civilians was to be a freebour source that churned out agricultural products. Because no one recognised the value of a ¡°human¡±, no one recognised the need to register poption data. It came as afort that Reba, who was clueless about every other thing, was good at this. She understood Gawain¡¯s intentions quickly, and dashed off to collect statistics with a group of people enthusiastically. Considering her previous decree that allowed serfs to be free citizens through military service, this ¡°ipetent¡± Viscountess was not really without merit. Perhaps with the proper education, she could be tricked into human resources management. (Yeah right!) Fortunately, the poption they had to census was less than nine hundred, and Knight Phillip had also already taken note of the survivors after they had settled down in Tanzan Town. With the help of Heidi, Reba was able to organize the requested information in a timely manner. After receiving the statistics, Gawain decided to divide the team into two groups and head for their ¡°new home¡±. The first was the advance party. Consisting of him, Reba and Heidi as its leaders, the party included half of Knight Byron¡¯s soldiers and militia, as well as key craftsmen and a hundredbourers. They were to set up a temporary camp at their destination, identify water sources and other conditions, andy out precautionary measures against wild animal attacks. The majority of themoners would then follow, escorted by Knight Phillip. It would be unwise to barge into a barren region with more than eight hundred people, even if there were no elderly or sick amongst them (they were unable to escape). However, it was safer for the ineffectualmoners to follow behind the advance party. No amount of preparation was enough to break in barrennd, but the first step to doing so was always necessary. After as much nning and delegating as they could do, Gawain and his party finally left Tanzan Town and advanced south towards the Dark Mountains. They marched along the tter banks of the tributaries of the White River, with the knights and leaders in front to lead the way. The soldiers nked both sides of the party as guards, and the skilled craftsmen, along with their supplies and tools, were wedged in the middle, well protected. On horseback, Heidi looked back at the not quiterge party, and suddenly remarked profoundly, ¡°We seem to have be pioneers too¡­¡± ¡°We are pioneers,¡± Gawain looked at her as he smiled and said. Heidi blinked. ¡°I meant the great pioneering of seven hundred years ago¡­¡± Gawain shrugged. ¡°Isn¡¯t that me?¡± ¡°¡­Right,¡± Heidi responded. ¡°Be confident,¡± Gawain encouraged as he looked at the woman, who seemed to be worried about the future. ¡°Every step into the unknown is a great journey, be it the second expedition seven hundred years ago, or the first ever crusade as told in the legends, or what we are about to do today¡ªthey¡¯re all equally exceptional. We will not only be building a new home; we might even be establishing a new era.¡± Heidi looked a little nkly at Gawain before nodding. She could not really understand what he meant by ¡°establishing a new era¡±, but since these were the words spoken by the legendary heroic ancestor, that must constitute something great and glorious. Beside them, Amber started to p loudly. Thedy thief had a simple mindset. Now that Gawain was the boss, then whatever the boss said was right, so it would not be wrong to just p along no matter whether she understood it or not¡­ The closer they got to the dark mountains, the more deste thendscape became. The signs of human civilization were clearly waning in this southernnd. Before the pioneering enthusiasm had petered out, the descendants of the first pioneering knights had built small settlements in this wilderness with sword and fire and nned to expand their territory towards the wastnds of Gondor. However, the Dark Wave disrupted all that when the dark, primordial forces eroded the boundaries of their civilization. With the constant spawning of demons and the worsening natural environment, the settlements grew difficult to sustain. In the end, chaos broke out in the fog and the southern forces retreated, causing the hardiest remaining pioneering viges to fall. Even now, all traces of civilization had already been swallowed up by savage counterattacks. Only beasts and demons remained between the ruined settlements and the primeval mountains. Even though the magic had died down and the dark Dark Wave confined to the Gondor wastnds, the humans seemed to be satisfied with their current civilized territories to the point where it was not in the Anzu Kingdom¡¯s ns to redevelop the Cecil¡¯snd now, in the wake of their decline in the southern borders. The party of horses and carriages continued their journey across rugged potholes in silence. Even though Gawain¡¯s encouragement to Heidi was working, the rest of the party still seemed uneasy. No one knew what coulde of this march into the wilderness, even if it was led by the great pioneer of seven hundred years ago¡ªand as for the craftsmen found amongst themoners and serfs, it was not so much as pride that drove them on, as it was the habitual obedience to their rulers and the indifference towards their lives that tugged their footsteps along. Thus, the party journeyed on along the riverbank, before stopping in a clearing three dayster. This clearingy closely adjacent to the dark mountains. In fact, it was nestled between the river and the mountains, a narrow in. Here, the tributaries of the White River rxed, their speeds slowed as they flowed gently through the northern side of the dark mountains and straight into the Typhon Empire. Upwards in the southern directiony the grand, yet terrific, sight of the dark mountains. Gawain ascended arge boulder by the riverbank and surveyed the surrounding scenery,paring this with the satellite view he had in his memories. He saw a forest growing to the south of the ins, which were mostly hardwoods such as ck cedar and giantwood, and could be used as a valuable source of timber for the early years of their establishment. In the east, the mountains jutted out a little, and if Gawain¡¯s memory served him right, there should be hematite deposits there. Besides hematite, there were several other mineral deposits nearby¡ªthe dark mountains were a treasure trove of raw materials. Though the pioneers, led by Gawain Cecil and Charlie I, had not stopped at the dark mountains, they still did some basic surveince and exploration along the way. Thus, Gawain knew all about the untapped resources along the way they had discovered as they traveled through. Since the Anzu royal family had given up on these, he was d to take them. After observing the terrain, Gawain jumped off the stone and said to Heidi, ¡°Set up camp here and put up all the tents we brought. Get the soldiers to guard the lumberjacks, and get the lumberjacks to go into the forest to gather timber¡ªbut don¡¯t let them venture too deep into the forest as a precaution against wild animal attacks. There¡¯s no need to worry about the demons; the dark mountains aren¡¯t as scary as you think they are, because the effects of the dark Dark Wave has long faded away, and you¡¯ll only encounter demons if you¡¯re in close proximity where magic is focused. With the exception of the lumberjacks, the rest of theborers are to stay and help set up camp. Reba, Byron, Amber, you¡¯lle with me.¡± Heidi paused for a moment, ¡°Ancestor, where are you going¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to reim my inheritance.¡± Chapter 40 Chapter 40: Ancient Remnants Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios In fact, the ancient ruins or remnants in Gawain memory were not far from the party¡¯s encampment. It was located to the north of the Dark Range. Most parts of it were hidden in the mountains, and a part of it was exposed between the cliffs. Looking at the Dark Range from a distance, one should be able to see the old structure between the cliffs several hundred meters above ground. However, it was just that the passage of time had erased the traces of civilization. Arge number of spreading vines and mountain vegetation covered the rock walls of the ancient structure. Coupled with the copse of the historical remnants and the umtion of dirt and rocks between the cliffs, the exposed structure outside the mountain could hardly be seen. Standing at the encampment and looking towards the mountain, even the best hunter would find it difficult to find anything out of the ordinary among all the rocks and vines. After administering to some matters at the camp, Gawain and the party of four set off for the mountains. Mere decades would not see much change in natural terrains. Utilizing the decade old satellite view and the route toward the mountain from his memory, Gawain and the party found the route that would lead them up the mountain sessfully. Amber seemed a little worried. ¡°Uh¡­ you¡¯re going to dig for treasure in the Dark Range, and we only have four people in total. Don¡¯t you think the size of this party is a little worrying?¡± Gawain looked at the half-elf. ¡°What do you think is appropriate then?¡± Amber gestured. ¡°At least bring a few hundred people to guard us on the way, a dozen master-level rangers and druids to provide support, knights to take the point, mages overseeing from the rear, and then a grandmaster-level bandit like me will be in charge of picking locks, breaking and entering. Isn¡¯t that a standard deployment for treasure hunting in the mountains?¡± ¡°Bull!¡± Gawain initially thought that this sh*t would have useful insight, but it turned out to be nonsense. ¡°Which treasure hunting party is deployed the same way an army does! And you can say it as it is so easy. Why don¡¯t you organize such a deployment for me?¡± ¡°Okay, I was exaggerating a little. But it¡¯s the Dark Range! The Dark Range!¡± Amber waved her arms exaggeratedly. ¡°Legend says that it is a ce where there is a demon lord every eight hundred meters! You¡¯re bringing three people into the mountains, and one of them can only cast fireballs¡­ ¡± ¡°Believe it or not. I can beat you down without even using a fireball!¡± Reba suddenly burst out, holding up her staff, and pointing at Amber. ¡°I¡¯ll show you the power of Cecil women!¡± Gawain stopped his (n+1)th great-granddaughter, and looked at Amber in resignation. ¡°Sooner orter, your mouth will be the death of you. And where did you hear that a demon lord lives every eight hundred meters in the Dark Range? These are all just tales used by ignorant vigers to scare children, alright? If there were really that many demon lords, they would have already swept their way across Anzu.¡± With that said, he looked up at the winding mountain route ahead. ¡°The Dark Range is indeed a dangerous ce, but ordinary folks have exaggerated its danger. In fact, during the Gondor Empire, this mountain range was just one of the ordinary northern mountains. Together with the mountains in the southern border, they were called the Lnds, the two mountain systems in the north and south. Back then, the Dark Range wasn¡¯t dark at all, but because of its rich natural resources and the production of a variety of minerals, it was known as the ¡°Gold Mountain.¡± Unfortunately, the Dark Wave urred, and the Dark Range happened to be facing the most violent part of the elemental storm, the entire southern foot of the mountain range was eroded by elemental power, thus forming the terrifying ck Forest. Then this mountain range gradually became known as the Dark Range.¡± Part of his knowledge was from his own memory, and the other parts were from recent cramming. ¡°The ck Forest opposite the mountain is indeed dangerous, but it is located on the southern side of the mountain range. This mountain range is a natural barrier that almost fully keeps out the air from the Gondor wastnds that permeated through the Great Barrier. The vast majority of the aberrations in the forest need to rely on chaotic magic to survive, so they definitely will not leave the ck Forest, let alone crossing the ridge ande to the mountainous area up north that is as good as suffocating themselves. Thus, the northern side of the Dark Range is actually quite safe.¡± The route that Gawain had chosen was not covered with too much vegetation, but asionally, there would be trees and vines that blocked the road. These robust nts around the Dark Range would still be affected by the air from the wastnds. It was the ¡°elemental winds¡± (that is, the contaminated air that Viscount Andrew spoke of) that traveled from the south every year carried by seasonal winds. Under the influence of those chaotic elemental powers, the nts appeared twisted and unusually thicker in quite a sinister manner. But Gawain understood that apart from looking a little scary, these things were practically not a threat at all. They were just ¡°stronger¡± nts. Those nobles who took a walk around the forest north of the Dark Range and returned home boasting that they had been to the ck Forest were all exaggerating the danger of thisnd. They had no idea what the real ck Forest looked like. The reason he could confirm that the pollution north of the Dark Range had subsided was not because he had learned from the inherited memory or asked around about it, but because of the decade old satellite image in his mind. Byparing the satellite image to the information obtained from the memory, he could easily determine this was already a safe area. ¡°The people¡¯s fear of this cee from two sources. Firstly, it is from the fear of the Gondor wastnds. Although the sentinel towers and Great Barriers built by the elves sealed up most of the Gondor wastnds, the magic barrier could only iste about 70% or 80% of the chaotic energy. The corrupting forces leaking from the Gondor wastnds every year are the biggest threat to the bordering areas. Even if the Dark Wave has subsided, the fear and stress umted upon the people who live at the borders from generation to generation would not dissipate so easily. The horror stories have been spreading in these border areas for seven hundred years. It has almost already be a part of their culture,¡± Gawain said as he chopped the nts that blocked the way,¡± and he said casually, ¡°Secondly¡­ it is from the fear of the unknown. ¡± ¡°Unknown?¡± Amber asked, frowning. ¡°Yes, unknown. How many years has Anzu Kingdom stopped opening upnds in the south?¡± Reba was the one who answered. ¡°If you count from the signing of the decree to when they stopped pioneering, that will be more than two hundred years. If you count from the time when all pioneering and settlement rights were revoked, it will be one hundred years.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a hundred years to say the least. For a hundred years, this ce was listed as a forbidden area. Except for those ¡®adventurers¡¯ who boast abouting here, no one dares toe near. Thus no one actually know what this ce looks like. They can only learn about this ce from the horror stories that have been passed down from generation to generation and the brave stories from those adventurers. How could they not be afraid?¡± Hearing Gawain talking so much on this popr science, Amber finally heaved a breath of relief. ¡°Phew¡­ So those horror stories of the Dark Range are just hyperbole, and we will actually be safe here?¡± Gawain thought for a moment. Then he suddenly made a scary expression in the half-elf girl¡¯s face. ¡°Actually I was kidding. This ce is dark, dangerous, chaotic, terrifying, and there is a demon lord every 800 meters.¡± Amber: ¡°¡­ EEooooee!!¡± ¡°What happened to the grandmaster-level bandit? What an embarrassment.¡± Gawain smirked delightedly, raised his hand to pat Reba¡¯s head, and pointed to a trunk lying across the ground not far away. ¡°Your fireball will be useful here. Light it up. If I remember correctly, it¡¯s just up ahead.¡± Reba had waited for this moment for a long time. Immediately, she happily nodded, raised her staff and threw a head-sized fireball straight ahead. It seemed like the girl was shooting the fireball faster than before¡­ ¡°Boom¡ª¡ª¡± Upon a loud bang, the fireball exploded, and the rotten, weak trunk was blown apart in the center. It broke up into two, losing their stability as they rolled down the hill, and the road ahead was suddenly opened up. An open space hidden in the mountains appeared. This open field seemed to have been intentionally leveled by someone. The rocks had been cut into incredibly neat shapes. Between the rocks were an ancient arched door and copsed walls. They seemed to have been embedded within the rocks of the cliff, looking as though there was once a magnificent fortress that had been swallowed by the surrounding rocks. But in fact, this ancient remains was built inside the mountain itself, and about two-thirds of its structure was hidden behind the stone wall. Amber, who had been scared all the time she was on the road, Reba, who had been listening to the ancestor¡¯s lectures, and Knight Byron, who was on full alert, could not help but stare with eyes wide opened at the ancient remnants hidden in the mountain. They stared at this incredible ancient ruins in amazement. Gawain¡¯s eyes roved around and suddenly stopped beside some copsed stones. He went to the pile of stones. There was a ck thing stuck in the pile, that was very different from how it originally looked. After discerning for a long time, he realized that it was heavily rusted, broken sword. On the ground beside the stone pile, there was a line of carvings. They were so deep that even after seven hundred years of weathering, it was still legible. ¡°Sixteenth Squad, Cole died here.¡± Reba¡¯s voice came from behind him. ¡°What is¡­ this?¡± ¡°Back then, when the party crossed the White River, they encountered pursuers. The Sixteenth Squad was in charge of taking the rear. None of them survived,¡± Gawain said slowly. ¡°He is probably thest surviving soldier, who retreated to this ce, after losing hope of breaking out. It¡¯s a pity¡­ the Dark Wave was surging violently, and the entire Dark Range was shrouded in the decaying force. When I was alive, we were unable to recapture this area. When the Dark Wave naturally subsided, no one remembered this ce anymore¡­¡± Knight Byron unsheathed his sword, pressed it against his chest, and bowed respectfully at the simple tomb. This soldier had a tomb here, but there was not a trace of the warrior who made this tomb and left the carvings. Gawain spent a moment of silence before the tomb. Then he picked up a stone and stacked it on top of the pile. ¡°Rx. Everyone is alive now.¡± In that moment, he wished he could say it in Gawain Cecil¡¯s voice, and not in the voice of Gawain, the transmigrator. Then he walked to the arched door nearby. ¡°Follow me, I will show you what your ancestors left behind here back then.¡± Chapter 41 Chapter 41: Treasure Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The old treasury was hidden in the mountains. The obscure ruins were covered with vines. Walls made of stacked metal andrge rocks were riddled with scars. These scars were characters left behind by the passage of time, and what could be made out of those characters were the words ¡®great changes with time¡¯. The history of this ancient ruins could be traced back to the period of the Gondor Empire. Its solemn and imposing style was far from what the Anzu people of today were familiar with. In Gawain¡¯s memory, when the northern pioneering army found this ce, it was already in ruins. And the structure then did not seem any ¡®younger¡¯ than how it looked like now. Gawain, Reba, Amber and Knight Byron entered the mountain from thergest arched door. The flickering light of the torches lit up the corridors on both sides unsteadily. It seemed like those ¡°soul corridors¡± that led the dead to their eternal resting ce. Amberined, ¡°If only Aunt Herti came along instead. What good is it to bring you along? You¡¯re called a mage, but you can¡¯t even use an illumination spell?¡± Reba flushed red in the face. ¡°Fireballs¡­ fireballs can also be used for illumination¡­¡± It was a pity however that her tone was not convincing at all. Knight Byron was walking not far behind Gawain. He looked at the ancient stone walls and notches on the wall whose purpose could no longer be determined, and he could not help but be reminded of the time when he was a mercenary many years ago. ¡°How old are these ruins?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°The first time we discovered it, it was already in ruins. Back then, the more knowledgeable people of the party said that this was the remains of the ¡°Meteoric Era¡±. That was the middle toter period of the great advancement of magic in the Gondor Empire. The great magical well, ¡®Well of Deep Blue¡¯, had sessfully activated, and it roused a wave of expansion in the empire, where arge number of fortresses and research facilities were built at various frontiers in order to find superrge magic focal points like ¡®Deep Blue¡¯, but then all those facilities were all abandoned one after another.¡± Reba thought it was incredible. ¡°Did they not find even one magic focal point?¡± ¡°No. They could not find a magic focal point like Deep Blue.¡± Gawain recalled the history from his memory. ¡°The power of the Well of Deep Blue is beyond your imagination. That is the superrge magical power source in the center of the continent. The energy it outputs every day can even sustain all of Anzu¡¯s current mage towers¡¯ operation for a month. Schrs inter generations believed that the explosion of the Well of Deep Blue in Gondor in 1739 actually caused the Dark Wave. Although the explosion did not blow up the whole empire right then, it ripped arge hole in the elemental ne. The imbnce of elemental power umted until the second year before triggering the Dark Wave. However, this conjecture could not be proven. The whole Well of Deep Blue and magic focal point ¡®Deep Blue¡¯ has beenpletely destroyed, and no one could investigate it.¡± ¡°Wow¡­¡± Being a mage, Reba naturally understood how amazing the ancient magical power well actually was. She was even more shocked that humans were once able to control that level of power. ¡°Gondor Empire was so powerful back then¡­¡± ¡°In any case, all the magic focal points in the continent did not appeal to the people of Gondor. After barely finding a few medium-sized magic focal points, Gondor stopped the exploration of more distant areas. Arge number of fortresses and research facilities were abandoned. This should also be one of the facilities that were abandoned in those times, and it is probably abined facility.¡± Amber suddenly became nervous. ¡°Then¡­ there¡¯s not going to be any out of control ancient magic monsters or magic traps or anything like that, right?!¡± Gawain nced at the nervous half-elf. ¡°For someone who dares to dig ancestral graves, why are you afraid of an abandoned facility over a thousand years old?¡± ¡°They¡¯re not the same! Even if someone were toe out from his coffin, he¡¯s still only a person. But if something pops out in this ancient facility, we won¡¯t even know what it might be! I heard that ancient facilities still kept synthesized monsters and colossus, that were created by mad mages, sealed¡­ ¡± Gawain¡¯s vein popped out at his temples. ¡°Sorry to disappoint you that when I came out of my coffin, I was only a person. Rumors of the Dark Range and horror stories of ancient facilities. Where do you get all your inurate information from?¡± Amber thought for a moment, and she suddenly said mysteriously. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you. Actually, I¡¯m really chosen by the Goddess of the Night. Sometimes when I pray, the Goddess will reveal something to me. It was all from her¡­ ¡± Reba rolled a thumb-sized mini fireball and threw it at Amber. Amber was caught off guard, and it ckened her face. She instantly cried out, ¡°Damn, are you crazy! Throwing a fireball so suddenly is dangerous, okay!¡± Reba shrugged. ¡°¡­ It doesn¡¯t seem like she was the chosen one.¡± Gawain could not be bothered to deal with these two who could not get along. Because the ancient door was right before them. Reaching the end of the corridor, a heavy giant gate made of purplish-ck metal stood before them. This giant gate was of the typical Gondor ¡°Meteoric Era¡± style. It was solemn, and the surface was carved with abstract relief of soldiers and city walls. Amber wiped away the ck soot from her face, her eyes shing as she stared at the gate before her. ¡°This thing¡­ Could it be made up entirely of purple steel?!¡± ¡°Yes. But for every piece that you scrape of this, I¡¯ll have Reba convert it to fireball and cast it in your face.¡± Gawain knocked Amber¡¯s head with the handle of the Sword of Pioneers. ¡°So put away those audacious ideas of yours. It would be wiser for you to wait honestly for me to pay you your sry.¡± Amber tilted her head and muttered, ¡°¡­ Old miser¡­¡± Gawain heard her mutter, but he ignored her. Instead, he stepped back and took out the important ¡°key¡±. It was the tinum disc left behind from seven hundred years ago. Reba was a little worried. ¡°It¡¯s been so many years. Can this thing really work?¡± Gawain looked at her with a smile. ¡°This is technology from the Gondor Empire. As long as the main structure of the facility doesn¡¯t copse, its main gate will not fail.¡± As if to prove that what he said was true, theplex veined patterns on the tinum disc lit up one by one just as his words fell. Then strands of light streaked along the relief on the heavy metal gate as well. When the light filled the entire gate, mechanical sounds came from the door and the rock walls on both sides. Everyone felt the ground trembling slightly under their feet, and with this tremor, the door slowly opened.. Gawain, Reba, and the others were already prepared. When the door was opened, they covered their noses and stepped aside. At the same time, Gawain activated the knight¡¯s basic skill, ¡°Breath of Protection¡±. An invisible barrier protected everyone. This skill had the same effect as the basic spell used by mages, ¡°Wind Shield¡±, though it was a different method. Though it could only provide limited defense, it could effectively maintain clean air within the barrier. In ces like these ancient ruins, this ability protected the caster from those poisonous gases. There were no poisonous gas traps in this ancient ruin. But there might be umtion of gases in such a confined space that had been closed for seven hundred years. Anotheryer of protection would always be helpful. It took a few minutes before Gawain lifted the protection and nodded to the others. He stepped through the gate first. Knight Byron followed after. Amber hesitated, but in the end, she gave up the idea of scraping a piece of metal from the door while the others were not paying attention¡ªbecause the purple steel was too hard, and her dagger could not cut it. Inside the gate was arge rectangr hall. Closed doors were seen in all four directions of therge hall, and the old assets were all piled right in this hall. The sealed environment in the hall and the runes set up in many spots within the hall ensured that the things kept here would rust at the slowest rate. Many of them were still well preserved today. Stacks of metal ingots, crystals of various colors, swords, armors, and severalrge boxes as tall as half an average person were stacked in the center. Gawain stepped forward and stuck the Sword of Pioneers into the gap of the box. Prying forcefully, the box was then opened. One of the boxes was filled with gold and silver coins that were still dazzling while the other boxes contained neatly arranged light purple crystals, military crystals that had been energized. The most valuable items were not the gold and silver coins, but the crystals. The ancient Gondor Empire had dominated the continent with advanced magic. The magical power from the Well of Deep Blue provided the empire¡¯s mages with almost an endless supply of energy to be utilized. Even a crappy mage could find sess in such conditions. Thus Gondor Empire had achieved something that was almost unthinkable to the four kingdoms today. The mass production of ¡°super gears¡±. Ordinary swords and armors do note with magic. No matter how strong and sharp they were, they were just ordinary equipment. Only the enchanted equipment containing super power could be called ¡°super gears¡±. In Anzu today, enchanted weapons and equipment were only things that could be issued by the military. And they might not even be given in the military. But in Gondor¡¯s time, each soldier was equipped with a longsword enchanted with sharpening and a crystal as standard issues. The thumb-sized crystal was pre-set with the basic shield and the explosive spell mould, which operate automatically, able to distinguish between the enemy and the wearer. Even soldiers with no spellcasting ability could use it. The shield would be activated upon receiving attacks. Upon exhaustion, the shield would grow hot and sh as a warning. Then when forcefully thrown away, it would explode upon clearing a safe distance away from the wearer and nearby friendlies. The way Gawain saw it, this was an incredibly advanced weapon. If it were not for the dire situation back then where they really could not carry anymore items, the pioneers would definitely not leave them behind. The party had already brought with them all the more valuable things that they could carry, and they had no choice but to let go of these crystals. Gawain reached for a crystal, and rubbed it lightly. This might be a way for ordinary people to use magic, but this would not be a long term solution. Only by activating the Well of Deep Blue could this crystal be infused at no cost. Now that the Well of Deep Blue had been destroyed, there would be one less ancient crystal with every use. But at least for now, these crystals would be the cornerstone for the stability of the territory. Chapter 42 Chapter 42: Camp Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Seeing those dazzling gold coins and crystals, Reba, Amber, and Knight Byron were unsurprisingly, stunned. Back then, when Byron was a mercenary, he also saw his share of treasures in mountains, butpared to those dull antiques, these military supplies protected by runes before them were on another level. As a noble from a declining n, the treasures that Reba saw in her castle did not even amount to what was held in this store. And of course for Amber, the industrious bandit, this was her first time feeling how difficult it would be for her to clear everything away¡­ Of course, apart from the shock, they were also roused with curiosity because many of the things before them were standard equipment from the Gondor period. These things were mostly reliant on the Gondor Empire¡¯s advanced magic capabilities. Therefore, after the founding of Anzu, these equipment that the pioneers brought with them could not be repaired once spoiled, and their power would be depleted after some use. Today, there were no clear records of these ancient weapons of Gondor in the history books. Thus these dazzling equipment in the storehouse would definitely seem very unfamiliar. But for Amber, it was not important how these things actually worked. They just seemed like they would be worth a lot! ¡°Gondor¡¯s long coins¡­ silver coin with the emblems¡­ and the real three-leaf golden flower coins! My God!¡± Amber rushed to the box full of coins, her head almost buried in the pile of gold coins. ¡°Money! It¡¯s all money! We¡¯re rich! Boss, we¡¯re rich!¡± When there was no money, he was the old-fogey, but now that there was money, he was the boss. Such a quick change of tune really lived up to her reputation as the disgrace of the elves. Gawain reached out and pulled out Amber from the pile of money and grabbed her cor from behind. ¡°Calm down, calm down! This is my money, not yours!¡± Amber gave a look of righteous reverence. ¡°As your most loyal follower, your money is my money!¡± ¡°These gold and silver coins are the lowest in value. These crystals are the real treasure.¡± Gawain curled his lips, and he gave an introduction to these things that werepletely unfamiliar to people of the current age. ¡°The crystals outside the chests are not infused with magic. Reba, as a mage, you should get acquainted with them. Though they need to be processed before they could be used, they would definitelye in handy. The chest contains the standard issue crystals used for the army back in Gondor. They are easy to use and can increase thebat ability of the soldiers. But these swords and armors are problematic¡­ I checked it just now. They don¡¯t seem to be in good condition. Their magic mechanisms are pretty much useless. It¡¯s unclear how muchbat power could be drawn from them.¡± Although there were sealing runes set up in this storehouse which could slow down the oxidative corrosion of metals, the breakdown of the magic mechanisms and dissipation of energy were not processes that could be slowed. Although they all had long ¡°shelf lives¡±, their shelf lives were still finite. Not only for the weapons and armor, even the military crystals kept in several chests experienced energy dissipation at different rates. Now the energy contained in them was probably less than one-third of what was contained in them when they were just ¡°manufactured¡±. And the failure rate of these old antiques also presented another problem. But to the poor Cecil n, this was still a shocking level of riches. Thus even though Gawain emphasized upon the poor condition of these items, Reba and Amber were still dazed staring at them. ¡°What a load of assets¡­¡± Knight Byron felt his mouth was a little dry. ¡°Yet it has just been quietly lying on the border of the kingdom¡­ no one even knows¡­¡± ¡°Actually, I have to thank the Fog Month¡¯s internal conflict a hundred years ago.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°When the Moen n still remembered these assets, the Dark Wave became an obstruction to exploration efforts to this area. But when the Dark Wave subsided, the Moen n¡¯s lineage ended. Well, its fate¡­¡± Though he verballymented fate, what Gawain trulymented was the unreceptive, backward feudal system where all wealth belonged to the King and the lords. The kingdom¡¯s lifeline would be held in the hands of a few ns as their private property. Once a n¡¯s lineage was broken, these things would then be left to no one and returned to the wild. How absurd? If the Moen family had clearly recorded these treasures on paper and stored them in the archives, and the members of the royal family were only responsible for keeping the keys, perhaps he would not then have the chance to retrieve the treasure. After the Fog Month¡¯s internal conflict, the weakened royal family would definitely want to get their hands on these treasures. But was not this kind of story, where the family¡¯s inheritance was abandoned somewhere deep in the mountains for whatever reasons, how middle ages typically unfolded? Reba¡¯s gaze swept past the ancient equipment and crystals, and finally fell upon the chest of gold and silver coins. She gave a long sigh. ¡°With these, we can pay off the debt to Viscount Andrew, and we can buy food and materials¡­¡± Gawain looked at her and shook his head. ¡°No. We can¡¯t spend the money immediately.¡± ¡°Ah?¡± Reba froze for a moment. But at least she was not stunned stupid as she realized it quickly. ¡°Because these are antiques?¡± ¡°Right. If you take these 700-year-old Gondor gold and silver coins to buy things from people, even the most stupid would be able to guess that the Cecil n found treasure in this dark range.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°At least before we establish some stability, we cannot allow this to leak out.¡± ¡°What should we do then?¡± Reba frowned. ¡°We¡¯re short of money now¡­¡± ¡°Very simple. Even if we change its form, gold remains as gold, and silver remains as silver, thanks to this era where precious metal is used as currency,¡± Gawain said gleefully. His words sent Amber¡¯s heart twitching. ¡°Melt these things!¡± ¡°What the!!¡± The half-elf almost jumped up. ¡°Do you know what you are talking about! Melt them?! These are 700-year-old ancient gold and silver coins! You might as well sell them on the ck market!¡± ¡°These 700-year-old ancient gold and silver coins are kept as good as new. More importantly, many of them of them are already extinct. You can only find their pictures in books.¡± Gawain gave Amber the gentle look that he usually gave Reba. ¡°You can sell one or two of them. But try selling six boxes of them? If you cane back alive, I¡¯ll give you one box!¡± Amber gritted her teeth as she thought of carrying one of the chests and escaping, but upon seeing Gawain¡¯s arm which was thicker than her thigh, she suppressed her bold, impudent idea. But she still could not ept it. ¡°But you can¡¯t melt them all¡­ it¡¯s too wasteful¡­¡± ¡°Of course. We¡¯re only melting some of them.¡± Gawain spread open his hand. ¡°If I really had to melt all these antiques, I would feel the pain too, right? Let¡¯s first melt some of the coins to solve the problem at hand. We¡¯ll seal up the rest and see when they mighte in handy.¡± Amber¡¯s expression rxed, and Gawain smiled at Reba. ¡°Now you know why I specifically asked that my title as Grand Duke Cecil be retained in the Silver Castle that day?¡± Reba batted her eyes. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Are you dumb! Dukes have the right to make coins!¡± Amber¡¯s eyes widened, and she turned to Gawain. ¡°So you were already thinking of melting these antiques back then, right?¡± ¡°You can say that.¡± Gawain admitted as though he was under no pressure at all. ¡°I¡¯m now a Grand Duke not bounded to any territory, unprecedented in history. For now, I don¡¯t have a territory, and I have to open it up for myself. But even if I don¡¯t have a territory, I still have the rights thate ¡®naturally¡¯ with being a Grand Duke ording to thew. The right to make coins is just one of them.¡± Amber¡¯s eyes widened as she stared at Gawain. In the end, she could onlyment, ¡°You ancient nobles are still the pros. Those bumpkin aristocrats who only know how to extort travel tolls can¡¯tpare to you.¡± In this regard, Gawain answered simply, ¡°Set your sights on the longer term. Even this entire treasure house is worth nothingpared to what you can get in the future.¡± Then he instructed Byron and Reba to take some crystals and coins and prepared to leave the ce. Now that they had taken the treasure, they still could not put these things to use. First, they had to set up camp below. Then they had to get some trusted soldiers to transport the items, most importantly the equipment, to the camp in batches. At the same time, there must be people guarding the storehouse. Though there was a magic gate, they could not just leave the storehouse unattended in the mountains since they were already here. And the warrior outside of the ruins would have to receive a new burial. A pile of rocks could not make for a proper tomb. Now that people from the civilized world had returned to thisnd, the warrior who died in battle should receive a proper burial. Gawain and the party left the ce after sealing the treasury with the tinum disk. The camp near the river bank was still under construction, but it was nearingpletion. Byron and Philip bought arge number of tents back in Tanzan Town. They were actually just made of the canvas and wood needed to set up the tents. After arriving at the ce, they still had to do some manual work in setting them up for the temporary camp. But the advance party were skilled workers. They were quick in setting up the tents. Herti also used some support spells to help out. The camp had already begun to take shape. ording to the n left by Gawain earlier, all the tents were built on the south side of the White River, forming a fan shape. Important materials such as food and ironware were kept in the center of the camp. And the prefabricated wood was put along the river bank. The carts and caravans used for transport were kept at the edges of the camp after they were emptied, serving as temporary barriers before building walls in the future. Although the Dark Wave had subsided, they were in the wilderness, cut off from civilization. Who knows what beasts would appear? Next to the tent in the middle of the camp, Gawain found Herti, who was looking exhausted. Those ancient crystals could probably rejuvenate this exhausteddy. Chapter 43 Chapter 43: Limitations of the Era Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios ¡°Look at these crystals.¡± Upon seeing Herti, Gawain threw a piece of light purple crystal into her hands. Thedy looked curiously at what was in her hand, and she immediately gave a look of surprise. ¡°This is what you told me about earlier, the treasure house in the mountain¡­¡± ¡°Yes, this was taken from there.¡± Gawain nodded. Although he did not bring Herti along this time, he had told her about the treasure house in the Dark Range when they were in Tanzan Town. ¡°These crystals are technology from the Gondor period. See if you can understand the rune structure.¡± Any mage, who had not had their head squashed by a door, would realize the value of these crystals upon seeing them. Herti was immediately enthralled by these beautiful light purple crystals. But after some fiddling with it, she shook her head with slight embarrassment. ¡°Ancestor¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m embarrassed that¡­ I¡¯m only a level three mage. I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t produce something so advanced¡­¡± Gawain looked at Herti¡¯s eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to produce it, but only to analyze its rune structure. If you can, draw out this rune structure. I¡¯m afraid no one in this era will be able to produce something like this. This was created by the power of the Well of Deep Blue poured into it.¡± ¡°Well of Deep Blue¡­¡± Hearing this famous name, Herti could not help repeating it. Then she stared fervently at the crystal in her hand. ¡°If I am to just read the rune structure and organize it, that¡¯s not too difficult. As long as we have a crystal resonator, we can project out the inscriptions inside. But to just read the rune structure¡­ What¡¯s the use of that? Without a method to inject energy and activate it, the rune structure is just a bunch of diagrams¡­¡± ¡°We¡¯ll talk about that next time,¡± Gawain said as he nodded, ¡°These crystals can no longer be produced. Before they arepletely spent, I want to preserve as much information as possible.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± said Herti as she put away the crystal. She still had the tired look on her face. But after learning about the ¡°treasure house in the mountain¡±, her newfound spirit made her look better than before. Gawain took the opportunity to ask about how the construction of the camp was going. ¡°Before the sun sets, we can set up all the tents and also a fence. I¡¯m going to set up some magic traps and warning runes in the perimeter. Those should be more than enough to keep out wild beasts. The lumberjacks found a lot of good quality wood in the forest to the west. The timber are temporarily stored upstream of the White River. After chopping some more tomorrow, we can simply let the timber flow downstream. Also, ording to the information you provided, I sent two people to the east, and we did find iron ores. But now we still have no smelting capability. We can only do it a little at a time. Now the most important problem is the shortage of manpower. The advance team¡¯s main objective is to scout the situation and establish the outpost. We¡¯ll need the iing men to harvest resources.¡± ¡°In three days¡¯ time, the main party will arrive, and by then the manpower problem would be alleviated, and we¡¯ll also have the tools and materials.¡± Gawain said as he turned to look at the camp that was gradually nearing itspletion. He had many ns and many programs. His broad perspective as a transmigrator and Gawain Cecil¡¯s wealth of knowledge gave him plenty of confidence. Thus, seeing this early version of the camp, he inevitably felt a surge of ambition¡­ The tents were neatly arranged ording to the n. They had also dug gutters within the camp. After channeling the water from the White River into these gutters tomorrow, it could then prevent fire, which would be the most dangerous thing that could befall a camp. The craftsmen were working on the wood, nailing them together to make the most primitive and simple fence. The fences would not provide much protection against real monsters, but they would be more or less useful when dealing with wild beasts. The lumberjacks who had earlier went to the west forest to log had returned and were resting now¡­ Everything seemed to be going well. But after walking into the camp and inspecting it again, Gawain could not help but frown. He saw the wretched look of indifference on the faces of the craftsmen and civilianborers and their not so skillful ways of cking off. From the tents and fences that were seemingly neat and in ordance to how they were supposed to be built, he could see lots of indications of cutting corners everywhere. The mostmon was the use of fewer nails, and some tents were not even tied steadily. At least the craftsmen couldplete their work with precision under Herti¡¯s supervision, but the civilianborers who were helping out were totally doing the work in a slipshod manner. Actually, Gawain had expected that most civilians in this era would not be educated. They were illiterate withnguage and also with numbers. Thus he exined to everyone in detail earlier about how these tents should be set up and how the entire camp was arranged. But from the looks of things, apart from cing the tents and fences in the ces he had strictly marked out, almost every individual metric of the camp had not met the standards! Did they not know that these tents and fences were their only protection in the wilderness for the near future? Gawain pondered in frustration, and then he suddenly recovered from it. Indeed. They did not know. Because these things belonged to the Lord, not them. Even if they were given these tents to stay in, they did not believe that they could stay here forever. There woulde a day when the uncultivatednds would be identified, and they would be forced to thesends. The tents would then be taken down and thend be used for the Lord¡¯s castle and stable. This was the typical way of the era, and everyone had no doubt this would be how things would turn out. Despite experiencing the disaster in the old Cecil territory,ing here together with the party in exile, having started on constructing their new home, these civilians and serfs, who had survived this stiff, rotten era, were already used to suffering and the feeling of indifference. Thus they would not bear the hopes of great blessings that mighte after the passing of disasters, nor would they have the spirit and energy to build their new home. Gawain realized that he had thought too naively and that part of the n that he had spent so long toe up with would probably not be so easily achievable. He immediately called Herti and Reba. Looking at the tent in front of them that seemingly met his requirements, yet upon closer examination, was found to becking a few braces and was nted, he pointed to the areas where corners were cut. ¡°What do you think of this?¡± Herti did not understand Gawain¡¯s intention, thinking that he was going to me her, she immediately lowered her head. ¡°Sorry, Ancestor. I was the one who supervised¡­¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not a problem of supervision. You can¡¯t be watching them put in every nail,¡± Gawain interrupted her. ¡°It¡¯s a problem of the workers¡¯ attitude.¡± ¡°Lord Ancestor, you can¡¯t expect too much from those civilians and serfs.¡± Reba thought for a moment and exined, ¡°Most of them have hardly any education, except for doing the work their ancestors had been doing on farms and mines, they can¡¯t do other, moreplicated tasks. The vast majority of these people have never set up tents before. These are all tooplicated for them, especially with the standards and functions you specifically detailed for these tents and the n for the entire camp.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°Is this really thatplicated?¡± Herti nodded slightly. ¡°Only military camps will be so strict. These civilians and serfs will not be able to meet these expectations.¡± ¡°No, this is notplicated at all. I have already broken down each step that they need to take to their most simplified level. Everyone only needs to do one thing. Hammer the nails, tie the ropes, or saw the wood. They don¡¯t need to know the n for the entire camp at all. The work that needs to be done is no moreplicated than coolie work.¡± Gawain looked at Reba and Herti. ¡°Do you think the civilians and serfs are so dumb that they won¡¯t even be able to manage this? ¡± Herti and Reba looked at each other. They could tell that Gawain was not very happy, but they did not know what the issue was exactly. As for Gawain¡¯s question, the two, especially Herti, thought that the answer was very straightforward. They were dumb, of course. Being born and brought up in this era, neither of them were very knowledgeable or outstandingly enlightened individuals. It was impossible for them to have knowledge and understanding beyond this era. In fact, Herti and Reba were already the odd ones among the nobles, showing extreme improvement over others. Herti had never allowed the n¡¯s knights or soldiers to rob from civilians and serfs and found ways to ensure that every person in the territory would not starve. What was more, Reba broke the cycle of serfs having to stay as serfs their whole lives. She created a path of progression for them to be free people. She also enabled civilians and serfs to have freedom of movement within the territory and for the civilians to have the freedom to run businesses¡­ Each of these loose policies could be said to have challenged the conventions. However, they were still stuck in their thinking that civilians and serfs were inferior. Perhaps they might not consciously believe it, but just because they imed otherwise would not change their subconscious beliefs. Gawain was certainly aware of this. Thus, he did not summon the two nth times granddaughters to reprimand or enlighten them. He was not naive enough to think that the civilians and serfs in the camp could be transformed into sober, active and ambitious citizens with just a word or two from him. This would take a long process. For now, he just needed these people to finish the work as required as soon as possible. ¡°Gather everyone, serfs, soldiers, all of them,¡± Gawain ordered, ¡°while there is still daylight.¡± Those who were working and resting were quickly summoned. Even Amber, who was bragging to Betty about her adventure to the treasure house in the mountain, rushed over curiously. Betty followed beside her with a vacant expression. Everyone had no idea what this 700-year-old ancestor was nning to do. Even Herti and Reba were clueless. The civilians and serfs gathered together as ordered apathetically. The civilians gathered in a group, the serfs gathered in another group, and the soldiers stood along the sides to maintain order. Many people thought that their ¡°new Lord¡± had more orders for them, which might be even moreplicated than those ¡°tent system¡±. Thus they came looking dreadful as they had initially thought they could sleep after finishing the work. Gawain stood on arge rock and looked down at the people below, numbering more than a hundred. He had already noticed Amber sneakily hiding within the crowd. He was initially going to remove this punk, who was probably going to cause trouble, but on second thought, he just kept quiet about it. Then he cleared his throat and said in a loud voice that everyone could hear, ¡°People of Cecil territory, I have something to tell you. It is about your future and the neww of the Cecil territory!¡± Chapter 44 Chapter 44: Serfs and Freemen Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Gawain stood on top of the rock, watching the withdrawn and indifferent faces below, and he took a deep breath. The people were not stupid, but this did not mean that they were not ignorant. One would call someone stupid out of prejudice and contempt, but to call someone ignorant would only be stating facts. The civilians and the serf ss in this era were ignorant. The social structure restricted them from having hardly any channels where they could gain knowledge and experience. The high cost of living also left them with no energy to focus on things other than survival. And having to survive through such circumstances resulted in them appearing as though they were not using their heads, thus creating the illusion of ¡°stupidity¡±. But in fact, they could use their heads. It was only that theirck of knowledge made it hard for them to understand things that were too far and unrted to their lives. Thus, he could not give them a high-sounding speech, telling them about ideals, the future, or how development in production capabilities would affect the territory¡¯s outlook. If he were to speak about these, they would immediately categorize these ¡°lofty¡± ideas as ¡°the Lord¡¯s problems¡± and draw a clear boundary. Thus, the best method would be to tell them things that were rted to their lives. ¡°People of Cecil territory,¡± Gawain said loudly, ¡°You should all know who I am. So you should also know that I am the highest authority in this territory. My words are as good as thews of Cecil territory. Thesews will offer protection for you, and so you must also obey them. ¡°We are exploring new territories, so we need some new rules. Thus I¡¯ll be making three announcements: ¡°Firstly, because the old territory has been destroyed along with all assets, as the ancestor of the Cecil n, I dere that all debts owed to the Lord will be written off. Regardless of whether you are a serf or a freeman, starting from today, you will no longer bear any debt to the Lord. There was somemotion within the crowd below, but it was not too obvious. Though civilians and serfs might have debts to their Lord, now that the territory was going through rebuilding, everyone had lost their ability to repay their debts. Judging from Lord Reba¡¯s kindness in the past, they had already expected that their debts would be written off. Gawain went on to say, ¡°Secondly, all serfs in the territory have the chance to be freemen. The Lord will issue a series of assignments, such as building houses, building roads, mining, and joining the army. All these assignments wille with their respective methods of umting points. As long as the work ispleted in strict ordance with the requirements, you can umte contributions. After making the standard, a serf can then be a freeman. And if you are already a freeman, you can receive your respective marypensation uponpleting these assignments. I will announce the detailed method for calcting rewards in the near future. I can assure you that any hard-working and reliable serf can be a freeman as long as he works hard for two or three years, and a freeman will be able to have his own house if he works hard for five or six years!¡± This time, themotion below broke out into discussions. Having opportunities for a serf to be a freeman was already quite an unconventional policy in this era. Although Anzu¡¯sw did not strictly prohibit serfs from bing freemen, nor was it specified in territorialws anywhere, there was in fact hardly any nobles who would allow their serfs to gain freedom so casually. To them, serfs were cheapbor. It meant that they would not be a cause of burden even if they drained every drop of blood from them. Those nobles who only knew of constantly increasing taxes andbor hours to get richer, simply would not be able to imagine the benefits that freeing serfs might bring. Reba¡¯s original proposal to allow serfs the chance to earn their freedom by joining the army had also caused somemotion, but this time Gawain obviously went a step further. As for gettingpensation and even a house for work¡­ Many of the freemen could hardly believe it. They could get money by working for the Lord? Who would believe that! Gawain did not allow them time to continue their discussions, but he went on to make the third announcement. ¡°Thirdly, the tents and fences to be built today, as well as the gutters in the camp, are the first assignment that the Lord has given you under the neww. I have already gotten people to record the area that each of you are responsible for. Only those whoplete the work strictly in ordance with my requirements will be considered as havingpleted the work. In addition, as an incentive for doing the work seriously, the first ten people whoplete their work can have meat.¡± With that said, Gawain jumped off the rock, ignoring the response from below, and went to the ce where Herti and Reba were at. The civilians and serfs, who were gathered, just stood nkly for a while. Then there were sudden shouts as they rushed back to the camp that looked as though it wasplete. They were going to reinforce the loose ropes and nails and hammer the fences deep into the ground! For them, things like the calction of contributions and how points were being counted that were mentioned by Gawain were still too difficult to understand, and they also did not really believe that the soldiers and knights in charge of overseeing the work would really help them to record the amount of work they did. But there was something that they did understand. They could have meat for dinner! Only those who finished the work early and seriously could have the meat! Just as Gawain thought. Only when it came to their personal benefits would people be motivated to put in their greatest efforts. Seeing those civilians and serfs swarming around, pushing and shouting as they ran off, Herti was a little dumbstruck. She only recovered when Gawain came and stood in front of her. With disbelief, she asked, ¡°Ancestor¡­ Did you really mean what you said?¡± Gawain looked at her with a vague smile. ¡°Which one are you referring to specifically?¡± ¡°¡­ The part where a serf can be a freeman by doing work,¡± Herti frowned as she said. ¡°Of course, I don¡¯t object to this because Reba had enacted aw where serfs can gain freedom by joining the army. But you mentioned that even things like building houses and constructing roads can also be counted as contributions, and that it would only take them two or three years to be a freeman¡­ Are these for real?¡± ¡°Of course it is.¡± Gawain looked at her. ¡°Do you think there is anything wrong with it?¡± ¡°If they can be freemen so easily, then it won¡¯t be long before all the serfs in the territory will be civilians,¡± Herti looked dumbfounded. ¡°The children of freemen will also be freemen. Will Cecil territory be a ce without serfs in the future then?¡± Gawain continued to look at her, wearing the same smile. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with not having serfs?¡± Having a world view and way of thinking based upon social hierarchies, Herti naturally thought that there was something wrong. But with her knowledge and ideas that were far beyond her noble peers, it seemed that it would not be wrong either even if they had no serfs. Suddenly, she was caught between two conflicting ideas. On the other hand, Reba frowned and said, ¡°Actually, I think that¡­ serfdom is no longer necessary today. There¡¯s really nothing bad about it even if we don¡¯t have it anymore.¡± Gawain looked at the iron-headed descendant in surprise and nodded. ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°Serfs are the sources of ourbor, and the purpose of abor force is to provide manpower, but if we allow them to be freemen, we would instead have even more manpower. So why should we hold on to the concept of ¡°serfs¡±?¡± Reba scratched her head. ¡°Father told me back then that the main reason for not letting serfs be free is that once they are free, we would not be able to drive them with whips, and they will immediately bezy and not work. But I think using whips is not necessarily the best thing to do¡­¡± Gawain looked at her approvingly, and Reba, who had for the first time received encouragement from her ancestor, suddenly became bold and said fluently, ¡°And I also noticed that if a serf is allowed to work, they will always try to goof off, but if you let two serfs do the same job and tell them that the first one who finishes can get an extra piece of bread, they can then quicklyplete the workload of three or four people. Their value far outweighs that of a piece of bread¡­ Then I thought, we don¡¯t need to use a whip to stop them from goofing off, other methods might work even better.¡± ¡°This is already not a bad new insight.¡± Gawain could not help butugh. It was quite an easy concept to understand, but in this era, few people would pay attention to this aspect. In fact, nobles would not even care to observe how their serfs or even civilians went about their work. They also had never thought of measuring their work efficiency. Whipping and sending soldiers to supervise these serfs were their best form of governance. As for Reba¡­ He could only say that this poor country Viscount must really have lots of time on her hands. But it was thanks to this that she could have thought of these things. It was just that she could only think about these superficial problems based on her observations. However, Gawain knew the abolition of very was not only a problem of ¡°whips and breads¡±. The deeper reason was a problem of production capacity, whether their production could reach a high enough level, the step that they had to take in order to be a society. Through this period of observation, he believed that at least within the scope of what he could see, the system of serfs was no longerpatible with the productivity of this world. Large numbers of people were used in repetitive, inefficient, and low-end jobs. This world was dependent on therge number of people and the most inefficient methods to produce all kinds of goods for the upper ss, and these people did not even have a way for upward mobility. The upper ss, who could control magic, had clearly reached a stage where they could watch fireworks, listen to music in their castles, use magic crystals for lighting, but the civilians in the lower rungs were living in circumstances not much better than primitive people. The whole society was almost out of shape. A revolution would have already urred if this happened on Earth, but over here, the existence of supernatural forces had prevented this process from happening. Because a hundred civilians with pitch forks would not even be a match against a novice mage or knight. Even if they had no fear of death and doubled in numbers, it would still be impossible. Perhaps there would be a day where this deadlock would be broken, but Gawain had no ns to wait. He had to bring forward such a change and start his own big developmental n. Because he had a feeling that the Dark Wave might might really being. Back then, the Gondor Empire during its heyday could not even take on the Dark Wave. Now that all the nations had regressed to medieval, uncivilized states, how were they supposed to take on the Dark Wave? With their faces? And even by putting aside the issue of the Dark Wave, Gawain had something else he was concerned about. Those mysterious ¡°eyes¡± in the sky. It would be hard for a backward medieval world to ovee gravity. With gravity keeping one at a stranglehold, one would not even be able to look up at the sky, let alone talk about investigating the secrets among the stars. Chapter 45 Chapter 45: The First Step In The n Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Gawain could not exin the ns he had in mind and his considerations to others¡ª even if it was to Reba and Herti, who were the most trustworthy people, he was unable to exin his thoughts clearly. Hence, the only thing he could do was to break down his big long-term ns into stages and small details, then slowly put them together. What was done today could be said to be one of the most fundamental parts, even for the development of this territory. However, to Reba and Herti, Gawain showed them the most unbelievable side of themoners and serfs. They had never seenmoners and serfs work so passionately and finish jobs that they would never have done so well and expertly in the past. They attributed it to Gawain¡¯s promise of, ¡®meat at night¡¯ motivating these people, and it was rightly so. It was still too early to motivate them by building confidence and pride in their work. A meal with meat was the simplest and most efficient way to motivate passion forbor. After returning to the central tent, Gawain found some paper and jotted down some things. At the same time, he gave Knight Bryon who had followed him in, some instructions. ¡°Send two people to cook ten servings of meat. Also, make sure that everyone working has enough vegetable soup and ck bread. We have enough rations. We can¡¯t have anyone falling sick due to cold or hunger in the early stages of developing this territory.¡± ¡°Are we really going to prepare ten servings of meat?¡± Bryon asked, slightly shocked. ¡°Of course. I have to fulfill my promise. Is there a problem?¡± Gawain replied assuredly. ¡°I thought you were just going to boil a pot of meat soup,¡± Bryon exined. ¡°You only need to boil arge pot of soup with a few pieces of meat cut into the size of a walnut and vegetables and those people would be grateful.¡± ¡°Do as I say.¡± Gawain waved his hands. ¡°I will not allow any cutting of corners on the promises that I have made. Oh yes, ask the cooks to set up the pot at the most conspicuous location in the camp, I want everyone to see the cooking of the meat. At the same time, make sure there are soldiers maintaining order by the sides to prevent people from fighting and snatching.¡± Knight Bryon bowed with a slightly weird expression before he received the order and left. Gawain felt that there was someone looking at him from the side and he turned his head to find Amber looking at him with unblinking eyes. ¡°What are you looking at?¡± He moved his neck ufortably. ¡°Is there something on my face?¡± ¡°I was trying to see if you were possessed by something that would affect your mind while you were in the vault, but it does not seem like it,¡± Amber said with a serious face. ¡°I have never heard of nobles who would reduce their wealth on their own ord¡­¡± Gawain was slightly amused. ¡°Do you think that I am reducing my wealth with those actions?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it?¡± Amber shrugged her shoulders. ¡°By freeing serfs, it means that they only need to give you a portion of the food that they grow in the future. You also need to pay them with money from your own pocket¡­ would a noble do that?¡± ¡°If I ordered you to paint the wall, how much would you be able to do in a day if I didn¡¯t give you money.¡± Amber pondered over it. ¡°I would steal some coins from you and hire a person who does odd jobs to do the job for me and use the remaining money to buy liquor!¡± ¡°¡­ Why am I even bothering to reason with an ultimate scumbag like you?¡± Said Gawain. ¡°How am I an ultimate scumbag?!¡± Amber replied. Just then, Herti walked into the tent, interrupting Amber¡¯s outburst. She was still in disbelief and said, ¡°Ancestor, this is absolutely unbelievable. They have never worked so hard before ¨C especially those serfs, there isn¡¯t even a need for a supervisor to make sure they get the work done¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s because they were only working for their lords previously. Now, their work is closely linked to the food that they receive,¡± Gawain said without feeling surprised. ¡°This is just the first step and you can see thatpared to the extra food and money we have to give out, we are receiving so much more.¡± ¡°I once considered motivating them to work as well, just not to this extent.¡± Herti shook her head. ¡°I dare not to envision how the future of the territory would be like if this system is continued.¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°It will definitely progress in the right direction; you only need to trust me. Besides, what I have done today is just the first step. Come over and look at these¡­¡± He had been writing and drawing on a few pieces of paper since just now. Amber had taken a few nces at them previously before finding them boring and quickly lost interest. Now that Herti heard Gawain¡¯s instruction, she immediately walked over dutifully. ¡°What¡¯s¡­ this?¡± The paper was filled with sentences which she could not understand. They looked more like a bunch of nonsensical terms, for example: work teams,petition and contract jobs, assessment methods and efficiency statistics. There were also mid-term ns written on other pieces of paper, with words like general education, magical power affinity tests, bringing in of human talents which were even harder to understand. ¡°These are ideas I came up with during this period of time, but I never had the chance to implement them before this. Now that the development of the territory has started, these things should be on the agenda.¡± Gawain pointed to the piece of paper at the top. ¡°Some of these things are probably hard to understand for many of themoners and serfs so I want to tell you first. After which you can tell Knight Bryon and the people in charge before sharing it to everyone repeatedly. Oh, where is Reba?¡± ¡°She¡­ is helping to burn the weeds and shrubs at the southern side of the river,¡± Herti said. ¡°This is also one of the ways in which she does magical training usually.¡± Gawain quirked up the corners of his mouth. ¡°Ask her toe as well, the big fireball training can be done at any time.¡± Reba was called in quickly. Thisdy viscount¡¯s face was all ck and she was covered with a smoky smell. Rather than magic training, she seemed more like she had just climbed out from the kitchen- it was no wonder she only knew the big fireball trick until now. ¡°I want to talk to you two about the uing work shifts in camp.¡± Gawainid out his ns and exined carefully. ¡°Firstly, the work teams ¨C I want the workers to be grouped into teams of five to ten. Work details and rest shifts would be done in teams¡­¡± ¡°All of the teams will report to a supervisor before they start and after work. The supervisors will then cote the performance of the teams. Also, every team will have a team leader who will be in charge of assigning jobs within the team¡­¡± ¡°The team leader will be chosen by the team. Tell them that the team leader is not fixed. If a team leader is affecting their work efficiency, lying or hiding things from the supervisors and lords in any way, they will be reced immediately.¡± ¡°I will borate on how teams will be assessed based on their work efficiency, team rewards and punishments and how the meritocratic andpetition systems workter¡­¡± ¡°As for the points system that I mentioned, considering how most people are illiterate and cannot count, Herti, you will be noting down the workpletion of the different teams for now. We can discuss the specific contribution points at ater time¡­¡± ¡°Next, we still have to discuss how to record the taking and returning of the tools by the various teams.¡± Gawain said so much in one breath that not only Reba, even Herti was feeling dizzy. Thetter looked nkly at Gawain who was talking and writing at the same time. The papers which only had a title previously were quickly filled with messy scribbles. ¡°Ancestor, by making a simple job soplicated, wouldn¡¯t the efficiency¡­ be lowered?¡± Herti could not help but ask as she was confused by his decision. ¡°These measures may seemplicated, but in the end it¡¯s just themoners and serfs. They only need to work fast and well to benefit from it. Once they reap the rewards, they will naturally follow the measures conscientiously, and once they do that, you will experience a much more rming efficiency than the tent pitching today. Of course, it may be a little difficult when we first push out the measures. That is why you need to keep publicizing and exining the measures. Other than that we have to enforce and spread these measures forcefully. There is no need to exin¡ªjust tell them, this is a neww in Cecil territories.¡± At this time, Gawain could not help but be slightly thankful for how backward these times were instead. With unadvanced ideologies, it did not matter whether they were free citizens or serfs; they felt that it was natural to followmands. To them, whatever the lord said had to be right and there was no room for resistance from the ¡®lower ss¡¯. In such situations, many of his ideas could be implemented without further exnations¡­ However, that was not what Gawain wanted. His motive was to change this situation, such that every member of the ¡®lower ss¡¯ in Cecil territory was not a lower ss anymore, but a living, breathing human. He needed people, many people. Because what he wanted to do was impossible to be done with the might of just one person. Hence, he wanted Herti to publicize the measures repeatedly while they were spreading and enforcing them. It did not matter whether themoners understood them right now because they would eventually understand one day. Herti was not stupid, she had enough intelligence, and her understanding had already exceeded that of the current nobles by a great margin. Therefore, after Gawain¡¯s exnation and giving it some thought, she could somewhat understand the meaning behind his actions and thus agreed. ¡°What about me?¡± Seeing how Aunt Herti had a task, Reba could not contain her excitement and asked excitedly. ¡°What am I here for?¡± Thisdy viscount, who was thedy feudal lord of the Cecil territories previously, was alreadypletely at ease with being Gawain¡¯s assistant by this time. ¡°Bring some people tomorrow to check the soil quality. Confirm the difficulty of opening up newnd and how muchnd we can open up in the early stages of development. Don¡¯t go too far.¡± As he talked, Gawain drew a rough map on a piece of white paper quickly. The map had the river at the center of a big piece ofnd, with a few markers indicating the distance between various locations. Even though they were just contour lines that could not even be considered as sketches, it was enough to cause Reba to go into a daze. ¡°Just follow this boundary- ignore those areas outside the boundary for now.¡± Reba received the ¡°map¡± with a blurry expression. ¡°Oh¡­ oh¡­¡± Amber, who was beside Gawain, looked at him as though he was a monster. ¡°You¡­ Was everyone in the age of the Second Settlement a monster?¡± After thinking for a while and figuring that it was unlikely for the other old guys from 700 years ago to jump out from their graves and correct him, he decided to be nonsensical and said, ¡°Yeah, being able to draw the map of half a kingdom while closing our eyes was the standard for us back then.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Chapter 46 Chapter 46: The Current Stage of the Mages Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The people working in the camp quickly realised that the ¡°ancestor¡± from 700 years ago was a weird person. Themoners and serfs did not think much about how the Cecil feudal lord changed from Ms Reba to Lord Gawain. In this day and age, the lower ss would feel grateful for the feudal lord¡¯s generosity and wisdom as long as their stomachs were more or less filled. They did not mind who the feudal lord was and to them the only thing that was worth discussing after Gawain had be the feudal lord was the weird rules set by this ¡°ancient person¡±. When it came to the serfs being able to be promoted to freemen and how they could receive sry for what they did, most people remained doubtful as they believed that it was just a way for the new feudal lord to show his benevolence. Under normal circumstances, they believed that such promises would be realised in stringent or sneaky ways. They thought it meant that probably only one or two serfs would be freemen and even if they got paid, their pay would be docked for all kinds of reasons and only a few lucky people would receive some symbolic coins so that the feudal lord could justify that he lived up to his words. However, themoners and serfs would notin about it because a feudal lord who was willing to show benevolence was much better than the one who abused his people to show his power right after he inherited the position. Some good things would eventually happen to them right? Aspared to those generous rules, all the so-called ¡°rules and regtions¡± set by Lord Gawain were the most confusing. They were grouped into small teams which had topete against one another, they needed to register their work load and there were even ¡°assessments¡±¡­ those were really things which they had never heard of. Some people were discussing secretly and guessing which part of the new regtions would be part of taxation even though everyone was too poor to pay taxes. Some other people were talking about how Lord Gawain turned simplebour work intoplicated tasks, was it because ancient nobles had some weird habits¡­ No matter what, they still could understand certain things that concerned their own interest ¡ª The first team in everyday¡¯s evaluation would get to eat meat while the second and third team could eat as much bread with meat soup as they wanted. For those whose standard of work was mediocre, they could only get in vegetable stew and ck bread. Although those two items were filling, to those people who did not get to eat meat on the first day of ¡°tent pitching evaluation¡±, the torture of watching others eat meat stew while drinking vegetable stew was simply too painful to go through again. No matter if those wondrous tales about promotion and getting sry were true or not, at least it was true that the feudal lord provided meat for them to eat. Therefore, on the second day, Herti saw the people working like never before. Bothmoners and serfs were working crazily hard and they wouldplete their work very quickly even without anyone supervising them. As they were working in groups and not individually, they started to work together subconsciously, thereby increasing their efficiency. For those who were the group leaders, most of them quickly realised that the only way for them to eat meat was to increase the efficiency of the entire group and let the entire group eat it. The minority who were not so quick-witted or became group leaders by using violence or scheming ways would probably be reced soon. Using incentives and not physical abuse to motivate them to work was an incredible sight. The tents were pitched and Reba led a group of people to survey the nearby undevelopednd. The lumbermen went upstream of the White River in the west early in the morning. Before noon, a batch of timber would flow down the river to the tter and broader area. To prevent the timber from being washed away by the river, Herti allocated the supervision job to Knight Byron before the stipted time and waited by the river personally. At the stipted time, the first batch of timber appeared and they were tied together using thick ropes to form a raft. The bigger timber were at the bottom while the smaller ones were secured and piled on top in different directions, thereby making everything look like a big piece of ugly wood floating on the river. Two nervous looking serfs stood on the raft and controlled the path of the ¡°wooden raft¡± by using long sticks: the flow of the White River at this part was already very slow, the river was still and there was no wind blowing. However, controlling a raft that was made in a rush was challenging and any careless mistake would cause the entire raft to fall apart. Therefore, they were anxious. Very quickly, the two serfs realised that the raft started to drift closer to the shore. They saw a huge semi-transparent palm at the side of the raft and the hand formed using air pushed the raft to the shore gently and strongly. One of the serfs eximed subconsciously and the other serf pped that moron¡¯s head with the stick and pointed to Madam Herti who was standing at the shore. They cooperated with their master and maneuvered the raft to the shore and let it rub against the rocks before it stopped stably. Afterwards, the people who had waited by the shore for quite some time rushed to them. They untied the ropes, dragged the timber and prepared to turn them into the wooden houses which their camp needed. Usually the timber needed to be dried in the shade, deinsectized and processed in order to be quality and durable material. However, they did not care about the details because many buildings in the campsite were temporary and they were in a rush to build them. Gawain stood behind Herti and said as though he was thinking of something, ¡°Magic is indeed very convenient¡­¡± Just as Herti sighed, the voice that suddenly came from the back gave her a scare and she almost fell from the rock, fortunately Gawain pulled her up. ¡°So¡­ sorry¡­¡± Thisdy apologised frantically. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that you were standing behind¡­¡± ¡°It was me who scared you.¡± Gawain did not mind and he waved his hand. ¡°By the way, that hand which you used just now looks pretty good?¡± Herti blushed. ¡°The Sculpture Hand was a very basic magic and I practised it frenziedly and it canst for a longer time. In this way, even a very heavy raft could follow its lead and be pushed to the shore. However, it would not work if the flow of the water was faster¡­¡± Although Gawain was a knight, the pioneering era forced everyone to be a jack of all trades. He knew a bit about some theories of magic, even though Herti made things sound simple, he knew that it took tremendous effort for her to improve such a basic skill to this stage and at the same time it was something rare. ¡°I¡­ do not really have a ir for magic.¡± Herti was even more shy after hearing Gawain¡¯s question. ¡°Although I started learning magic from a very young age, my ability to focus was weak and I could not build spell moulds that were tooplicated. Therefore, even until now, I¡¯m just a grade three mage, I¡¯ll probably remain at this grade for the rest of my life and all I could do was to strengthen the basic skills over and over again.¡± ¡°Reba¡¯s ir for magic doesn¡¯t seem exceptional too¡­¡± Gawain frowned and thought of that stubborn great great¡­ great-granddaughter who could only create four types of fireballs. ¡°She has a great volume of magical power and she can focus very well. However, she has the same or even worse problem as me when ites to building spell mounds.¡± Herti hung her head low. ¡°She only mastered the Fireball magic or any spell mould simr to it like the Big Fireball magic. To be honest, she¡¯s a very hardworking child and she knows that she¡¯s not talented in different things: she¡¯s neither a good feudal lord nor a good mage. Although she seems to be carefree, she knows all these things and she has been working hard secretly. However, she doesn¡¯t have a choice, theck of innate talent is the obstacle which she cannot ovee.¡± She sighed and said, ¡°Therefore I sighed when I saw the rogue mage¡¯s notebook at that time¡­ he was not the only one and that situation wasmon for a mage stuck in dire straits. He could only be a low level mage because his spell mould skills was not on par with his theories. To practical mages, the inability to trante theories into real magic and skills means achieving nothing¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true.¡± Gawain¡¯s interrupted her suddenly. Herti did not react in time, ¡°What?¡± ¡°If only creating a fireball by yourself is considered ¡®practical¡¯, then there would not be much different between a mage waving a staff and a monkey waving a stick.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°Theories are not nothing, they are the ¡®one¡¯ in front of uncountable number of ¡®zeros¡¯, it is just that you haven¡¯t found the position of the decimal point¡­¡± Herti frowned. ¡°I¡­ I do not really understand. If you can¡¯t realise the theories in your mind using spell moulds, then what¡¯s the point of having so much knowledge? Can you beat anyone?¡± ¡°One day, you¡¯ll understand that ¡®beating someone¡¯ is not everything when judging a mage and it shouldn¡¯t even be the main criterion.¡± Gawainughed. ¡°I¡¯ve sent people to Tanzan Town to inform Knight Philip to purchase some additional things. When the rest arrive, they will start constructing your magicboratory.¡± ¡°Magicboratory?¡± Herti froze for a moment and frowned immediately. ¡°Those things are costly, for the initial stage¡­¡± ¡°I have taken a few Mithril coins from the vault in the mountain, they are not umon coins and do not need to be recast. Hence, they can be used to purchase magic supplies directly and they are sufficient to get you a set of basic things. I know that yourboratory in the castle has been destroyed and we need a new one as soon as possible.¡± Herti thought of the task which Gawain had given her previously. ¡°I understand, I¡¯ll print out the blueprints which you have requested when the crystal resonator arrives!¡± Herti could not contain herughter, although she pitied those Mithril coins, as a mage, how could she not feel happy now that she could get her ownboratory again? There was this saying that went: the child that sells his grandfather¡¯snd does not feel the pain¡­ Was there anything wrong with the ancestor buying someboratory supplies for his great great¡­ great granddaughter? There was no problem at all! Good, although this thinking did not apply to Herti who was ountable and mature, it applied to Reba. Should he get aboratory for that stubborn girl when he had the ability? Although she would probably be researching fireballs in theboratory¡­ Gawain returned to the tent feeling a little distracted and he wanted to go and take a good look at those weird crystals. Chapter 47 Chapter 47: Crystals Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The camp had to be built slowly. Even though Gawain drew up many regtions and ns, and even a draft for the next step in expanding andpleting the camp into a permanent encampment, all of these ideas could not be realized overnight ¨C considering the knowledge of most people at this period, there was zero literacy among themoners and serfs, the knights had only basic reading and writing skills and home-trained warriors could only write out their own names and count to a hundred. Hence, things could only be put in ce at a very slow rate. Furthermore, there was ack of manpower and the Cecil territory could not sustain many men at the moment. After he understood the current situation in depth, Gawain returned to his tent and sat before his desk. This very desk was one of the few pieces of furniture that the army brought from Tanzan town. It might take the carpenters quite a while to make the first batch of furniture using wood obtained from the west side of the forest ¨C wood used to make furniture could not be overlypromised like simple wooden houses. Hence, having a desk was already the biggest privilege Gawain was enjoying as the feudal lord. Severalrge pieces of paper were scattered across the desk and they were covered with all kinds of scribbles: construction ns, supply management, campsite sketches, and a rough n for future constructions which included walls, wharfs, settlements, production buildings, crop fields and so on. There were ink, pens, pencils and a ruler ced on one side of the desk and on the other sideid Amber. Gawain grabbed Amber by her cor and brought her to the side. The half-elf girl was still asleep when she was grabbed, but when she was carried halfway across she let out a cry, transforming into a shadow. She vanished in Gawain¡¯s hand before reforming her body again somewhere not too far away. ¡°You scared me!!¡± Amber was finally awake and she red at Gawain angrily, ¡°I thought it was an earthquake!¡± Gawain found her both frustrating andughable, ¡°Is this how you guard the things in the tent?¡± Amber said with much righteousness, ¡°I alreadyid my whole body over your ugly drawings!¡± Gawain looked down at the desk and looked back up at Amber, ¡°And you drooled on it!¡± ¡°How can I control that when I¡¯m asleep,¡± mumbled Amber, as she looked curiously at Gawain taking a seat by the desk before scooting over, ¡°What are you doing? Working on your ugly drawings again?¡± ¡°These are not ugly drawings, these are ns, regtions and construction schematics,¡± Gawain was at a loss dealing with the ignorant half-elf, ¡°These are the foundation of the camp ¨C that¡¯s why I asked you to look after it.¡± Amber held up a piece of paper filled with symbols and numbers and studied it for a long time, frowning, ¡°What nonsense, I don¡¯t even understand it.¡± Gawain looked at her helplessly, ¡°You¡¯re holding it the wrong way.¡± Amber had a look of innocence, ¡°All these drawings of yours, I¡¯ve never seen before. They are even moreplicated than magic spells. How am I supposed to know which is the right way!¡± ¡°This is why you need to learn. Knowledge is very important,¡± Gawain sighed, not surprised that Amber could not understand these things: she was a mere thief who had never received formal education and was taught to do unscrupulous things under the guidance of her father-cum-teacher, together with a bunch of inexplicable Shadow-affiliated talents. She could only live life on the edge in this world. To her, schooling was neither a choice nor a necessity. Therefore, her literacy level was just enough for basic reading and writing. The things that Gawain drew on the paper contained a bunch of weird nouns, various figures and annotations. Even if Herti were the one reading it, she would be stumped as well¡­ Speaking of Herti, Gawain looked at Amber in the eye, ¡°I told you to learn a thing or two from Reba and Herti when you have nothing to do, but it seems you havepletely disregarded it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s so boring. And I don¡¯t like interacting with the nobles,¡± Amber rolled her eyes, ¡°And also, that beautiful great-great¡­.great granddaughter of yours is so busy, why would she have time to entertain me? Reba may be slightly more free, but she always wants to attack me with huge fireballs.¡± Gawain looked at her with a faint smile, ¡°Don¡¯t like to interact with the nobles ¨C but you seem to be very open when hanging out with me.¡± Amber replied honestly, ¡°I feel that you aren¡¯t like a noble¡­¡± ¡°You seem very different from the elfs that I know of too,¡± said Gawain as he started tidying up the papers in front of him, sweeping them to one side. At the same time, he took out a few crystals and ced them on the desk. Amber mumbled, ¡°I¡¯m a half-elf, and adopted by humans. How am I supposed to know what a true elf should be like¡­ Hmm? Are you not writing anything today? You¡¯re going to study these rocks?¡± After confirming that the crystals were void of magical power and that Gawain had no intention to sell them, in Amber¡¯s eyes those things were downgraded from crystals to just rocks. Gawain looked at the half-elf, feeling a slight headache, ¡°If you could quieten down a little at the side, I would be eternally grateful.¡± Amber: ¡°Psh, this is no fun at all, go and study your rocks.¡± As she spoke, she spun around and gradually disappeared into thin air. But from the faint sensation from the atmosphere, Gawain was certain that she was still at her original spot as she continued to stare curiously at him. Forget it. As long as she stops chattering, I will let her be. Gawain focused on the crystals in front of him. It had been quite a period of time and there was still no progress in the study of the crystals. He had observed the crystals carefully more than once on his way to this ce. While in Tanzan Town, he even let Herti used the method of magical power resonation to try to investigate the core of the crystals but to no avail, especially with magical power resonation ¨C Herti exined frankly that the crystals did not bind with magical things at all and the magical power had zero effect on the core of the crystals, simr to that on rocks. But these were crystals that Gawain Cecil had treasured and kept in a Mithril safe. He even purchased a permanent preservation service in the Mithril vault so how could the crystals be just ordinary rocks? Gawain could only make a bold guess that the crystals were definitely extraordinary, just not on a magical level. Or that modern magic theories were unable to exin them. He put aside those that were obviously fragments of the crystal and picked up theplete piece. A part of the core structure was visible in the crystal fragments but it was difficult to urately observe it with the naked eye. Once Herti¡¯s magicboratory had been built and the crystal resonating machine be avable, they could then try studying the crystal¡¯s physical structure. As for theplete piece of crystal¡­ it would be too risky to do anything to it. God knew whether the crystal resonating machine would destroy some sort of ¡°information¡± in the crystal. He held the crystal against the light and observed it. There was light glowing along the edges of the beautiful, sparkling crystal. With changing angles of incidence, every side and line disyed different colors and ray patterns. This crystal was extremely precise in any form and must have been processed very skilfully. On top of that, after testing with the crystal fragments, Gawain had confirmed that they had an rming strength ¨C extraordinarily hard and unlike typical fragile crystals that would break easily. They could even make scratches on mithril easily without wearing out the tips at all. It made him very curious as to how the four crystals had been crushed into such a state. After observing the crystal against the sun, Gawain tried to slit his finger and before the wound healed by itself, he dropped some blood onto the surface of the crystal. Expectedly, there was no effect. He could hear a faintughter from a certain half-elf¡­ Throwing Amber away to a side, Gawain held onto the crystal and slipped into deep thoughts, thinking about how there were more and more inexplicable things happening in the world ¨C crystals from unknown origins, memories that disappear suddenly, a ¡°sun¡± that felt like a gaseous giant but did not have properties of a normal gaseous giant, as well as those ¡°surveince satellites¡± that were till date still in the sky with unknown purposes and origins¡­ Just as his thoughts moved to ¡°surveince satellites,¡± he felt slight heat in his hands. At first he thought it was his illusion, but the crystal started to tremble a little as the pale blue glow in its core became a little brighter. Heat, trembling, and glow, these three altogether meant that there was no way it was him feeling things. Gawain looked at the crystal, horrified. But before he could grab his pen to note down the changes of the crystal, he suddenly heard a sound in his head. Rather than a sound, it was more like a message that directly entered the inner world and he understood its contents: ¡°Mental frequency reset, re-establishing connection.¡± In the next instant, he felt himself losing consciousness. It was as though something had entered his mind abruptly, like an influx of some ¡°data flow¡± that did not belong to him. But the data flow was not an intruder because after being stunned for a short while, he began to feel a sense of familiarity towards it. These ¡°familiar data¡± soon produced corresponding definite things in his head. Some pictures started to form in his head. It was a view of the ground from high up in the sky. At this moment, what appeared in Gawain¡¯s mind was neither surprise nor horror, but a ¡°what the heck¡±. ¡°What the heck, am I going to the heavens again?!¡± His forehead broke out in cold sweat. But soon he realized that things were not like what he imagined. He was still sitting properly on the chair, and his soul did not leave his body and return to the sky to be a geostationary satellite. Everything about him felt normal and he could control his body using his will. There was just an additional picture in his head. This made him calm down a lot, after which he became thrilled and excited and put his focus on the picture in his head. Only then he realized that there was a huge abnormality in that picture which was nothing like what he was used to. The picture became blurry and it was as though there was ayer of filter that produced weird color distributions, smeared like a picture that was formed by a thermal imager. Only structures like mountain ranges, forests and rivers could be recognized. On top of that, this weird, blurry picture was constrained within a very small boundary. That was the northern part of the Dark Range and the area surrounding the new Cecil territory. From the top, the White River, the western part of the forest, and even a silhouette of the camp were vaguely visible. The picture could not be zoomed in or out. Chapter 48 Chapter 48: Satellite Warning Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Gawain focused his concentration on the images that were visible only to himself. In the end, he confirmed that they were indeed showing the terrain of the Cecil¡¯s current settlement. He could see thend within a hundred kilometer radius, and the zooming function that he had once been so familiar with was now unavable. The images were confined to this area, unable to be moved or scaled. Also, his original satellite view, once in HD, was now reduced to this blurry, strangely colored one. What did the colors mean? Thermal imaging? Or some other kind of induction imaging? Or was it¡­ simply a fault? Gawain remembered clearly the voice he had heard as he fell from his lofty orbit. He had heard it say that there was a damaged power source, a failure of mainframe restarting and the initiating of some escape sequence, so the possibility of a fault could be high. In addition, he was now unable to scale the images he saw, which deepened his spection. He began to stretch his line of thought: His soul, or rather, his mental consciousness, had unfortunately mutated. Even though he was able to touch down onnd and acquire a human body, his consciousness could obviously still retain a connection with the ¡°something¡± in the sky. For the past few months, he had been offline from it, but the unexpected obtainment of the crystal had reestablished this link with it. As for that ancient device¡ªno matter if it was a satellite or a space station¡ªit was still in a faulty state. It was unclear if the power source came back on or if the mainframe was eventually rebooted, but in any case, it had survived and was still in operation. Although the images under its surveince was now an indescribable mess, this at least proved that it still existed. And with this stretch of thought, Gawain could not help but start to worry about another thing: If his consciousness was connected to that ¡°satellite¡± in a manner that was beyond imagination, to the extent where they were symbiotically co-existing¡­ What if the thing in the sky died? Would that not mean that he would die too? He knew that this was not likely to happen, for he was already reborn in Gawain Cecil¡¯s body. Also he had clearly heard the words ¡°initiating escape sequence¡±, so that meant that his consciousness should have gotten out independently. However, in matters of life and death, any chance oftent danger could not be dismissed! However, the thing in the sky was probably floating in geosynchronous orbit with this, while he was now stuck in this benighted medieval kingdom. He could not even see the ¡°satellite¡±, let alone repair it! As his troubled thoughts boiled, Gawain was simultaneously observing every detail of the aerial view. He noticed that the image was not stationary, but in fact, the patches of color were always slightly shifting and changing. Some of the areas brightened while others slowly dimmed. The cycle repeated in an orderly manner, but at the same time, the entire image remained roughly unchanged in distribution and profile. And just as Gawain was trying toe to a conclusion on the pattern of the image changes, things changed again. He suddenly saw a box like a floating window appear above the image, and in it shed a line of flickering, trembling words. It was in an unfamiliarnguage¡ªit was not Mandarin, but neither was it anguage of any kingdom in Loren. However, as he gazed at the worlds in astonishment and earnestness, the words were tranted and their meaning came into his mind. ¡°New data. Giant activity increasing. Raising the alert level to four.¡± The image started to flicker and wasyered with the interference. Gawain was shocked awake, and his focus quickly shifted to the real world outside. This was the first time he had switched between views, and the shift caused his vision to waver momentarily before stabilizing. Then, ignoring the lingering vertigo in his brain, he rose from his desk swiftly and rushed towards the tent door. An invisible Amber was startled by this, and jumped out of the shadows suddenly. ¡°Woah!¡± At this point in time, Gawain had already exited the tent in a hurry. The two militiamen looked back at him in shock, but he ignored them, only looking up towards the sun that hung high in the sky. The great sun was moving slowly and majestically in the sky, its circling halo of light mist-like. It did not look out of the ordinary, but soon, the surface of the sun began to show streaks of red, just like the blood vessels of bloodshot eyes. The image in Gawain¡¯s mind continued to shift. He saw the colors in the images shift, as though they indicated thermal levels. Almost all the colors were deepening in intensity quickly, but gradually settled into a new equilibrium of stability. There were some numbers which popped up by the image intermittently, but he was unable to make sense of it at all. A revtion lit up in his mind: These colors were not the result of a fault, but was a special kind of surveince method. Perhaps it was a surveince method even more useful than in old thermal imaging! The red lines of the sun (some of which were now patches) increased in number, finally attracting the attention of the people at work in the camp. They lifted their head and chattered about the changes in the sun, until their overseer shouted at them to get back to work. Herti, who was helping to fortify the foundation with mud and stone nearby, noticed the change as well. She nced up at the sun for a moment before looking towards the central tent in the campsite¡ªas expected, she saw Gawain with his face turned to the sun in all seriousness. She dashed to Gawain. ¡°Ancestor, it seems like the red lines are back again.¡± Gawain waved a hand, motioning for Herti to stay quiet. His eyes were on the sun, but his attention was focused on the image in his consciousness. After a while, the reddish part of the sun finally stopped spreading. The text of the ¡°image¡± monitor changed, and a new prompt popped up, ¡°New data, giant has regained stability. Alert lifted.¡± The red lines on the sun¡¯s surface then disappeared rapidly after that, and the floating colors of the image monitor calmed and returned to their original states. However, although the image monitor had removed its warning, Gawain was still on high alert. The new discoveries became new clues. When a lot of new clues came out at once and piled up, they became new problems. He began to produce countless conjectures and reasonings, with some of them being so bold they were insane. However, he forced these down, firstly calming himself down, before searching for an exnation that would bring him closer to the truth. ¡°Ancestor¡­ are you alright?¡± Herti looked at Gawain¡¯s face with concern. ¡°You look unwell¡­¡± Amber had slipped out of the tent earlier, but Gawain¡¯s aura was so oppressive that this usually noisy and lively half-elf did not dare to speak. It was only when Herti broke the silence that she dared to utter, ¡°He rushed out before the red spots appeared in the sun and scared the crap out of me¡­¡± ¡°Herti, can you sense any magical changes?¡± Gawain suddenly turned to Herti with a severe look on his face. ¡°There was a surge of magical power earlier, and casting magic became much easier.¡± Herti nodded. Surges in magical power were congruent with the appearance of red spots on the sun, but the recent increases in red spots and magic surges were bing way too frequent. Combined with the disaster on the Cecil territory and Gawain¡¯s warning fresh in her mind, she could not help but to start panicking. ¡°Could it be another¡­¡± Herti¡¯s face paled gradually. ¡°No, not to the extent where monsters will appear.¡± Gawain shook his head to calm Herti down. He made this judgment based on theck of signs of Dark Wave pollution, and also based on Gawain Cecil¡¯s experience that nothing would happen since the elemental power in the air was stable. ¡°They¡¯re just ordinary levels of red spots and magic surging¡­¡± ¡°Magical power surges and red spots are a natural urrence, but they usually only appear once every three to five years.¡± Herti was visibly worried. ¡°But this is the second time it has happened in these few months¡­¡± Actually, the worry and panic in Gawain¡¯s heart were just as strong as those in Herti¡¯s. In fact, since he also had to worry about the problem of the connection between himself and some ¡°surveince satellite¡± in the sky, his anxiety right now was a little stronger than hers. However, he also understood that since he had be the pir of the entire Cecil n, he could not show any signs of weakness or hesitation, especially in front of Herti and Reba. Moreover, weakness and hesitation would not solve any problems. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. There won¡¯t be any monsters. Even if the monsters arrive, I have experience with them.¡± Gawain looked reassuringly at his descendant. ¡°Let¡¯s all do our part¡ªonly by building a strong and stable home can we have the power tobat nature.¡± Herti saw the confidence in Gawain¡¯s eyes and began to calm down. She bowed slightly before returning to her own work. As he gazed upon Herti helping out with the construction with her magic, Gawain nodded slightly. Although Herti and Reba perhaps did not have mindsets that transcended their era and ss, they had a foundation that was not found in other aristocrats of this age. That being they did not believe that they should be segregated from their people just because of their status and social standing. Otherwise, ady like Herti, who was an aristocrat in every way, would never go to the construction site and use her magic to assist with the efforts. As Gawain looked on at the rapidly strengthening foundation under the use of magic and was awed by its convenience, he also realized something: once the hardware to mint coins were in ce, it would be a good idea to hire some down and out rogue mages to help build the camp. Before that though, there were other more important problems to think through. Gawain turned back and returned to the tent. Sitting at his table, he scribbled down three questions on a nk piece of paper. What was the rtion between the ¡°sun¡± in the sky and the Dark Wave? What was the use and condition of the ¡°surveince satellite¡±? Why did the Gawain Cecil of seven hundred years ago leave behind a crystal that could help him reestablish a connection to the satellite? Chapter 49 Chapter 49: Questions and Answers Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Although he had already put the crystal away, Gawain could still ¡°see¡± something like energy imaging from an aerial perspective in his mind¡¯s eye. However, he quickly found a way to turn the images off. So long as he consciously turned his attention away from the aerial map and focused on something else, the images would disappear. Recalling the images was equally simple¡ªhe only had to call upon it intentionally. There was no need for the power of the crystal in this process. Some sort of ¡°link¡± between his consciousness and mind seemed to have been established, and the crystal¡¯s role in this process was probably as a key¡­ or some kind of catalyst. After sitting down at his study table, Gawain reviewed the problems he had jotted down on paper, gathered his wits, and attempted to answer them. ording to the memories of Gawain Cecil in addition to what had happened earlier, he could be certain that the changes with the ¡°sun¡± in the sky was directly rted to the Dark Wave onnd. Every time red spots appeared on the sun, the magic of thend and activity of elemental power would surge. The so-called Dark Wave was the sudden, chaotic outbreak of magic and the elemental powers avnching out of control, which caused the erosion of the material world in the process. As for the monsters that appeared in the elemental storms, they were of unknown origins, and could be temporarily ssified as a secondary phenomenon after the violent insurgence of elemental power. The inhabitants of this world were not foreign to the phenomenon of the sun¡¯s red spots and the Dark Wave. It was considered a natural urrence, irregr but not umon. Thus, Gawain postted boldly that the essence of the Dark Wave had probably passed a certain ¡°critical point¡±, causing the insurgence of magical power, and when the magic in the world reached a certain limit, the stability of elemental powers would be shattered, causing the Dark Wave. What then, was the role of the sun in this urrence? Did the red spots cause the surge in magical power? Or was it not the causation of the phenomenon, but something that urred during the same event? Gawain pondered about this and added a little question to the piece of paper: What is the nature of the sun? It was a giant, that was for sure¡ªat least, that was ording to the ¡°information monitor¡±. However, it was also evidently different from the gas giants that Gawain knew of. ording to Gawain¡¯s knowledge of gas giants from his home, they were not supposed to emit light or heat. Even though they were usually abundant with nuclear fuel and emitted a certain amount of radiation, they were ¡°cool¡± and akin to an unlit furnace since they had not yet reached the point of nuclear fusion. In contrast, the ¡°sun¡± in this world was obviously a source of light and heat for thend. Had it been ¡°ignited¡±? Or was this a unique characteristic because of the differingws of the two worlds? Gawain mulled over this. Personally, he preferred the second exnation because the urrences of the red spots and magical surges constantly reminded him that this world and his home world operated on differentws of physics. If he limited himself to thinking on the lines of what he already knew, he might be afraid that he would be wasting his time thinking about the problems. There was another important reason for eliminating the first hypothesis: If the giant sun in the sky was a gas giant that had really been ignited and was undergoing nuclear fusion, it could be regarded as a star. The light and heat it was releasing was definitely not what it could be felt right now. Based on its gigantic size and near blue-white surface, the heat it emitted should surely be able to burn this entire to ashes. Gawain wrote down his conclusion on the paper. The ¡°sun¡± was a gas giant of a special nature, whose activity could affect the magic on thend presumably from some kind of catalytic energy radiation. The red spots could either indicate the increase in energy radiation, but this was doubtful as there was ack of effective detection methods. So, the second question was, what was this ¡°surveince satellite¡±? It could be something left over from an ancient civilization, or some kind of observation post left by aliens in this¡¯s orbit. The civilization that had built it must have been extremely advanced, or at least, one that was not afraid of the Dark Wave¡ªthe satellite, used as a hang out, allowed observation of the Dark Wave which attested to the technological gap between the civilizations. Who had left this satellite (if it was a satellite indeed) here then? Gawain considered the severe damage the satellite had sustained while he was transmigrating, but with it not having been repaired, made a bold guess that the civilization that had left the satellite behind had already died out or left and no longer cared about this ce. Of course, the satellite owner could also be some mega-rich person who was an unchecked spendthrift, and the broken satellite, to him, was akin to the cost of using a few napkins, which exined why he did not bother to send anyone over to check on it. However, because the possibility of this was really low, Gawain did not give much thought to it. Anyway, there were no repairmening even though the satellite was about to die, which meant that for now, there was no need to worry about any aliens from advanced civilizations arriving to trash puny entities like themselves. This was good news, but¡ªGawain¡¯s thoughts took another turn¡ªif the aliens from an advanced civilization coulde and solve the problem of the Dark Wave, but just would not, that would be bad news¡­ As for the function of this satellite, it might have been used to monitor the levels of magical power. Gawain thought about what he had seen in the secondary aerial view (he ssified the clear, HD view he had seen for thousands of years as the primary aerial view). The view wasposed of color filtersyered over the entirend, and their different shades were perhaps indicative of the flow of magical power. This hypothesis was supported by the synchronized changes in the colors when the surge in magic happened, so was this satellite an early warning device for the Dark Wave? ¡°Early warning¡± would be one of its functions, at least. However, the condition of this observation post was worrying. No matter how Gawain tried tomand it, he was unable to adjust the images at all. Sometimes, the images even had severe interference and flickered from time to time, which only served as a reminder that the system was about to reach the end of its life. The final question was: Why did the ancient man, Gawain Cecil, leave this crystal behind? Right now, Gawain was still unable to understand the crystal¡¯s every property, but he had at least ascertained that it had helped him reconnect with some surveince outpost in the sky. Was this crystal of use to anyone else? If it was how did Gawain Cecil of the past use it? Did he also obtain satellite vision from it? Hmmmmmm¡­ This thought seemed reasonable. For the fiercest pioneering knight to be able to lead a group of refugees to escape amidst sessfully killing monsters in the Dark Wave, as well as breaking out of it all as though it was parkour and then establishing a new kingdom, he had to have a map hack¡­ However, simply hypothesizing was not enough. He had to put this to the test. Holding up the whole crystal, Gawain pondered who he should allow to test it. This intruded into his own secrets, which meant that he could not just hand it over to anyone. Even though it would be impossible for a native of this world to discern that the aerial view afforded them a thermal image of thend, it could be possible for the intelligent ones out of them to infer the truth from the aerial image. Thus, he had to find someone who was reliable enough, so that in the event the test was sessful, anything that could happen was controble. Actually, Gawain¡¯s concern here was a little redundant¡ªthe worldview of most of the people here did not have the concept of respawning from a satellite or something. If they suddenly saw such a map through the crystal, their only thought would probably only be ¡°This is a magical thing which is imbued with ten thousand levels of hawkeye power¡±. However, Gawain¡¯s ideas and thoughts were still unintegrated with that of this world¡¯s. As he fell deep into thought, he slowly looked up at the daydreaming Miss Amber standing right by the table. The half-elf girl felt a chill run through her body. Turning her head around, she noticed Gawain¡¯s gaze on her and broke out in goosebumps immediately. ¡°What¡­ What are you doing?! Has your aristocratic nature finally burst through that you¡¯re about to attack your own guard¡­¡± That was out of the question. She was disobedient, unreliable and mischievous. Who knew what might happen if he let her test it. Gawain quickly dismissed the thought. Just then, someone came in to report that Reba had returned from surveying thend. Gawain beamed instantly. ¡°Get her over here right now!¡± Reba sprinted into the tent hurriedly. She had spent half of the day running around outside, but not only showed no signs of fatigue, and was instead full of energy and life. She thought Gawain wanted a report on what she had done, and thus blurted out as soon as she entered, ¡°Ancestor! You wouldn¡¯t believe how much goodnd is nearby¡ªI thought thend on this side of the dark mountains was all barren and couldn¡¯t be developed, but ording to the map you gave me, I actually found¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, that¡¯s not an urgent matter.¡± Gawain waved a hand to interrupt Reba and held out the crystal in his hand to her. ¡°I have something for you to do.¡± He smiled as he looked at his nth+1 great-granddaughter. She was the total opposite of Amber¡ª Obedient, reliable, and had her head clipped by a door before. Reba received the crystal from Gawain nkly, unsure of what her old ancestor was going to instruct her on. ¡°What¡¯s next?¡± Gawain thought long and hard about how he connected to the satellite. He instructed, ¡°Then, imagine a really, really high ce¡ªone that¡¯s higher than the clouds, where there¡¯s a thing overlooking thend. Now, try to connect with it.¡± Reba blinked. ¡°Oh, oh, are you talking about the Eye of Mystery?¡± The Eye of Mystery was a phrase mages used. They believed that any talented person who possessed magic had a pair of eyes that transcended themselves. The eyes floated over the entire world, soaking in the ¡°Sea of Ether¡±, a proxy to the mages that observed the essence of the world and the flow of magic, and also determined the talents of every mage during the course of their training. Mages could not connect with the pair of eyes directly, but their soul could subconsciously¡ªmeditation was the key tomunicating with them. Gawain did not mean that, of course. ¡°No, it¡¯s on a higher level that the Eye of Mystery, and even more material. It¡¯s a physically present thing, like a magical prop.¡± Reba exerted great effort, but smiled apologetically. ¡°But why don¡¯t I see anything?¡± Even after Gawain instructed her differently several times, the crystal in Reba¡¯s hand still did not react. It seemed that¡­ the problem of the map hack from Gawain Cecil of seven hundred years past had no conclusive answer. Chapter 50 Chapter 50: The Main Party Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios After some more tests, Gawain thought that no further verification would be needed. Reba could not establish the link through the crystal. He then asked Amber to try it, and the results were the same. It seemed that besides himself, even if others were to make contact with the crystal, they would not be able to establish a link with the mysterious monitoring station high above. Then why did Gawain Cecil leave behind this crystal seven hundred years ago? Gawain thought that there could only be two possible answers. Either Gawain Cecil, who lived seven hundred years ago, was special and had special ways to use these crystals, or¡­ these crystals were not used by Gawain Cecil himself, but was left for his use seven hundred yearster¡­ The second answer was particrly hair-raising. ¡°Lord Ancestor¡­¡± Reba looked at the ancestor before her anxiously. After fumbling through the test, even though she did not know the purpose of the test, she could clearly tell that she failed it, and she was afraid that she might have been a disappointment to her ancestor again. ¡°Is it because I have no talent in this, so¡­¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not because of you. Amber tried it too just now, right?¡± Gawain suppressed the countless thoughts in his mind as he consoled the girl. ¡°This crystal is not meant for the ordinary person to use. I just had a whim to let you test it. Oh yeah, tell me about the results of your reconnaissance out there.¡± Upon the mention of this, Reba immediately lightened up. ¡°Yes, I was going to tell you this just now! Lord Ancestor, did you already know that thend has been cleansed from the start? I went to the area where you pointed out and found that thend was unpolluted, and the terrain was open and level, and there is easy ess to water. The farmers, who also came along, said that this is the most suitablend to be opened up¡­¡± Gawain was not surprised by such an answer. He was certainly aware of the situation here. At least a decade ago, the pollution in this area had already subsided. It was just that no one in the kingdom knew about it. It was unclear when exactly the effects of the Dark Wave subsided within the Dark Range, but it was still a contaminated area a hundred years ago. A record left by Cecil n¡¯s pioneers before it declined was proof of this. It was because of the pollution of Dark Wave at that time that the treasure house in the mountain was left intact to this day. Otherwise, the Moen family might have already retrieved those ancient assets. After Cecil n¡¯s great decline and the end of Moen¡¯s legacy, no one knew of the secret treasure in the mountain. And so the kingdompletely abandoned the southern borders that was so polluted and brought disasters every year. Thus no one knew about the effects subsiding. After all, the ¡°dirty wind¡± would still pass through the Dark Range regrly every year. Even if the pollution in thend had subsided, there were still toxic storms, so this was still not a goodnd to be developed. Gawain could only confirm one thing: Based upon the aerial view in his mind, there was already no more pollution here since a decade ago. The closest territory here was the Leslie n¡¯s Tanzan Town. ording to Anzuw, all noble ns on the southern border had the responsibility of monitoring Gondor¡¯s polluted region, so Gawain surmised that Viscount Andrew should probably know something about the Dark Wave¡¯s effect subsiding. But for this traditional noble who relied on mining and spending his days infort, this piece ofnd, which had temporarily stabilized, was still probably not worth investing in. In addition, the trend of pioneering had already cooled off in this era, so the viscount probably did not send anyone to check up on the situation here¡­ Gawain nodded and looked at Reba, ¡°At present, the only confirmed safe areas are those that I have drawn out. The pollution in areas farther out should also have waned off, but we¡¯ll have to do that when the main body arrives so we can carefully monitor the area. Stay put for the moment.¡± The clear aerial view in his mind was an image from a decade ago. The polluted area should have shrunk further in this decade, but as to how much it shrunk exactly¡­ Seeing as the satellite view had be a ¡°magical power imaging view¡± which could not be adjusted, Gawain could not be sure about the extent of its shrinkage, thus he could only go with this n. As time passed, due to Herti¡¯s efforts in promoting and the people adapting, the new work system had finallye to fruition. The workers were beginning to realize that working meant better rations, and the ¡°smart alecs¡± who tried to cheat and evade their responsibilities learned that what was more painful than having a vegetable stew while watching others eat meat was to go hungry while they watched others have vegetable stew. From Gawain¡¯s perspective, those clumsy tricks of ying the system were not very smart, and the punishment he formted would not go soft on these people. This concerned the future survival of everyone, so he could not be lenient with them. With the new system taking effect, the construction of the outpost camp was beingpleted at an astonishing speed and preparations were made for the arrival of the iing main party. ording to Gawain¡¯s n, the fence around the camp was expanded hundreds of meters to the south and east respectively. Arge area of open space was reserved for the iing 700 people for their tents to be set up, the sheds for carpenters, stonemasons, cksmiths, and also for storing materials. He also ordered the construction of a small temporary pier made of wood at the campsite facing the river bank, and a sawmill nearby to process the wood arriving down the stream from the forest logging site at the west side. Of course, the pier and sawmill currently only existed as a drawing. With a hundred men, manpower was really quite limited. Even with Herti¡¯s magic to assist, it was a stretch for them to finish constructing the camp. In this moment, Gawain really wished that Reba was able to cast something beside fireballs¡­ Standing on the high ground by the river bank, Gawain looked at arge makeshift house beingpleted in the distance. That was one of the few houses in the camp that could be considered a ¡°house¡±, and it was a veryrge building. The house, together with therge open space around it, would be used as temporary smithy. Although there were many smelted and forged metal ingots, it was difficult to use them in the construction of the camp. Most of them were Mithril, Adamantium, purple copper, and purple steel. Even if Gawain was that generous, he would not melt them to be used as nails, would he? Surveying of the iron ore mine in the east wasrgelypleted. Although it was not yet time to excavate the mine, it was still possible to retrieve some ores for inspection. Now that the first batch of ores had been dug out, when the cksmiths finished setting up their furnace, the Cecil territory would then enter its Iron Age¡­ How worrying. As he mulled over the impending Dark Wave and the mysterious monitoring station in the sky, then looked at this slowly developing camp, Gawain could not help but shake his head and sigh. Amber, whose hand was shading her eyes as she was watching something, noticed Gawain¡¯s behavior, frowned, and looked at him. ¡°Why are you sighing? Can¡¯t I take a break here?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t always make me out to be such a bad guy.¡± Gawain looked at her helplessly. ¡°When did I ever really exploit you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fun to argue with you!¡± Amber gave a bold face with conviction. ¡°This is my first time seeing a noble that can argue with people yet not get angry. How fresh!¡± Gawain tilted his head, ignoring her. But Amber did not intend to give up. ¡°Hey hey, I¡¯m not finished yet. Why are you sighing?¡± ¡°It¡¯s too slow.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s really too slow.¡± Amber¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You¡¯re talking about how fast they¡¯re working? You call this slow?!¡± Then she gestured exaggeratedly with waving arms. ¡°Do you have a heart! These people are the fastest working serfs andmoners I have ever seen in my life! Yesterday they took less than a day¡¯s time toplete the additional fence wall, and today, they started to build the smithy. This speed is crazy, alright?¡± Then she murmured, ¡°When I saw you give them meat to eat and forbade whipping as punishment, I thought you were a good person¡­¡± Gawain nced at her. ¡°I am a good person. I don¡¯t me these people for not doing their best. I¡¯m not blind. I can see that they are not goofing off. But on the whole¡­ It¡¯s a fact that the construction of the camp is not fast enough to keep up with my ns.¡± ¡°Your n is unrealistic.¡± Amber pouted and gave Gawain a skeptical look. ¡°Speaking of which, I thought there was something off¡­ You¡¯ve looked a little weird these past two days, as though you have a lot on your mind. You even drew so many weird things on paper. This morning, the camp had just set up its boundaries, and you were even starting to consider building a barbican¡­ Why are you so panicky for? ¡± Gawain did not even look back at her. ¡°I¡¯m panicky about the end of the world, about the sky falling, about visitors from outer space, alright?¡± ¡°You just don¡¯t want to admit it. Tch. But I can see. You are panicking.¡± Amber had her arms akimbo. ¡°Let me think back to when this started¡­ Ah, oh yeah, it was when the red spots appeared on the sun! Ever since then you¡¯ve been ill at ease¡­¡± Gawain was really a little surprised this time. He looked up and down Amber a few times. ¡°Do you always watch me when you have nothing to do?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not so idle.¡± Amber stood with arms akimbo. ¡°But the problem is that you won¡¯t be able to hide this from the others, okay? In fact, both of your great-granddaughters of the nth generation after you have also noticed this. It¡¯s just that they don¡¯t dare to ask you¡­¡± Gawain was a little surprised. ¡°Really? Is it that obvious?¡± After a brief moment of stupefaction, he could not help but start to reflect on the recent change in his attitude and how he could make adjustments. Amber held her chin for a while and suddenly raised a question, ¡°What did you mean by visitors from outer space?¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± Why was this punk¡¯s response time as random as the Brownian motion? From her reaction just now, it seemed as though the word did not catch her attention¡­ Just then, a small figure suddenly appeared within Gawain¡¯s field of sight. Betty, who wore a rough, in dress, looked pensive as she ran towards them. The little girl went up to Gawain, caught her breath, and batted herrge eyes as she said impetuously, ¡°Madam Herti asked you to go over.¡± ¡°What does she want?¡± Betty thought for a moment. ¡°I forgot!¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± At this moment, Amber suddenly noticed that Betty¡¯s hands were empty, and she could not help but ask curiously, ¡°Where¡¯s your precious pan?¡± Betty looked up and answered with a serious face, ¡°Miss Reba said this is our new home. Since I¡¯m home, I put the pan in the kitchen.¡± When she was out with everyone, she was responsible for carrying cooking utensils, and when she was at home, she had to put things back in the kitchen. This was what Madam Hansen had taught her. Gawain already knew why Herti was looking for him. He had already seen the people appearing from the far west. The second group of people¡­ was finally here. Chapter 51 - Ores Arrived Chapter 51: Ores Arrived Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The second batch of people, who stayed in Tanzan Town, finally arrived. This was undoubtedly good news for Gawain. That meant that they at least had more manpower, that he could finish construction of the pier and the sawmill, that he could consider officially opening the mines in the east, and that he could finally develop this camp into a ¡°territory¡±. Though even with the second batch of people, the developing territory had only a small poption of over 800 people, butpared to the first group of only 100 people, this was already an incredible improvement. Knight Philip led several soldiers and a dozen militiamen who remained in Tanzan Town inpleting the escort mission. Herti weed the young and promising Knight. The arrival of Knight Philip and those soldiers made up for a deficiency that was bigger than their manpower shortage, which was their defense force. Although there were no signs of monsters or things like that, living in the wilderness made people feel unsafe. Those fences and magic traps could only alleviate this sense of insecurity, but only fully armed soldiers doing patrols could give the people theplete peace of mind. As for Knight Philip, what shocked him was howrge andplete the camp was. They had actually made so much progress over such arge area? The carpenter¡¯s sheds were already built? And they were even beginning to build a smithy?! The young knight was almost dumbstruck as he entered the camp, staring nkly at the sturdy and aestheticrge tents and several wooden houses that had been built. He also saw those serfs and freemen who were working in the open field. Thetter were busy making basic dried and smoked wood into nks, and further processed these nks into various tools and building materials. This was his first time seeing people working like this. Theborers, who used to need whipping, were working in groups. As one of them gave instructions and coordinated, they were working as seamlessly as hands and feet. If the usual circumstance when they were told to work together was them covering each other¡¯s a*s for goofing off, then this situation was theplete opposite of that. And where was the supervisor who should be standing at one side with his whip? Philip looked around and found that the supervisors, who were the n¡¯s warriors and were chosen because they were slightly more literate, were on the edge of the open field. But they were only walking around to check on the progress of the work. They did not have whips in their hands, but only a wooden board for recording things. ¡°Amazing, right?¡± Herti¡¯s voice woke the young knight from his stupefaction. ¡°I never expected these simple measures could make them so diligent. Even the serfs started to take initiatives to learn how to do the work they are not good at.¡± ¡°Measures?¡± Knight Philip said, surprised. ¡°What measures?¡± ¡°Ancestor came up with a set of new rules for work¡­¡± Knight Philip¡¯s eyes gleamed before Herti could finish saying. ¡°Ah, he must have influenced thezy serfs and civilians with the old knights¡¯ sense of honor and virtue¡­¡± ¡°No, he gave them meat.¡± Herti smiled, her eyes forming crescents. ¡°It¡¯s very simple. They¡¯ll have meat if they work more.¡± As she said this, shemented about how she had used to try this simple method of using rewards to stimte work efficiency. But it usually only worked in the beginning. Those serfs would quickly find lots of ways to ck off and cheat to get the food. But with the addition ofpetition, precise records, strict implementation, and the so-called ¡°team mindset¡±, everything turned out so differently. It was really incredible. She also learned for the first time that serfs and civilians were not born to be dumb andzy. Gawain appeared not far away. Herti and Philip immediately went up to greet him. Gawain waved and stopped their salutations. He nodded to Herti first before looking at the young knight. ¡°Good work. The people are all here. Let the soldiers and the people take a break first. After lunch, all the workers will gather in the open area in the center of the camp. Herti will tell them the rules of working here. Soldiers, including the militia, will gather at the west side of the camp. Knight Byron will be giving out some new gear.¡± Then he looked at Herti. ¡°You don¡¯t have to sort the neers into their teams on the first day. The new rules will be too much for them to remember all at once.¡± Herti nodded. Knight Philip was a little confused. ¡°New gear? What new gear?¡± Gawain looked at him, giving a mysterious smile. ¡°Good stuff definitely.¡± After seeing the new equipment, Knight Philip was definitely amazed. He never expected ¡°good stuff¡± to be this good. He thought that they would at most just be getting a batch of new swords and armor, or at the very most have everyone issued with a crossbow, but who would have thought that they would be getting a full set of ¡°super gear¡±?! Enchanted swords, enchanted armor, and the crystals used by the army back in the ancient empire! Those longswords enchanted with ¡°sharpness¡± flickered with cold, white light. The hauberks, carved with ¡°elemental resistance seals¡± and ¡°lightness¡± gave a faint gray luster under the sunlight. The ill-educated soldiers had probably never seen how enchanted weapons looked like, but when they realized what they were, they were all unusually excitedly. What even astounded Knight Philip was that even the militiamen were given a set each¡­ Did these things not cost anything? ¡°They¡¯re all old antiques. They will degrade the longer we keep it, so we don¡¯t have to hide it and might as well use it to increase ourbat ability,¡± Gawainughed, ¡°To be honest, there could have been even more of these, but some of them were either spoiled and could not be used anymore or that they had lost all the contained magical power, which is quite a pity.¡± ¡°Super gear¡­ They¡¯re all very valuable,¡± Knight Philip was even stuttering as he said, ¡°These things¡­ there were hardly any of these enchanted items in the whole of Cecil territory! ¡± Amber was holding her arms as she stood at one side. ¡°That naive, excited look of yours¡­ He is 700 years old. What¡¯s so strange about him having a secret stash of money? Whose grandfather wouldn¡¯t stash some silver coins under his bed¡­ Ah ah, it hurts!¡± Gawain grabbed Amber¡¯s ears as he dragged her aside. She was making threatening gestures as she shouted, ¡°Let go! Let go! Haven¡¯t you heard that an elf¡¯s ears are super sensitive! Let go of me!¡± So this disgrace to the elves remembered her half-elf bloodline, huh? Knight Philip looked at Amber, who was being taken away, with a serious and proud countenance. ¡°Our n believes in the god of warriors and knights, Kehr. We never keep things for ourselves!¡± Gawain was quite surprised as he looked at the young man, thinking that it was no wonder he so scrupulously abided by the knight¡¯s creed, that even whenpared against his peers, he seemed so pedantic and rigid. So he was a believer all along¡­ much better than a certain someone who believed in the Goddess of the Night and always had to spin up some prayers. ¡°With these things¡­ even if we were to face the ¡®aberration¡¯ again, it¡¯ll be much easier this time.¡± Knight Philip was still sighing over the new equipment. Then he said suddenly, ¡°Oh yeah, we can give the blueprint to the craftsmen in Tanzan Town, even if it¡¯s more expensive¡­ ¡± ¡°There is no way to reproduce it.¡± Gawain expected Knight Philip to bring this up. In fact, that would be how any typical soldier would think upon seeing these equipment. They would want to mass produce these ancient treasures. Knight Byron was no exception, but unfortunately they were destined to receive disappointing answers. ¡°These things are based upon the ancient Gondor Empire¡¯s magical knowledge, and they require the purified magical power from the Well of Deep Blue. Magic power produced by modern magic focal points or magical power wells are too impure and too low in energy level to drive these things.¡± Knight Philip¡¯s jaw opened as he immediately realized what it meant. ¡°In other words, these things¡­¡± ¡°Every time you expend one, you won¡¯t be able to rece it. Even as long as the magical power is exhausted, they will be ordinary equipment because they can no longer be recharged. And because they have been rusted and corroded to varying degrees, they might even perform worse than the typical equipment nowadays. They would have to be brought back to the furnace.¡± The young knight looked worried. ¡°What should we do then?¡± ¡°Before we get to that stage, we just need to make good gears ourselves.¡± Gawain smiled and patted his shoulders with a confident look. Regardless of whether he could really do it or not, he had to smile as though he was a knight that was very confident of the future. Besides, Gawain was really quite confident. As long as the Dark Wave did not break out of nowhere, there was still room to maneuver. Just then, from the corner of his eye, he saw another small figure running towards him. It was Betty, the maid, who ran up to him again. She looked up at Gawain and said impetuously, ¡°Lord! Miss Reba is looking for you!¡± Gawain gave a nk expression. ¡°What matter is it now?¡± Betty thought carefully for a moment and said aloud, ¡°I forgot!¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± Why couldn¡¯t this girl remember anything besides cooking? Gawain shook his head and thought it was already a constion that the little girl could remember who she was supposed to call, and that he should not demand too much of her. He asked her where Reba was and went there with Amber. At least Betty did not forget where Reba was waiting for them¡­ It was not until they reached the location that he realized what Reba called him for¡ª¡ª The first batch of ores for testing had been transported from the iron mine east of the camp. The first advance party included a cksmith and several apprentices, as well as the basic materials needed to build the smithy. But ensuring survival was of top priority in the beginning phase of camp construction, so Gawain slowed down the mining n for the eastern mine. Until the advance team¡¯s living spaces were settled, he then sent people to the east to collect some ore for testing. These people set off in the morning and finally returned to the camp with some collected ores. Chapter 52 - A World with Magic Chapter 52: A World with Magic Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Even though the smithy was already under construction, it was still far frompletion. ording to Gawain¡¯s n, this wooden house was not actually the same thing as the ¡°smithy¡± that people were familiar with in this world. It was just that he wanted to make it easy for everyone to understand that he called this ce a smithy for the time being. ording to him, he was going to name the ce ¡°Cecil Steel Works¡±¡­ As the only cksmith in the territory, old Hummel was also quite confused about the ¡°smithy¡± that the Grand Duke ordered to construct. He thought that this building was taking up too much unnecessary space. Besides the unusuallyrge area, it also included an open space with a length of a hundred meters and a wooden shed that was currently made up of a few frames. It seemed inappropriate to call such arge facility a ¡°smithy¡±, but he did not dare to call out the pioneer Grand Duke as ayman acting as though he was an expert as he ordered people around. Even though that was really how he thought about him, he absolutely did not dare to speak up about it. After all, he was just amoner, and Gawain was a noble who could be on equal footing with the King. As this ¡°smithy¡± took up such arge area, it could only be located at the eastern edge of the camp, and its rge courtyard¡± extended all the way to the undevelopednd outside. It was as if a lump had protruded out of the neat wooden fences, looking veryical. In this giant smithy, the guys who had came from Tanzan Town seemed pathetic in numbers when they would only upy a corner of the wooden house, and the only furnace for smelting iron was ced in the open space outside, covered with a simple wooden shed to be protected against the elements. The reason that Gawain made the smithy¡¯s reservednd sorge and close to the edge of the territory was just because he was taking into ount the production capacity requirements and the ease of expansion in the future. Those traditional smithies, with one master leading several apprentices to tinker with iron in a small shed with a furnace was absolutely far from what he needed. But there was no way he would be able to exin everything to the old cksmith and his dumb apprentices now. In addition to the considerations of future capacity and ease of expansion, Gawain did not intend to simply build a bunch of earthen st furnaces in this courtyard like a transmigrator he had read about in a novel. Although he did think of doing that, after seeing Herti use her magical power to shore up the rafts a few days ago and help the camp strengthen its foundation, he temporarily withheld this idea, and turned to Hummel, the only cksmith in the territory, to build a traditional furnace in the courtyard. He came to the smithy, where Reba was already waiting for him with Hummel and several of his apprentices. There were also several other people, stood in the courtyard and at their feet was arge basket containing the first batch of ores. Gawain went straight to the traditional furnace. It appeared to be quite an awkward furnace. It was about one meter in height, and it was divided into an upper and lower part. The lower part was an erged hemispherical structure, while the upper part quickly tapered into a cylindrical shape. On the bottom hemispherical structure, there were two openings. One was located at the bottom, which was obviously the ce to add fuel, and the other was near the cylindrical structure, which was where the ores would probably be fed into. There was nothing unusual with these parts. It was just an ordinary furnace, but the part that was special was at the side. There were three runes lined up there. All three runes were carved on a type of ck stone b, and the three bs were apparently carefully polished and adjusted before being set on the furnace to ensure that they were equally spaced apart and the edges parallel. The lowest stone was engraved with a triangle symbol, and there was a wavy line within the symbol. ording to the magic books, It was the starting character that represented the fire element. The stone in the middle was a square with a rhombus inside, which was the starting character of the earth element; the stone at the top had a swirling symbol, which was rted to the wind element, but it was not the starting character. In addition to these three stone bs, there were also some fine, glittering dust which made up the furnace body. Gawain knew what it was. It was quartz sand. ¡°This world¡¯s¡± quartz sand. Quartz sand was a material which could conduct magic. Although its effect was extremely weak, it was widely used because it was cheap enough to be used by ordinary people. Gawain looked up at the old cksmith. ¡°You made this furnace?¡± ¡°Yes, yes Lord¡­¡± Hearing the Lord asking him a question, the old cksmith immediately grasped the hat in his hand and hurriedly bowed down and answered, ¡°Oh, I made half of it. I instructed my apprentices to make the other half¡­¡± Gawain nodded, but he had no further questions. Magic was an extraordinary power. It was not something that the lowly peasants could ess, but in this world full of magical power, even civilians who could not cast spells lived their lives with magic. Some basic uses of magical power did not require mastery of the knowledge and skill of casting spells. Everyone had magical power in them. By carving a specific symbol upon a specific material of a specific shape, anybody could draw out a little of that ubiquitous, fantastic power. This was not spell casting at all. Its effect was ridiculously weak in the eyes of those who could use the real ¡°supernatural¡± power. This type of power was like picking a stick on the ground to use as a crutch, or grabbing a stone from anywhere to smash walnuts. There was no skill involved. Even illiterate civilians could remember how to draw a few symbols with weak effects, but it was this weak power that made the difference between this world and the world that Gawain was familiar with. It was just like the one degree Celsius that made the difference between water boiling and not boiling. With these three runes, this ¡°traditional furnace¡± only needed to use firewood as fuel. and it would be able to produce molten iron without using a bellow and without optimizing the structure of thebustion chamber. If the fire elemental runes were engraved on a piece of Mithril, this furnace could even use straw as fuel! However, because of the existence of these ancient runes, the humans in this world had not even considered how to improve the efficiency of the furnace by improving the efficiency of fuelbustion. They were only constantly improving the materials which the runes would be carved on and the rune formation. So Gawain did not build any earthen st furnaces, but he first came to observe this primitive and backward traditional furnace. Hummel was bing more and more nervous as he watched the noble in front of him. He had no idea why Gawain would suddenly ask him a question and then move on to examine the furnace. He did not know if he might have done something wrong. He only knew that the nobles were powerful and moody. Even though Lady Reba and the lords before her were kind and generous, this person before him was the legendary pioneer hero, an absolute warrior, and a Grand Duke. What kind of personality would such a great noble have? Just when the old cksmith was feeling uneasy, Gawain finally stood up and asked him a second question, ¡°How much iron can you produce every day with such a furnace given a guaranteed sufficient supply of ores?¡± Hummel immediately heaved a breath of relief. He finally asked a normal question. ¡°If you use those kind of ores, you can make fifty jins of iron a day,¡± The old cksmith said proudly. But Gawain could not help but frown when he heard the answer. ¡°So little?¡± With those runes, the output was only this much? ¡°That¡¯s not enough?¡± Hummel could not help but say, and he added nervously, ¡°I¡¯m not questioning Lord¡¯s judgment, but¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. You don¡¯t have to feel nervous talking to me.¡± Gawain calmed the old master. ¡°I¡¯m your Lord and am tasked with protecting you, not a robber who wants to kill you.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ Yes Lord,¡± Hummel wiped his sweat nervously and exined, ¡°But this is really the limit. The furnace looks big outside, but the space inside is actually quite limited, and every time after smelting one batch, we must allow it to rest for an hour so that the runes outside the furnace can cool down. So the furnace must be cooled before it is reignited again¡­ With that, making fifty jins per day is already the maximum limit! ¡± ¡°Let the runes cool?¡± Gawain frowned. ¡°Yes,¡± Hummel exined, ¡°This is just a little trick that our people have carved on ck stones. It¡¯s nothing like those magic runes that the great mages use. It¡¯s easy to spoil, especially the fire runes. If ites into contact with fire elements for a long period of time, it will crack. Even if it is reced with a more sturdy material, it still won¡¯t be useful. Once the rune is cracked, the whole furnace will be useless. So the furnace must not be burned continuously when smelting iron¡­¡± ¡°What if you make the furnace bigger?¡± Gawain asked again. ¡°That won¡¯t work either,¡± Hummel said worryingly, wondering how the Grand Duke kept asking these difficult questions. ¡°The rune can only provide so much fire. If the furnace besrger, the fire would not be strong enough, and the molten iron would not be refined from the ores, and the earth runes will also fail. There will be more impurities in the refined iron ingot, which will make itpletely unusable¡­¡± Gawain held his chin. ¡°So it is these runes that are limiting the production?¡± The old cksmith batted his eyes. Actually, he did not quite understand what limiting the production meant, but he still nodded quickly. ¡°Yes, yes, it¡¯s the runes.¡± Gawain looked at Reba. ¡°Do you think if you change the runes to¡­ Um, I think you should just summon Herti¡­¡± Reba¡¯s face instantly flushed red. ¡°Lord Ancestor, I know the theory of magic too! I just can¡¯t make the spell moulds¡­¡± ¡°Your theoretical knowledge is still okay?¡± Gawain raised his eyebrow. ¡°Then how do you think this problem should be solved?¡± Reba thought hard for awhile. ¡°Since you just said the runes are the weak point, we can rece the runes?¡± ¡°With what?¡± Reba continued to use her brains. ¡°Actually the way these runes function is very simple. They are just raising the temperature, controlling the air flow, impurities and the like. These are the types that are very weak. If you use real magic circles instead, the efficiency can be increased by several times. It can also dissipate the energy by itself, so even with continuous operation, it would not be damaged¡­¡± Gawain raised his brow. ¡°Carve a magic circle on each iron furnace?¡± ¡°But it won¡¯t work in practice,¡± Reba stuck out her tongue. ¡°Aunt Herti and I can help to carve a few magic circles, but¡­ the cksmith and his apprentices won¡¯t be able to use them!¡± Chapter 53 - The Magic Web Chapter 53: The Magic Web Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The reason why Reba said that it ¡°could not be used¡± was simple. Ordinary people did not have the capability to power the magic circle or control it at will. The professional magic circles made by mages were vastly different from the simple symbols carved on rocks by themoners. Thetter was like using a wooden stick found on the streets as a walking stick while the former was like using skills to make a wheelchair out of the same stick. The difference was in the starting material and products. Although the power of the symbols on the rocks was weak, they could work continuously without external aid, however, the magic circle¡­ was something moreplicated. Running only required two legs but if one wished to reach 70 miles per hour, the bare minimum was to buy a car, pump petrol into the car then get a driving license. It worked the same for magic circles, because even the simplest array needed to be powered and required professional people who knew how to activate and shut it down. Herti and Reba did not mind the task and could go to the smithy to carve simple magic circles on every furnace. However, they could not stay there for the entire day to power the furnaces every single time a new batch of resource came in and control the flow of energy in the arrays either. ¡°If you want to carve the magic circles on the furnaces, there will be a limit to its efficiency. Even with Aunt Herti¡¯s power, the most she could do was power grade-two magic circles.¡± Reba exined with a serious face and she tried to appear professional. ¡°In addition, it was impossible for such a small magic circle to power itself. For an array to be able to take in magical power drifting in the air, it needs to be at least as big as a tent, hence someone has to power the arrays in the furnace. Even the simplest array needs to be activated or shut down but ordinary people cannot do it¡­¡± From Gawain Cecil¡¯s memory, Gawain knew that there were some veryplicated theories behind how magic circles operated. Even without taking the confusing technical knowledge into ount, they could be generally ssified in the following ways: In terms of scale, they could be ssified into: small, medium,rge and mega size. The smallest magic circle could be carved onto armour or weapons. The tworgest magic circles in the world were located in the north at the City of Thousand Towers in the Violet Kingdom and in the south at the ¡°Stars Sacred Temple¡± built by the elves respectively. The two magic circles were the base of the city and they were outlined using the roads in the city. The scale of the two arrays was so huge that it was intimidating. In terms of theplexity of its functions, arrays could be ssified into single or multifunctional arrays. In terms of ways to power arrays, there were self-powered or externally-powered arrays. The self-powered arrays haveplicated ¡°absorption¡± structures which allow them to take in the drifting magical power from the outside world to power themselves. However, other than at magic focal points, the quantity of natural magical power was quite limited. Therefore, all the self-powered arrays were extremely huge in size and all small scale arrays needed to be powered by external forces. In addition, in this world, self-powered arrays were hardly used because of their low efficiency. Theponent that controlled the intake of a self-powered array usually took up 80% of the total area but the efficiency was less than a branch of a magic focal point. The mages could have squeezed a fewplex written charms into the same area, therefore, considering the efficiency, mages would rather power the arrays by themselves and not choose a massive self-powered array. That was why allrge scale magic circles were located near magic focal points: it was more convenient to power the arrays. Gawain touched his chin and watched the furnace in front of him. Then he asked two questions. ¡°Must you carve the symbols on the furnaces in order to power them?¡± ¡°Must you put all the functions into one magic circle?¡± Reba was stunned and blinked in confusion. ¡°Otherwise, what do I do?¡± Gawain faintly felt that he grasped the heart of the question: the people in this world seemed to use their magical power by brute forcing their way or simply focused on how it could be used on individual tasks. They never considered how to use this ¡°superpower¡± in more extensive and quite frankly simpler ways. ¡°Draw a massive self-powered array and let it take in the magical power in the environment, then create an ¡°outlet¡± in this array so that it could power smaller arrays. This will solve the problem of powering the arrays. As for activating and shutting down the array¡­ you can control the connection between the furnace and the self-powered array, when the connection is cut off, the smaller arrays would stop working while therger array could release the magical power naturally without having to worry that it would overflow and burst¡­¡± Reba understood Gawain¡¯s idea using her own way of thinking. ¡°Do we split up the magic circle and use it by parts? We can actually do this?¡± ¡°This is a possible idea.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°I feel that we can discuss this further with Herti after all, she¡¯s the expert.¡± Reba agreed. Although Aunt Herti¡¯s spell uracy was low and she could only sketch a person¡¯s silhouette, in terms of theoretical knowledge, she was probably better than an intermediate mage! Therefore, Gawain brought his men and left the ce quickly. Their rapid departure left the old cksmith, Hummel and his apprentices and workers gazing at each other nkly. ¡°Master, what do we do next¡­ do we still turn on the furnace?¡± An apprentice asked carefully, he did not dare to breathe in front of the Grand Duke and Viscount Reba but now that they had left, he finally had the courage to speak. The cksmith red at the apprentice and yelled, ¡°Nonsense! Of course we have to turn it on! Don¡¯t think of skiving, whether we get to eat meat tonight depends on this furnace!¡± On the other side, Gawain had sent Amber to ask Herti toe to his tent. However, this elegantdy shook her head after listening to his idea. ¡°It is a good idea to power an array using another one but it would be too difficult to execute the n¡­ the output of magical power requires great precision, once some problem happens to the ¡°connection¡±, both arrays would be destroyed. The efficiency of the self-powered array is a big problem. The power supplied by an array with the size of the garden in the smithy would be insufficient for even a few magical furnaces¡­¡± Gawain looked at Herti and he obviously knew that she had such doubts. Therefore, he had the solutions ready. He smiled and he realised that he finally found the right path they should take after he thought more deeply about the question. Therefore, he pushed the pile of drawings on the table to one side and spread out an exceptionally big piece of paper filled with symbols and lines on the table. He hadpleted those drawings a few days ago but he only realised the use of it until today. ¡°Take a look at this.¡± Said Gawain. Herti looked at the magical symbols on the table in shock and her first reaction was to be impressed by how talented and knowledgeable her ancestor was. ¡°Ancestor¡­ you even know how to draw magic circles?!¡± ¡°I only know a little and I did not create this magic circle.¡± Gawain deliberately kept her guessing and continued, ¡°Take a look first and tell me your thoughts.¡± Herti lowered her head and analysed every symbol and pattern between the different symbols carefully. She started frowning and said, ¡°All of these are the most basic symbols¡­ the arrangements andbinations are the most fundamental ones as well, it seems like it is at most a grade-two array?¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°The person who left this magic circle before could only control grade-two magic circles.¡± Herti looked at him in shock, she lowered her head again to look at the drawings again and could not help but feel impressed. ¡°All the designs arepleted using the most basic symbols¡­ creating such arge scale magic circle using the most basic symbols¡­ this is an incredible creation¡­ it seems like a structure which can absorb the drifting magical power in the air? Then what is the point of these extra andplicated structures¡­¡± Gawain pointed to the repetitive structures at the centre and said, ¡°Expand.¡± ¡°Expand?¡± Herti widened her eyes and came to a sudden realization. ¡°That¡¯s right! You can expand it in this way¡­ furthermore, the structure here can purify the drifting magical power¡­ in this way, these fundamental symbols can absorb the drifting magical power more efficiently, this is really¡­ really¡­¡± Herti kept repeating the word ¡°really¡± because she could not find a more suitable word to describe the feeling which this magic circle had given her. Gawain seemed to know what she wanted to say and he said, ¡°Really hard working, right? It¡¯s like a crippled man travelling across the whole world with a walking stick and a defenseless man carving poems onto rocks using a wooden stick. This has transcended the limits of hardwork. It is a miraculous array made up of grade-two symbols and it can impress even an archmage.¡± ¡°Those archmages probably won¡¯t be impressed, they would not even bother to look at it.¡± Herti bitterly smiled and shook her head. ¡°Although this array is very creative, it is still crafted using grade-two symbols. No matter how efficient it is, it would never be as great as the power which the archmages could supply to the arrays¡­¡± ¡°However, it was an original model which could be improved constantly. It only has grade-two symbols, what if you make use of this thought process and change the grade-two symbols to grade-three ones? What if you change theplexity of thebination to grade-three? How much more efficient would it be then?¡± Gawain said as he pointed to a few special nodes. ¡°Other than the efficiency, look at theseponents which are even more crucial?¡± ¡°This¡­ seems to be a magical power passageway?¡± Herti frowned. ¡°I saw them just now but I did not see the corresponding power consumption unit, is it because the magic circle is iplete?¡± ¡°No, it does not have a power consumption unit and its only function is to supply magical power, that is to supply magical power to a weaker human. As a result of this, it was different from the internal connection points of other magic circles and the patibility¡¯ of these passageways is so high that it could connect to any power consumption unit.¡± Gawain said slowly. ¡°Now, can this magic circle supply energy to the cksmith store?¡± ¡°If all the symbols can work sessfully¡­ no, they definitely can work sessfully, they have reached the extreme of the theoretical calctions!¡± Herti became more excited gradually and she finally thought out of the box of a traditional mage and realized how incredible the array was. ¡°A highly efficient self-powered array which has a rtively wide range of ¡®frequencies¡¯ to transfer power out and it can even sustain the smithy, it could even¡­ supply power for more things!¡± She could not wait to ask, ¡°Ancestor, what is the name of this ingenious magic circle?¡± Gawain found a tattered notebook, ¡°I don¡¯t need to name it because it¡¯s creator has already named it.¡± He flipped open the notebook and on one of the pages was a short note. ¡°Annie, I have finallypleted the ¡®Magic Web¡¯ today. I hope that it¡¯ll bless you with great health.¡± Chapter 54 - The Rogue Mage’s Inheritance Chapter 54: The Rogue Mage¡¯s Inheritance Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios After she saw that tattered notebook. Herti finally understood the root of it all. ¡°Were these¡­ left behind by that rogue mage?¡± ¡°Yes. He was a novice mage who was stuck at grade two for his entire life and was discriminated against by the mainstream mages. However, his talent was beyond our imagination, if he had been born at any other time¡­¡± Gawain sighed as he looked at the notebook in his hands. ¡°I recently read some of his research notes and in my opinion, this notebook is worth at least half the title of a duke.¡± ¡°Ah?!¡± Herti cried out, dumbfounded. However, Gawain had not exaggerated at all. The truth was, from a technological development standpoint, the inheritance left by the nameless rogue mage would be more and more valuable as time passed by. Even though most of his research was still at its infancy, Gawain was very certain that when it came to many revolutionary ideas and thoughts, the foundations were the most important. Gawain ced the notebook on the table and looked up at Herti. ¡°His daughter, Annie, is likely to have suffered from the shadow-rted elemental assimtion disease, the rarest type out of the many magical diseases. As a mage, you should be familiar with this type of disease.¡± ¡°Elemental assimtion¡­ that is a unique disease from the Violet Kingdom. The chance of catching it is low, but it is incurable.¡± Herti nodded her head slightly. ¡°I guessed it when I saw the journal.¡± In this world where magic existed, there were many things that werepletely different from the world in Gawain¡¯s home. There were both pros and cons about this ce¡ª-elemental assimtion disease was one of the worst. These types of diseases which were caused by the invasion of magic, urred mostly in areas where magic was thick and the elements were active. During the era of the Gondor empire, they took ce in the Well of Deep Blue region of the capital. Even during the peak of the empire, it was considered as one of the diseases that were practically incurable. Now, in this era, it was the ¡°specialty¡± of the Violet Kingdom in the North. If superpowers were a gift from nature to humans, then the elemental assimtion disease that apanied it would be the evil in that gift. Elemental assimtion only appeared in newborns, it was a mutation caused by magical radiation while they were growing in their mother¡¯s womb. Children who had this disease could grow up normally in the beginning. However, as they grew older, signs of specific elemental invasion and assimtion would gradually emerge. The patient¡¯s body would undergo changes during this process and experience partial elemental assimtion, then as normal biological tissue started to undergo elemental assimtion, they would be rejected by the main physical world ¨C other than the very few groups of people who had special innate abilities, any biological elements would not be able to survive in the physical world for a long time. That was one of the fundamentalws of this world. This process would speed up as the condition worsened and it was irreversible. After more than half of a person¡¯s biological tissues had undergone elemental assimtion, he would be ¡®exiled¡¯ by the physical world and pushed into the elemental dimension which corresponded to the element of the elemental assimtion disease. The person would then die in the crack between the physical world and the elemental world¡ªthe remaining biological tissues in the patient would make this process abnormally terrifying, making them feel like they were being torn apart. The daughter of that rogue mage, Annie, probably had this disease, and it was the shadow type elemental assimtion: the rarest of all the elemental assimtion diseases. Mages and schrs had conducted a lot of research regarding the different elemental realms with the exception of the mysterious shadow realm, where research was difficult. ¡°There is no cure for elemental assimtion disease, it can only be slowed down and the best way to do it is to bind the patient¡¯s body using magical power. It¡¯s simr to how elemental summoners use magical shackles to force an elemental being to stay in the elemental world.¡± Even though Herti was just a novice mage, she was quite knowledgeable about the theories behind this disease. ¡°However, this is harder than binding an elemental being as elemental assimtion disease would worsen, hence there is a need to pump in more magical power throughout the whole process¡­¡± ¡°A grade two mage, especially one who is discriminated against by the Association of Mystics, would not have the power and money to afford such an expensive treatment.¡± Gawain nodded his head and continued, ¡°Hence, he used his own method: to build an unprecedentedly efficient self-recharging magical formation. He broke the rule that such arrays could only undergo inner looping and made it into an array that would ¡®charge¡¯ his daughter. He was pretty much at his wit¡¯s end, since the high level focal points had already been used and the lower level magic focal points scattered in the forest were unable to provide enough power. However, he used his own unique intellect to solve this problem.¡± ¡°However, the sudden surge of unusual magic destroyed his magical formation¡­¡± Herti suddenly remembered. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, wouldn¡¯t this self-recharging ¡®magic web¡¯ have a very huge w? It can¡¯t withstand surges of magic¡­¡± ¡°No, it was not a magic surge that destroyed the structure of the magical formation, it has veryplete safety precautions.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°When I witnessed the structure of the magical formation, I was sure that it was intact even until the end. ording to the diary of the rogue mage, the problem that ured at the end was not the magical array but the ¡®Shadow Transformation¡¯ ritual that he started. Magic binding can only slow down the process of elemental assimtion, but it cannot eradicate the root of the problem. At that time, Annie was already on the verge of losing control, hence the rogue mage conducted a very risky ritual that he was unable to control. In the end, he lost control of the magical power created by the magic web during the magic surge.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case¡­ I have no need to worry any further.¡± Herti nodded her head slowly before looking at the notebook left behind by that rogue mage with aplicated expression. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it, a downtrodden rogue mage was actually capable of doing such a thing¡­.Thisrge scale magical array pieced together using basic units is different from any other magical arrays that I know of. It basically abandoned all theplex and difficult structures, while bringing out¡­ simplicity to the extreme.¡± ¡°Please call it ¡®universality¡¯.¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°The job of setting up an experimental ¡®magic web¡¯ in the smithy will¡­¡± As he was talking, he began hesitating between Herti and Reba. A technical job like setting up a magical array would obviously be more suitable for Herti. However, Herti was already in charge of overseeing most of the construction work in the campsite. Although she was verypetent, there was still the job of building a magicboratory waiting for her. Gawain really did not wish to continue adding onto her burden. It should be okay to hand the job to Reba. Although she only knew how to release fireballs, setting up magical arrays was different from casting spells, especially for such self-charging magical arrays where she only needed to follow the blueprints and build them. This would only need a grasp on the theoretical knowledge as well asputing abilities, but how should he put this¡­ Everytime he looked at Reba, he could not help but look at her as if she was a doofus¡­ can she really do it? As though she could see Gawain¡¯s hesitance, Reba did not wait for Herti to speak before jumping up. ¡°Ancestor! Ancestor! Give it to me! Give it to me! I can do it! ¡°Are you sure?¡± Gawain gave her a deep look. ¡°The importance of this project is far greater than you can imagine. It can be said to be a foundation, the preface to many of my ns for the future¡­ Can you handle it?¡± Reba stopped jumping momentarily and thought about it seriously before looking at Gawain fearfully. ¡°Then¡­ if I spoil it, would you hit me?¡± ¡°¡­Forget it, Herti, it¡¯s better for you to do it¡­¡± Before he finished, Reba mustered up her courage and said with her head held high, ¡°But I still want to try!¡± Gawain looked at her interestingly. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°This magical array¡­ I think this magical array is very interesting, there are many areas which are¡­ very good, maybe I can¡­ can¡­¡±Reba started to stutter and could not continue from her ¡®can¡¯ even after a long time. Hence she decided to just be thick-skinned and continued, ¡°Even though I only know the fireball technique, my grasp of theory is very good! Myputational skills are great as well! Besides, Aunt Herti is so busytely and I haven¡¯t been doing anything other than assessing the soil quality and burning the wastnds. I think¡­¡± Looking at Reba¡¯s nervous expression, Gawain could not contain hisughter and looked towards Herti. ¡°Herti, what do you think?¡± ¡°Reba¡¯s theory andputational abilities are strong. Actually, if we don¡¯t consider casting spells, she has better innate abilities than me.¡± Herti looked at Reba with a slightly grudging expression. ¡°Of course, it would be better if she was slightly more mature.¡± ¡°I¡¯m definitely mature!¡± Reba puffed out her chest, but her eyes remained fixated on the blueprints that Gawain hadid out on the table, making Gawain curious. ¡°Are you very interested in this magical array?¡± Gawain could not help but ask. ¡°Yeah,¡± Reba scratched her head and continued, ¡°In fact, I thought about this a long time ago. If I could simplify thoseplex and difficult spells and make the casting of spells simpler, perhaps I could do more than just the fireball spell¡­ this array gave me a lot of inspiration!¡± Gawain stared at Reba suddenly, causing her to get goosebumps. However, after a few seconds, Gawain smiled. ¡°Great, you will handle this matter then.¡± Reba was exhrated. ¡°Really?!¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Gawain pulled out another piece of paper from beneath his table. It was a rough draft that he drew up for the ¡®smithy¡¯. ¡°Just follow this scale, and make sure that the whole courtyard is within the coverage of the ¡®magic web¡¯. Also, build the first batch of furnaces here at the same time. You can get the materials necessary for making the magical array from the treasury on the mountain, there are ready-made ones in there. Although the scale of this magical array isrge, it is a ¡®basic array¡¯. I believe that the ready-made mage metal and the quartz sand which Knight Philip brought back from the Tanzan Town stored in the treasury should be enough for you to use.¡± ¡°This is an experimental magic web, let¡¯s name it ¡®Magic Web 1¡¯.¡± Reba, who had been given a huge responsibility left happily while Herti went back to continue instructing the serfs andmoners who had just arrived at the campsite on the construction of tents, leaving only Gawain and Amber in the big tent. ¡°Why do you look so happy?¡± The half-elf youngdy asked as she sized up Gawain. ¡°You weren¡¯t even this happy when you took the document from that old king¡ª-Is flirting with your great-great-great¡­ great granddaughter so interesting?¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± Would it kill her to say something nice? Chapter 55 - Laying Foundations Chapter 55: Laying Foundations Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Amber¡¯s words had always ignited feelings between wanting to punch her and really wanting to punch her in other people. If this was any other day, Gawain would already have drawn his Sword of Pioneers and pinned her against the wall. This time however, he did not squabble with her. Because he was in high spirits right now. He was even in the mood to discuss a slightly more serious question with Amber. ¡°Do you know how invaluable this magic circle is?¡± ¡°How invaluable it is?¡± Amber blinked. To be fair, this half-elf miss was quite confident of her magical aplishments¡ªshe was so convinced of her ignorance on this subject that she was not ashamed to admit it. ¡°I can¡¯t even read the magic runes that have been used, so how would I know what their value is¡­¡± Gawain was not expecting her to be so frank and almost choked to death right in front of her. Luckily, he had lived in the Inte age in his past life, and had encountered even more ignorant people than her. Thus, he adjusted his state of mind quickly and said, ¡°Let me ask you in a different way then. What if everyone was able to use magic, or ¡®borrow¡¯ it? How valuable do you think this ability will be?¡± Amber was momentarily stunned. In disbelief, she only spoke after half a minute. ¡°So you mean¡­ the magic circles can change or transform everyone into a magician? Have you gone mad from looking at the sun for too long in thest couple of days?¡± Gawain ignored thetter part of her response even though she deserved to be punched for it. Instead, he shook his head good-humoredly and responded, ¡°They won¡¯t be able to turn everyone into a magic user, of course, but they¡¯d allow everyone to ess an extraordinary power. I¡¯m afraid that Herti hasn¡¯t realized the true significance of the magic circles. They aren¡¯t as simple as ¡®something a bad caster creates out of basic runes¡¯. Their significance lies in the three words, ¡®universality,monality, and essibility¡¯. In order for his daughter, who has no magical talent, to receive magic, the rogue mage drew up a magic circle that could provide a constant and adjustable output of magic. And before this¡­ no distinguished mage in the world had thought of a concept like this, because these mages had alwayspleted this process with their own hands.¡± Amber was unable to understand Gawain¡¯s train of thought. ¡°Isn¡¯t it more powerful to be able to control magic with your own, rather than borrow power from a huge magic circle like that rogue mage?¡± Gawain looked into Amber¡¯s eyes. ¡°A giant mountain ape is able to crush a brown bear¡¯s head with a p, but a human can only do the same thing with the aid of a warhammer. Who do you think is more powerful?¡± Amber uttered, ¡°¡­ Huh?¡± Gawain did not reply to Amber, who was in a state of shock and thought. Instead, he stood up and went towards the opening of the tent. The treasure left behind by the rogue mage not only included the magic circle, but also extensive research notes in his notebook. As an ¡°underachiever¡± who was extremely limited in his spellcasting ability, he had to make up his shorings with calctions and progressive ideas, which were detailed in his notebook. Gawain had been deeply surprised when he had first read it. He was in disbelief that they had been recorded by a person who had lived in the Middle Ages of ignorance and repression. Automatic operation,patible transmission interface, a control interface designed for ¡°dummies¡±, and even rune arrangements based on geometry, simplified rune forme¡­ If it had not been for the open-mindedness he learned from his other world, these ¡°uncivilized struggles¡± would have probably been swept into the trash as he adopted the views of the majority here. This was because any caster who reached a mid-level casting ability would actually be able to skip the stops recorded in the rogue mage¡¯s notebook directly as a result of various metamagic skills. These spellcasters would never have entertained the fantastic thought of ¡°allowing untalented magic users or the ungifted to gain the ability to control magic¡±. Those formidable mages who could single-handedly wave around big fires or lightning were perhaps deserving of fear, but to Gawain, it was only until an untalented rogue mage separated magic from being a ¡°gift¡± to a tool and liberated it from his own hands, that this mysterious and powerful skill became sublime, for it transformed from a fist into a weapon. It was a breakthrough akin to the first time humans tied a stone to a stick and killed beasts a few timesrger than themselves. What was unfortunate was that the humans of this world were still making warhammers after hundreds of thousands of years. Gawain felt like it was time he equipped a rocket booster onto this warhammer¡­ Aside from having to study how to construct the treasured magic circle with Reba Cecil, the process of clearing what would be the Cecil¡¯snd began when most of their manpower arrived on the third day. Food, clothing, shelter and transportation. No matter how many noble ns Gawain had that involved steam powered engines and rocket-propelled hammers, he had to first ensure that the stomachs of his people were filled. They had procured sufficient supplies of food in Tanzan Town, and the King had even promised to supply the territory with food and cloth for their first year. However, these were only for transitional usage, and long-term survival required self-sufficiency. Although it was not impossible to use resources from the mines to purchase grain from neighboring lords, Gawain, as a pioneer from China, had the samepulsion that most Chinese people had¡ª An obsessivepulsion with regards to avoiding food shortages. Till thend! Sow the crops! How dare he sleep before ten acres ofnd were tilled? How could he have the shame to dere that he had imed a territory without nting two vegetable gardens in the backyard? Since ancient times, there was only one standard to ensure expansion and permanency in a territory¡ªthat is, to create agriculturalnd! Of course, this thought was natural. However, in a world of extraordinary power, Gawain was well aware that he still had a lot to learn. There was a piece of simple logic to it¡ª after learning that it was possible for the human race in this world to make iron by burning straw with only the power of runes, who could guarantee that a pile of manure could surpass local primitive technology? What was more, in a situation where he was uncertain about the physics of this world, Gawain could not be certain that the memories and knowledge he gained from his time on Earth was also useful here. What if even the behavior of the microorganisms of this world was not even in ordance with his understanding of the basicws¡­ But whatever the intricacies, the basic idea of farming as an indication to settle was always a good one. Gawain walked over to where thend was being reimed. Everything here was still at their initial stages¡ªReba had taken some time to visit the day before and had shot fireballs amongst the weeds and shrubs in this wastnd, creating a perfectly charred piece ofnd. Today, the farmer serfs were digging deep into the soil, turning the rich ash into the ground as they removed the stones that were buried inside as well. Gawain was delighted to see the performance of his orders here. A wooden que was inserted into the ground of the vast wastnd every hundred paces, dividing the whole reimed area into many homogeneous plots. Theborers worked within the boundaries of their plots, while several other groups of people traversed across the plots in preparation to excavate ditches. On the edge of the reimednd, a temporary wooden shed had been set up, and this was where Herti and a few others stayed to keep track of work progress and also record the withdrawal and return of tools by the various groups of workers. Also, arge pot on a stove was in the wooden shed, and the reimants ate their lunch nearby. Theborers were no longer surprised by Gawain¡¯s appearances¡ªthis ¡°entric aristocratic Lord¡± was always hanging out in the noisy and rambling construction sites and even making it a point to talk to the mud-covered men. At first, this made many feel uneasy, but now¡­ Even though they were still anxious, their unease had faded tremendously especially after Gawain had instituted the two promises that ¡°all hardworkingborers will be fed¡± and ¡°exceptionally hard workers will have meat in their meals¡± that went into immediate effect. Since then, themoners and serfs on thend had put their trust in their trustworthy and famed Lord and became quite familiar with him. Gawain made his way through the busy fields to the wooden shed at the edge of the field. There, Herti was standing with a dark-skinned farmer and the two of them were discussing something seriously while Knight Philip was standing guard beside them. Gawain, who was almost two meters tall, had plenty of presence. As he approached, Herti looked up and stood. The farmer, whose back was to him, turned around as well. Upon seeing that it was his Lord, he bowed hurriedly. ¡°Your Lordship¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous.¡± Gawain waved a hand. ¡°I¡¯m only here to see what¡¯s going on.¡± He then turned curiously to the man who looked like a farmer, but had been discussing something with Herti. ¡°Are you a farming expert?¡± In thenguage of the Loren Continent, ¡°expert¡± and ¡°schr¡± were the same word. Upon hearing that Gawain had addressed him as such, he shook his hands nervously and fearfully, saying, ¡°I cannot bepared to great learned persons¡­ I am only a farmer¡­¡± ¡°His name is Norris.¡± Sensing the situation, Herti made the introductions. ¡°He¡¯s a farmer and is skilled in his work. I was looking for someone to answer questions with regards to clearing and farming thend, and found him.¡± Gawain looked Norris over. He looked like a typical medieval farmer with his tanned skin, skinny frame,rge hands and heavy feet, and a humble expression on his face. He seemed like he was about forty or fifty, or maybe even older, but Gawain was unsure of his real age¡ªevery person whobored hard and suffered from malnutrition aged prematurely in spite of the fact that the humans in this world lived longer than Earthlings because they had better health. The aristocrats had an average lifespan of a hundred to a hundred and fifty years old (this was before magic was even used to prolong life), but in reality, more than 90 percent of the poption in this world was unhealthy and manyborers looked aged despite only being in their twenties. Themoners in the Cecil n had been at least able to feed and clothe themselves and live a longer life than those of other ns, but premature aging brought on byboring was still something that was unavoidable. Norris the farmer rolled his neck nervously under Gawain¡¯s gaze and smiled humbly. However, it was this humble smile that startled Gawain a little. How long had it been since had seen such a smile on the faces of the poor in this world? Chapter 56 - The Problem of God Chapter 56: The Problem of God Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Like the vast majority ofmoners of this age (referred to as lower ss by the nobles), Norris had a natural fear of the nobles. Even though the current Viscount Cecil and Gawain, who had only be the new lord recently, were friendly enough, the habits that had umted over the decades could not be changed so easily. It took him great effort to finally be able tomunicate normally with Herti, now that Gawain appeared, the farmer could not help but be nervous again. But besides the nervousness and humbleness in his expression, Gawain saw in Norris¡¯ eyes something different from other civilians. At first he did not realize what it was until half a minuteter. He did not see the apathetic look on his face that wasmon among most of the civilians. He was nervous, timid, humble, reverent, but not apathetic. There was still a lively glimmer in those pair of sunken eye sockets with wrinkles umted from all the years ofbor. No wonder Herti found such a farmer to discuss the cultivation ofnd. Norris did possess the capability to ¡°discuss¡±. ¡°How¡¯s thisnd?¡± Gawain asked in a gentle tone. Norris extended three fingers like a seedling and made a gesture of prayer at his chest. ¡°May the Goddess of Harvest, Eve, bless this ce. I never thought that there could be arablend in the Dark Range. The terrain is t. The water is easy to ess. The soil is very fertile, and there aren¡¯t many stones in the soil. There is really no better ce to open up for agriculture. Now that we are halfway through Harvest Month, it is toote to grow rice, but we can nt sweet-wood roots and fire-leafs. By nting the sweet-wood roots in the soil over winter, a good harvest can be obtained in theing spring. Fire-leafs can be nted beside the sweet-wood roots. With the fertility of the sweet-wood roots, the fire-leafs would be able to grow very quickly and we can harvest them once before Fog Month this year. Next spring, the rhizomes of the fire-leafs and the vines of sweet-wood roots will dpose and be fertilizer. With that, we can grow grains. As long as the rain can keep up, everyone could be well-fed.¡± The sweet-wood roots and fire-leafs that Norris mentioned were crops of this world. In fact, most of the nts and animals that Gawain saw in this world were very different from his home world. Even if the names were the same, the real thing waspletely different. He could only rely on the ¡°memory of the ancient¡± stored in his mind to help him understand these things. From Norris¡¯ answer, he confirmed that the agricultural technology of this world was not as poor as he imagined it to be. At least the farmer understood the concepts of mixing crops to increase yield, using waste such as rhizomes and leaves as fertilizers, and the proper use of fertilends. Although this knowledge was likely to be limited to his own experience, not rigorous enough to form a body of study, it was enough evidence to indicate that people in this era were not simply casting out seeds and hoping for the best. Unfortunately, the Gawain Cecil¡¯s memories did not include everything. Even the fiercest pioneering heroes would not be knowledgeable in all things. In agriculture, Gawain realized that he could not simply rely on the memory stored in his brain. Thus he had to rely on the expert before him. He roughly understood the expected yields of several crops, and Norris continued answering. At the end, the old farmer added, ¡°These are the yields that we can obtain by using the nt fertilizers in addition to thend¡¯s original fertility. And this way of farming would deplete thend¡¯s fertility quickly. No matter how fertile thend is, thend should still be rested every two to three years. Actually, the yield isn¡¯t that high¡­ ¡± Gawain frowned. He knew that the world had no concept of ¡°artificial fertilizers¡±, neither did he see the possibility of local raw materials being used to produce the artificial fertilizers. The periodic table might not even bepatible. So he asked, ¡°How do people typically increase production and maintain fertility?¡± Herti responded, ¡°It would be best if you could reach out to the Church of the Three Goddesses of Fertility, the Goddess of Harvest, Eve, the Goddess of Spring, Flora, and the Goddess of Nature and Life, Gaia. Their priests are proficient in the rituals involving nature and nts. But in the deste southern borders, which has never been an important food-producing area, the main shrines of the fertility gods are centralized in the ins of the Holy Spirits in the central region. And with the current state of our territory¡­ I¡¯m afraid it will be difficult to attract the attention of the priests. ¡± Just then, Knight Philip suddenly piped up, ¡°There is a small church for the Goddess of Nature in Tanzan Town. Perhaps the priests there could be of help? I remember we used to send someone to Tanzan Town every three to five years to request the priest to bless thend¡­¡± ¡°That priest will be returning to the headquarters of the Goddess of Nature at the ins of the Holy Spirits this year to receive a ¡®revtion¡¯ and will only be back a yearter.¡± Herti shook her head. ¡°We can¡¯t count on it.¡± Gawain frowned slightly. He never thought that the problem would involve gods. He knew that there were many gods and churches in this world. Even back then when he was hovering in the sky, he had seen religious wars ur several times. Although he could not hear anything, he could easily tell what was going on just by looking at all kinds of religious symbols and the many churches and temples present. Although this continent had undergone many changes, to have even experienced a disaster such as ¡°The Dark Wave¡±, which was akin to as a reshuffling of civilization, religions continued to tangle themselves around mortals like vines. The gods were a part of this world¡¯s civilization. However, as a transmigrator, or a transmigrator who had been hovering over the sky for many years, Gawain naturally maintained an attitude of keeping a respectful distance from gods. It was not that he was so stubborn to the point that he would firmly reject the notion of gods in fantasy world like this. There was already magic in this world, and his two great great great great¡­ great granddaughters could even cast huge fireballs. Moreover, there were also those priests who were proficient in real rituals. Thus, it would be futile for him to reject these gods. It was just his instinctual response of not wanting to deal with something that transcended knowledge, experience, and logic. Having hovered over the sky for many years, he saw countless people fighting and killing in the name of gods. Gawain Cecil had lived for 35 years. During this time, he witnessed up close priests performing rituals. It was a kind of power totally different from magic. There was no need to chant incantations or skills. Instead, it required a pious heart and a lifestyle that strictly adhered to various religious disciplines. By using these methods simr to practicing ¡°self-restraint¡± and some specific ¡°spiritual gifts¡±, humans would be able to use divine, supernatural power. It was said that all the rituals in the world and all the knowledge about gods originated from the ancient ¡°eternal stone tablet¡±, and that legendary stone tablet had been broken and lost after the period of the first settlement. Now, there were only a fewrge churches in the world called the ¡°central sects¡± which keep the scattered fragments of the stone tablet in their headquarters, but even though the stone tablet was already broken, the knowledge and power of the gods were still working today. However, Gawain had never seen a real god. At least not in this continent. The sky¡­ He did not know if there were any in the sky. After all, he was not able to look up then. Thus, he could not know if there might be a white-bearded old man holding a spotlight standing in space¡­ But no matter where the gods actually lived, Gawain maintained an attitude of three parts respect and seven parts cautiousness toward these powers that were hard to understand with logic. Magic power could still be studied and understood through calction and reasoning. Although it was supernatural, it was actually still a natural power that could be analyzed. However, rituals required that you devote yourself to the belief, even to the extent of aligning one¡¯s personality and thoughts to ¡°god¡¯s spiritual nature¡± so as to only gain a little insight. This meant that if he wanted to study gods, he must first be a believer and be infinitely reverent toward gods. Once he had entered this state¡­ how could he still study gods? Gawain shook his head and tossed these questions aside for now. In any case, it would be very difficult to get the church¡¯s attention on ount of this inhospitable environment. He looked at Herti and continued to ask about increasing the production of crops, ¡°If we can¡¯t count on the three goddesses of fertility, is there any other way to solve the problem of increasing production?¡± ¡°Increasing production¡­ To be honest, with the conditions of thesends, and the first year of food provided by the King, actually we are not short of food.¡± Herti frowned. ¡°There are only about 800 people in the territory. We can feed all of them.¡± ¡°But we can¡¯t just have 800 people forever. In fact, I have already nned to increase the poption by purchasing serfs and attracting pioneers.¡± Gawain shook his head. Herti obviously still did not understand the value of people. ¡°The food problem is a fundamental problem that we would have to deal with sooner orter.¡± Herti did not understand the value of people, but Norris understood the importance of food. He thought about it seriously and replied boldly, ¡°In addition to rituals, another way is to ask the druids for help. The alchemical potions made by forest druids can effectively increase food production. Although their potions are less effective than rituals, it is better at protecting the soil. In addition, they usually also have some nt-based spells, which are very helpful for crop growth.¡± Hearing that, Gawain¡¯s eyes lit up. This option sounded great! And upon hearing that druids made alchemical potions to increase the fertility of thend¡­ Could those alchemical potions be this world¡¯s equivalent of artificial fertilizers? Or something of simr effect? In any case, if it could be prepared using a fixed method (and with the potential of mass production), be easily used, produce a rtively stable gain in crop yield, regardless of the nature of the alchemical potions, Gawain decided to name them ¡°fertilizers¡±! Besides, this kind of ¡°fertilizer¡± actually had a role in protecting the soil! He asked eagerly, ¡°Where can I find the druids?¡± Norris looked at Herti awkwardly, and Herti frowned slightly. ¡°This is another problem¡­ There are not many druids living amongst humans. They are usually centralized in the west near Moss Woods, and in the south¡­ you could say that they are very umon in these parts. The Cecil territory has almost never made any deals with druids before. I don¡¯t know where to find them either.¡± Gawain showed a disappointed expression while Knight Philip said thoughtfully, ¡°But because of their legacies, druids and elves have been close. Almost every druid legacy can be traced back to elves, including gray elves and silver elves¡­¡± The gazes of those present fell upon Amber, who was behind Gawain. Then Amber¡¯s pointed ears suddenly quivered. Gawain¡¯s face instantly drooped. ¡°Come on. You call this elven disgrace an elf? Which druid would care for a dishonorable¡­¡± Before he could finish speaking, Amber¡¯s voice rang, ¡°Speaking of which¡­ I think I really do know a druid!¡± Gawain, ¡°?!¡± Chapter 57 - Elves, Coins, and Irrigation Chapter 57: Elves, Coins, and Irrigation Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios As soon as Amber¡¯s voice fell, Gawain turned his head and stared at her fixedly, giving her the creeps. ¡°What¡­ what¡¯s the meaning of that look of yours¡­¡± Gawain looked as if he was staring at an alien. ¡°Why would you know a druid?¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t I know a druid!¡± Amber had her arms akimbo. ¡°At the very least, I¡¯m a half-elf, okay? All the druid factions in the world originated from elves, don¡¯t you know?¡± If it was anyone else with pointed ears who said that it would have been convincing, but not when this elven disgrace said it. Gawain looked up and down for awhile at the bandit girl still looking bold and confident in justifying herself, then he finally came out and said, ¡°You mean you know him in the sense that you stole something from this guy, and he tried to chase and kill you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s an insult!¡± Amber jumped up instantly. ¡°How could anyone catch me stealing!¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± Why did it seem like there was something off about her rebuttal? However, although he verbally doubted her, from the look of her, she seemed like she really did know a druid, and she even introduced him like she was a salesperson, ¡°Lemme tell you, this guy I know is not just a druid, but a schrly druid. He knows a bit of everything. His druid faction is the proper ¡®Forest Heart¡¯. He is particrly good at dealing with nts and animals. He is absolutely reliable¡­¡± Gawain could finally believe her words, but he did not probe about how Amber and the mysterious druid came to know each other or his name and origin. Obviously, it would not be polite to ask these questions now. After listening to Amber¡¯s sales pitch, he asked only two questions, ¡°Can you still reach him now? If so, how long will it take you to bring him here?¡± ¡°It¡¯s easy to reach him even though people say that druids are hard to find, but this guy that I know of has a rather fixed area where he operates. He¡¯s just in the area along the southern borders. As for how long it will take to bring him here¡­¡± As Amber continued talking, she kept giving Gawain the meaningful look. ¡°I could use shadow walk when getting to him, but to get back, I¡¯m afraid I would have toe back using the normal way and hurry the pace. How fast wee back will depend on the means of transportation, you know?¡± Gawain immediately understood what she was meaning to say. With a wave of hisrge hand, he ced a few coins in her hand. ¡°Go and buy new shoes.¡± Amber stared at him. ¡°¡­ I won¡¯t take this! And you should at least give me some money to give the guy a down payment, right? Even if we are acquaintances, you still have to pay to employ him, okay!¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say that earlier?¡± Gawain was only joking with Amber. After all, it was fun to see the girl jumping up and down, but putting jokes aside, he grabbed some more gold and silver strips that werepressed into uniform sizes from his other pocket. ¡°Take it. Get it done, and whatever remains is all yours.¡± Amber immediately took the glistening treasures. Because the mint required to make coins was not yet ready, ¡°Cecil currency¡± was still merely a concept. Thus for the time being, Gawain asked the craftsmen to get some gold and silver from the treasury and turn them into smaller pieces for trading with the rest of the world. Using precious metals directly for trading was not umon in this world. Moreover, trading was still very primitive. Gold and silver with a certain degree of purity were considered as currencies. Usually, gold and silver were made into coins just because it was easier to carry, inspect, and count. But merchants also epted using gold and silver directly for transactions. It was just that this type of transaction would include the additional process of inspection of purity and calction. Thus when buying goods directly with gold and silver, the price would be increased slightly. Of course, this was all based on the premise of the currency¡¯s credibility. If there came a day when the impurities in the nobles¡¯ coinage reached a level that could hurt the merchants, then the unofficial gold and silver bullion would in turn prevail over the currencies issued by the royal family and the grand dukes and be the main form of currency, and if you used gold and silver coins to buy things, it would instead be more expensive. This was why the emblem of the god of trade was a pair of scales. On the two sides of the scales were ced a pair of scissors and an eye. The scissors and the scales were both things that the merchants carried with them. The former was used to cut gold and silver strips while thetter was used for weighing. As for the eye, merchants needed good eyesight in order to tell the purity of the metals. Actually, if not for Gawain¡¯s obsessivepulsive disorder, that he wanted to cast the metals into refined and unique coins, he could totally use a simpler and cruder method to make the coins. He just needed to cast the metals into round rods, then cut them into thin slices. Then use a steel seal to apply Cecil¡¯s emblem. In Anzu¡¯s year 536, the Grand Duke of the West used this method in order to save time andbor and reduce the cost. The coins in that year were thusly nicknamed ¡°the miser¡¯s extortion toll money¡±. It was because at that time, the westernw required that all merchants entering the western region must exchange one-third of their coins for the western coins. And whenever crossing any checkpoints, they had to use these inferior coins to pay the tolls. This world¡¯s currency and economy were just so perplexing. Amber left happily, and the half-elf girl almost ran away floating as everyone watched. Herti could not help but worry. ¡°She¡¯s not going to run away with those pieces of gold and silver, is she¡­¡± ¡°Embezzling funds?¡± Gawain muttered. In his brooding, he wondered if that elven disgrace might actually be capable of such a thing¡­ Never mind. At this juncture, he should just have some trust in her. He had nothing else to count on anyways. There was no one else who imed to know druids, was there? After Amber left, Gawain turned his attention back to the issue on the cultivation of thend. Norris, the old farmer, had kept his head down quietly and waited, unlike the ordinary poor people who would fidget, nce around, and rush to speak. Instead, he seemed as if he was waiting for Gawain to ask questions. ¡°Is there any other problems in thisnd?¡± Gawain asked. ¡°It is best to bring up any problems that might arise as early as possible.¡± ¡°If I must say, I would say that thend is higher than the river bank, making it hard for the water to be channeled into the canals. We would have to dig ditches from upstream or wells,¡± Norris replied. ¡°But the good thing is that during torrential rains, we don¡¯t have to worry about flooding of thend.¡± Channeling water¡­ If there was a pump or some lifting machinery, this would be an easy problem to solve. Or perhaps, they could rely on the ¡°characteristic technology¡± of this world by finding a mage specializing in water elements to perform the irrigation. But obviously the second way is unreliable. Once the the camp starts normal operation, there would only be increasing amount of responsibilities on Herti¡¯s te. She would no longer have the opportunity toe over and serve as a human water pump. If they were to hire an official mage to be responsible for irrigating thend¡­ Not even the Violet Kingdom in the north or the elves in the south would do something so extravagant. Besides, even if there was no limit to Cecil¡¯s mary resources, how many mages would be willing to do ¡°dirty work¡± that only the lower ss would do? They would rather take half thepensation to set off fireworks for banquets at the King¡¯s or nobles¡¯ castles to please those aristocratic madames and misses who stuff themselves with pills to the extent of getting the deathly paleplexion that made them look neither humans nor like ghosts. Thus Gawain immediately dismissed the idea of finding a mage to be a human water pump, and instead considered the solution from a mechanical perspective. Of course, if he were to do things the way that was usually done in this world, the way that the nobles would solve such problems would be to put more serfs to work. But in Gawain¡¯s opinion, it was too much of a waste to use manpower on such matters. Just then, an ancient and effective machinery came to mind. ¡°Have you ever heard of something called a waterwheel?¡± Herti, Norris, and Knight Philip were all dumbstruck. Sure enough, no one had heard of such a thing. Gawain looked at Herti. ¡°Do you have pen and paper?¡± After getting the pen and paper, Gawain began to make a simple sketch. It was a tall wheel-like structure supported by spokes. On the outer edge of the ¡°wheel¡± were fixed neatly arranged inclined drums and wooden boards. On the side of this ¡°wheel¡± was drawn a water channel that extended outward. Due to limited time, he only drew a part of the waterwheel¡¯s structure, and it was a rough drawing. But this simple yet astounding machine had an amazingly simple principle. He only needed to give a brief exnation. ¡°This thing is a waterwheel. The river water flows underneath, pushing these wooden boards, driving the rotation of the waterwheel. Then the waterwheel will carry the water-filled drums to the top, and the water is poured into this channel. This process will continue, resulting in the water being raised to a higher ground. How high it can go depends on how big the waterwheel is, and as long as the materials are strong enough.¡± With that said, he added, ¡°Of course, this is just a sketch. The principle is also very simple, and many different models can be built based upon this principle¡­¡± Herti was speechless as she was totally enthralled by this simple yet incredible contraption. She could easily deduce that this machine would absolutely be useful. But before seeing this sketch, she really never thought that such a thing could exist. It did not need manpower, nor did it require any extraordinary powers. It could work around the clock, perform work that would otherwise require lots of serfs, and it was driven by the power of nature. She suddenly experienced ¡°beauty¡± upon seeing such a machinery, a word that would normally not be associated with such a crude structure. However, Gawain still sighed. ¡°Unfortunately there is no bamboo here, otherwise it would be much easier to build¡­¡± Herti did not catch what he said. ¡°Ah? What did you just say?¡± ¡°No, nothing.¡± Gawain waved his hand. ¡°Do you have any thoughts about this machine?¡± Herti was about to say that it was a genius design when she saw Norris pick up a pen and draw something on a nk piece of paper. The old farmer said as he sketched. ¡°If we were to set it directly at the river bank of the White River, it would be prone to be affected by the river¡¯s condition. It would not be useful during the dry season. If another channel could be dug from the river, during the dry season¡­¡± Noting the sudden silence around him, Norris quivered and immediately threw the pen away fearfully, trembling as he stepped back, ¡°Lord, I was only¡­¡± However, Gawain¡¯s response surprised him. ¡°Can you write?¡± Chapter 58 - Norris Story Chapter 58: Norris¡¯ Story Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Gawain¡¯s sudden question put Norris in a moment of stupefaction. He was ready to be reprimanded, but he did not expect to be asked such a question. Should he answer yes or no? Had he broken thew? After thinking about it for a long time, the old farmer decided to be honest. Because there was more than one person who knew that he could read and write. If the Lord were to seek out others to learn about the truth, he would then be really breaking thew. ¡°Yes¡­ Lord,¡± Norris said nervously, clutching the buttons at his chest, ¡°I learned¡­ to read and write.¡± Gawain raised his eyebrows and thought that it was just as he had suspected. Although Norris had not written a word just now and only drew a sketch, from his form while holding the pen, it was easy to make some inferences. There was a huge difference between how a literate person and an illiterate person held a pen. In a world that was mostly filled with illiterates, he had already seen how illiterate people held pens and drew lines on paper in a clumsy way. The way that the farmer held the pen was obviously of a proper form. Even Herti looked at Norris a little surprised. It seemed that she had only just noticed that. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Being able to write isn¡¯t a vition of thew. Teaching others to read and write isn¡¯t against thew either.¡± Gawain realized that his sudden questioning might have scared the docile farmer. Thus he said in a gentler tone, ¡°Who taught you to read and write?¡± With the Lord¡¯s word, Norris felt a little more at ease. He rubbed his hands and gave a slightly embarrassed smile. ¡°Lord, you mightugh¡­ but I almost entered a church and became a priest to serve the Goddess of Harvest. I learned to read and write from a teacher back then¡­¡± The son of a farmer almost entered a church and became a priest? Gawain was immediately interested in such a peculiar story, so upon his inquiry, Norris¡¯ story was finally made known. Norris dide from a peasant household. They were a family of freemen who lived in Cecil territory for generations. Although they had some plots of poornd, but like mostmoners of this era, he lived a life with just enough food and warm clothes. Originally, like mostmoners, he would be tied to thend all his life to work on the nting and irrigation, and the only way he woulde into contact with the priests and churches, of the higher sses, was to go to church in town every so often to pray, or to listen to priests who came to the countryside to preach. But at the age of eight, an opportunity came knocking before Norris and his parents. A harvest goddess priest on a missionary trip from the ins of the Holy Spirits came to Cecil territory and temporarily resided in the vige where Norris lived. To the farmers, it was very rare and lucky to see the priests of the three goddesses of fertilitye by. So everyone in the vige immediately gathered their money, and in ordance with the rules of the three goddesses of fertility, the vige elder took a few children to offer as a ¡°gift¡± to the priest, so that the priest would bless the vige¡¯s arablend. Then the priest looked at Norris, who was eight years old, and said, ¡°This child can bring blessings to thend. He is favored by the goddess of harvest.¡± Just because of what the priest said, after the priest left, Norris¡¯ parents almost sold all the valuables in the house, and the old people in the vige were also finding ways to gather money. They also went to the old knight in the manor and asked for a travel pass. Finally, they sent Norris to the Goddess of Nature¡¯s church in Tanzan Town, making him a ¡°ve apprentice¡±. Although the three goddesses of fertility were of three independent sects, they had close ties. The Goddess of Nature, as the highest goddess among the three goddesses, her shrine usually also enshrined the Goddess of Harvest and the Goddess of Spring. And the candidates to be priests of the three goddesses would generally receive the same teachings before their formal blessings. Afterpleting the education, they would choose, ording to their ¡°spiritual gifts¡±, which goddess to worship. Thus, when there was no church of the Goddess of Harvest around, sending Norris to the church of Goddess of Nature was the only option for his parents at that time. Norris studied in the shrine for five years. After that, he obtained the appraisal results from a higher-level church. ¡°The apprentice does not have the spiritual gift for the goddesses of fertility.¡± To this day, Norris still remembered how joyful the people in the vige were when this result was sent to the vige, because they were totally illiterate, and the messenger who sent the message was dead drunk and did not tell the vigers and Norris¡¯ parents what the letter said. It was not until Norris returned to the vige with his own luggage that everyone knew that the letter was not good news from the church. Norris told his story quietly. The wrinkle-filled face did not show joy nor sorrow, but there was only calmness in his deeply set eyes, as if those things were indeed things of the past and no longer mattered to him. ¡°The few years after were very difficult to get by. We had not repaid our debts. We had no more money at home. My father did not survive that winter, but our lives still had to go on. We still had to repay the debts owed to everyone.¡± ¡°Thus my mother took my brother and sister to visit the castle of the viscount. Oh, the Viscount Cecil then was Lady Reba¡¯s father. We went to kowtow to the viscount, told him that we could not get by any longer. The viscount was very kind and waived off the field tax that we had to pay and lent us seeds and a half-pocket of foodstuff. We relied on those seeds and food. With also the exceptionally good crop yield for the vegetables that year, we managed to survive.¡± ¡°After that, I worked thend honestly and helped people with odd jobs. I did work that would take two or three people by myself. I also knew how to read. Whenever merchants came to the vige, I would help to calcte the weight. In that way, I could also exchange it for a few loaves of bread. After a few years, we repaid the debt, and also the seeds and food that the viscount had given us¡­¡± Norris slowly looked up, with a face filled with pride. ¡°During the year when my mother died, our family had a feast of meat.¡± Norris¡¯ story came to an end. Gawain only frowned, but Herti could not help but hold her chest. ¡°I¡­ I never knew this happened in our territory¡­ We have been doing our best to give alms¡­¡± ¡°Alms can¡¯t save anyone, because it doesn¡¯t solve the problem at its root. Moreover, this kind of thing happens every day. It¡¯s just that you can¡¯t see it in the castle.¡± Gawain shook his head. Then he looked curiously at Norris. ¡°I noticed your hand gesture¡­ You still believe in the Goddess of Harvest even now?¡± ¡°I do. Why shouldn¡¯t I?¡± The wrinkles on Norris¡¯ face piled up. ¡°The Goddess of Harvest protects. A good or bad harvest would determine the lives and deaths of the family. Which farmer doesn¡¯t believe in the Goddess of Harvest?¡± Gawain looked at him quietly. ¡°Even after you suffered so much because of this belief?¡± Norris was silent for a moment. Then his head drooped. ¡°Lord, it¡¯s just my lousy life. How can I me it on the gods? Andpared to others, I have at least learned some things and know how to read even though knowing how to read is not very useful for people like us.¡± ¡°Knowing how to read will not be useless.¡± Gawain looked at the farmer seriously. ¡°Norris, you have good farming skills, right?¡± At the mention of this, Norris was even more proud. ¡°Lord, I dare not im any other achievements, but when ites to farming, my craftsmanship is excellent. If not, how could I have survived those arduous days?¡± Gawain asked again, ¡°You are also literate innguage and in numbers and have received education from the church, so the new rules that I asked Herti to read to all of you and the forms I designed to record the workload should be easy to understand for you, right? If I were to ask you to fill out forms and calcte thend and yield, can you do it?¡± This time, Norris first nodded, and then hesitantly asked, ¡°Lord, are you going to let me be¡­ a supervisor?¡± Up to this point, due to Gawain¡¯s implementation of abor system that required counting and evaluation, those supervisors who used to brandish their whips but were illiterate were already irrelevant. The supervisors in the territory were all warriors of the n that Herti personally took charge of (part of the n¡¯s warriors were knight¡¯s chambeins, whom at least were a little numerically literate and could write some simple words). Thus Norris could not help thinking about this upon hearing Gawain¡¯s question. ¡°No, not just a supervisor. In fact, if you can do it, I n to let you manage the whole process of opening up thend for agriculture and even the food production in theter stages,¡± Gawain said, ¡°Of course, I cannot give you so much authority at once, nor can I allow you to do it however you please. I will have Herti ¡®assess¡¯ you and tell you what you need to do.¡± Norris¡¯ expression suddenly changed. ¡°Lor¡­ Lord! I don¡¯t quite understand¡­ Are you making me your butler? But butlers don¡¯t just manage food¡­¡± ¡°This is a job, but it¡¯s not a butler,¡± Gawainughed. ¡°If you need a title, you can call it¡­ Agricultural Manager. And I have to tell you this first. This position is different from all the positions in the past. You cannot pass it on as a title from generation to generation unless your child has enough talent. It is not permanent either. If you do not perform well, or if you vite Cecilw using your position, you will be removed and punished. From now on, this will be the same for the many positions I will establish. Do you understand?¡± If Gawain did not warn them about the many conditions, perhaps Norris might still be afraid to ept this ¡°good fortune¡± because this good fortune seemed very much like the priest, whom when he was eight years old, came to the vige and said that he could ¡°receive god¡¯s favor¡±. But with Gawain¡¯s warning, he instead gave it serious thought and determined that it should be real. An ordinary poor man would not think like him, but Norris would, because he had been educated, and even if this education was nearly the death of him, he also learned ¡°logic¡± from this experience. So after thinking for some time, the old farmer nodded vigorously. ¡°Lord, if you trust me¡­ Norris will take care of every field you assign to me, and every food that grow on thisnd!¡± Chapter 59 - Management Issues Chapter 59: Management Issues Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Gawain knew that Norris had no idea what the ¡°position¡± actually meant or what kind of new administration would soon be implemented in thisnd. He was still in a confused state, caught in the joy of soon bing a ¡°respectable person¡±, but this old farmer probably could not even imagine the lifestyle of those respectable people in towns and cities. But that was fine because what Gawain wanted to establish in this world was an unprecedented new order. It was not only Norris who could not imagine it, even Herti and Reba also could not imagine it. He knew that he had to be cautious and take things steadily and under control as they moved forward in order to prevent being too impatient and be caught in the bacsh from this era¡¯s conservatives, but he had no choice but to do it. The recent alerts from the satellite monitoring station still rang in his ears. If the Dark Wave was truly inevitable, doing something was better than doing nothing. When Norris left, Herti finally could not help but ask, ¡°Ancestor, do you really intend for him to manage your fields?¡± Gawain knew that Herti would have doubts, so he was not at all surprised. He only looked at her with a faint smile. ¡°Anything wrong with that?¡± ¡°Although he is literate, he¡­¡± Herti was going to say that he was poor, but on second thought, she rephrased it, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that he mightck the knowledge, and he does not know of the rules of the upper ss. If you let him manage your fields, I¡¯m afraid he will screw things up and even get punished for no reason.¡± Gawain just looked at Herti quietly until she appeared to show unease, and then he asked, ¡°Where is this upper ss you¡¯re referring to?¡± Herti was stunned. Gawain smiled and pointed his finger to the surroundings. ¡°Look around. In this empty piece ofnd, there is no upper ss, nor are there any aristocratic etiquette or rules of being a lower ss citizen. Throw all those old ideas into the scorched soil of the old Cecil territory! In thisnd, everything starts from scratch. Rules,ws, guidelines, everything will be brand new!¡± Herti stared nkly at thend that was being opened for agriculture and the camp that had already begun to take shape in the distance. Here, there was no towering castle or the poor people¡¯s small houses. The camp was being built ording to the strict principles of ¡°orderliness, hygiene, efficiency, and space for future development¡±. Here, there were no rules like ¡°houses of the poor are not to face the castle¡±, ¡± noble estates must be separated from the homes of the poor by at least one street¡±, ¡°serfs are forbidden to live in the intermediate or inner districts¡±. She vaguely understood what Gawain meant. Gawain looked at Herti. He knew that her traditional aristocratic views were not deep-seated. Being a noble of a declined n, the tough situation was the best motivation for one to start using their brains more. Cecil n had been excluded from the core circle of nobles in recent generations. Thus, they would be more and more ¡°unlike aristocrats¡±. Take Herti for example, she would even go to the construction site to help with work. Thus there was absolutely no problem with how flexible her mentality was. It was just that the habit and social constraints brought by being an aristocrat were not easy to deal with, so she instinctively thought that a farmer from a poor family would not be qualified to help Gawain manage the territory even if he was literate withnguage and numbers, even more so since his position was to manage the most important problem of food. Seeing the change in expression of this descendant, Gawain knew that she had already understood roughly, but she still needed a little push, so he went on to say, ¡°As to whether a poor farmer can be a manager, do you know of the ancestor of the Franklin n of the west and what he used to do?¡± ¡°Grand Duke of the West?¡± Herti was stunned for a moment. ¡°I remember the history books saying that Franklin¡¯s ancestor was in charge of steelworks, and was the ¡°Iron General¡± of the expedition force¡­¡± ¡°Yes, he was a cksmith but with monster-like strength. And he was talented and fortunate enough to grow up during the northern expedition.¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°What do you think I used to do?¡± Herti was already shocked upon learning about the truth of the original Grand Duke of the West. Now, she could not speak as confidently, ¡°I remember in the history books¡­ I think it said that you were a knight among knights, the first of all famous knights¡­¡± ¡°Yes, I was a knight apprentice. When I was fifteen, I finally learned my firstbat skills, but before my teacher could write a letter of rmendation to the Lord, he got drunk and fell into the river and drowned. I was left with no other choice. So I wrote a rmendation letter myself, used the teacher¡¯s stamp, and brought it to the Lord. But before I could get there, the Dark Wave broke out, and the Lord died. Then I met Charlie, who was escaping with a group of people. He said that the south had already turned into a huge mess, and to go south would only lead to more deaths. I told him, ¡®I still have to be named a knight. I have been studying for years and finally managed to pass.¡¯ Then, Charlie said a few wise words to me in front of everyone.¡± Gawain paused deliberately, sure enough, Herti could not help but ask, ¡°What wise words?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just name ourselves knights. The lords of the south are all dead anyways.¡± Herti, ¡°¡­ Name yourselves?! You can do that?!¡± ¡°However, that was how it happened,¡± Gawain put away his smile as he looked at Herti. ¡°A youngster with delusions of grandeur, proimed himself as the leader of the northern expedition, led a group of cksmiths, carpenters, apprentices, and unemployed people who then identified as pioneering knights. They forced their way across the entire wastnd of Gondor and built a kingdom here. Do you think it was because we had noble bloodlines? Or were we all blessed by gods?¡± Herti: ¡°¡­¡± ¡°In the beginning, there were no nobles, but it was the ones who first got up and took things for themselves who became nobles.¡± Gawain pressed Herti¡¯s shoulders (she was older, and he couldn¡¯t just pat her head like he did with Reba), ¡°Putting aside this difference, Anzu is just a kingdom established by a bunch of peasants. Now thend before us is exactly what Anzu was like when we established it. And I am going to implement some new rules on thisnd.¡± Herti frowned slightly. She felt vaguely apprehensive, but she did not know what was off about it, ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t imagine what the future would be like if we really do it¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a bit too early for me to tell you about this.¡± Gawain nodded slightly. ¡°But I believe you will be with me on this.¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Herti replied without hesitation. ¡°You are the cornerstone of thisnd! You are also the only person that Reba and I can count on¡­¡± ¡°Then I promise you one thing. Everything that I do will be to bring about prosperity and civilization to thisnd. As long as you follow me, you and Reba will witness an unprecedentedly powerful Cecil n,¡± Gawain said seriously, ¡°Do you ept this promise?¡± Herti nodded vigorously. ¡°Then let¡¯s get back to the issue of management,¡± Gawainughed. ¡°The issue about allowing normal citizens or poor people to be involved in the management of the territory.¡± ¡°You have more ¡®positions¡¯ prepared?¡± Herti had guessed from earlier conversations what Gawain had in mind. ¡°Although I don¡¯t think there is anything wrong with it now, is it really necessary?¡± Gawain looked up and down at Herti. This beautiful and gracefuldy had been overworked in recent days that she was looking quite haggard. She had not even bothered to wash her face today, let alone talk about looking elegant. She was responsible for almost all the work within the camp. With such an exhausted countenance, she actually did not realize that they had ack of a management team¡­ ¡°Do you think you can take care of all the internal affairs by yourself?¡± Gawain asked. ¡°It is getting quite tiring. But after all, we are in the starting phase. When we reach normal operation¡­¡± ¡°When we reach normal operation, you would not be able to handle it because you have never ¡®managed¡¯ before.¡± Gawain nced at her from the corner of his eyes. ¡°Have you ever done demographic statistics? Have you done production statistics? Have you done economic statistics? Have you done purchasing, sales, storage in previous years or developmental ns for theing year? Let¡¯s not even talk about this. Have you ever once understood how the cash flows into and out of the territory?¡± Herti had swirly eyes. ¡°¡­ Huh?¡± ¡°Sending people to check how much grain is left in the granary at the end of the year and counting how many people still owe rent when they collect tax paid in grains does not count as much of the management of internal affairs.¡± Gawain gave an awkward chuckle. ¡°I asked you and Reba to collect the names, ages, upations, and family situation of those 800 people. Tell me honestly, what do you think of those forms?¡± Herti submitted cheerfully. ¡°It was indeed very convenient to use. For the first time, I was able to easily understand how many people we have in various upations. And when assigning people for production, I can simply use the information from the forms instead of sending people to find out where those various kinds of craftsmen are¡­¡± ¡°There mighte a day when the territory will have 8,000, or even 80,000 people. Are you and Reba still going to count them yourselves? There mighte a day when the territory expands to the south of the Dark Range. Are you still going to cross over the mountain and knock on each door to ask about each family?¡± Herti: ¡°¡­¡± ¡°If you want to keep up the convenience, you have to have a ¡®management team,''¡± Gawain spread open his hands. ¡°And to build such an organization, we have to involve the citizens.¡± Herti thought for a moment and frowned again. ¡°But most people in the territory can¡¯t even write their own names, so how¡­¡± ¡°That is the next stage of my n,¡± Gawain said with a smile. ¡°Teach them to read.¡± Herti: ¡°¡­¡± She was probably left speechless more times today than over her whole lifetime. Gawain gave Herti some time to think about it while he looked at the people not too far away who were reporting progress to their supervisors. Results could not be obtained overnight. It would take time to establish a new order. To build a society in this new order would be even more difficult. And to build a kingdom on top of that¡­ would probably take many more years. There were only 800 people in the territory now. It was true that Herti managed to deal with it on her own. Perhaps with Reba, who was not quitepetent, there could be fireballs to liven things up¡­. and clear the wastnd or whatnot, but if they wanted to work towards the long term n, there were some foundations that must be established step by step from now on. From 15 Feb 2020, Coins spent on books that aren¡¯t selected will be refunded within 30 days. However, Fast Passes will not be refunded. The selected book will have a mark on the corner of the book cover in 30 days to indicate continuation. Thank you for your understanding. Chapter 60 - Rebeccas Big Project Chapter 60: Reba¡¯s Big Project Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Herti did not know what her seven hundred-year old ancestor was thinking about at this moment and was doomed to not understand the ns that she thought was too remote and grand. However, she, too, seemed to be affected and motivated as she followed Gawain¡¯s gaze and looked towards the lively and energetic campgrounds. And built from scratch, an entirely new order, a promising future¡ªHerti thought she had passed the stage of impressionable girlhood, but at this moment, she still could not help but hope and look forward for better things to happen on thisnd. This was what set her apart from traditional aristocrats¡ªtraditional aristocrats could not anticipate change. ¡°Just keep to yourself what I told you today, for now,¡± Gawain reminded Herti as he whipped his head back suddenly. ¡°These matters are too progressive. The people would not understand if they hear about it, but if the aristocrats were told¡­ and don¡¯t understand it, they¡¯ll regard you as a lunatic, and if they do, they will think you a deadly enemy.¡± Herti was startled, but she was intelligent and understood Gawain¡¯s meaning quickly. The new order, even though there only appeared to be glimpses of it for now, there were enough issues to strike a nerve in the sensitive aristocrats. It might indeed bring prosperity to thend, but that prosperity might not be ptable to the traditional aristocrats. After all, they were unlike the Cecils, and were still living splendid lives. ¡°I understand, but can I tell this to Reba?¡± Herti nodded, but pursed her lips and shook her head immediately after. ¡°That child perhaps may not be able to understand something soplicated¡­¡± ¡°No, you¡¯ve underestimated her.¡± Gawainughed. ¡°Reba is actually smarter than you think, just that her intellect has not been expressed through the right outlet. Recently, I¡¯ve seen her¡­¡± Before Gawain could finish speaking, a little shadow appeared in his vision out of the blue. Betty was sprinting on the embankments of the field towards him. The little maid with her lovely freckles came up to him, panted for a while, before bowing awkwardly. ¡°My Lord! Miss Reba is looking for you!¡± ¡°What does she want me¡­¡± Gawain stopped mid-sentence. ¡°Oh, you must have forgotten.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t this time!¡± Betty stood up straight and crisply, ¡°She says it¡¯s about to start, and she wants you to see what happens!¡± Herti walked up from behind. ¡°What¡¯s about to start?¡± Betty thought for a while before shaking her head. ¡°I forgot!¡± Gawain and Betty: ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Well, I know what it is.¡± Gawain did not know whether tough or cry as he patted the girl¡¯s head. ¡°She¡¯s been working on the magic circles for the past few days, and it looks like she has finally finished the ¡®magic web¡¯¡ª I¡¯d actually thought she needed more time. How abouting along to see it? There¡¯s nothing here that is particrly urgent to settle anyway, why not go and see how Reba¡¯s first ¡®project¡¯ has turned out?¡± ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m a little worried about how she¡¯s doing. After all, for an untalented mage who only knows how to make fireballs to create such arge-scale magic circle¡­ even though those runes are elementary.¡± Herti smiled as she shook her head and turned towards the wooden shed. ¡°Knight Philip, I¡¯ll head over to the smithy to see what¡¯s going on, so I¡¯ll leave you to take care of things here.¡± The young knight stood up straight in an instant and knocked on his breastte. ¡°Leave it to me!¡± Overseeing the remation works was only a small job, yet he had dered hismitment so epicly¡­ Gawain could not help but sigh with emotion. How was this young knight behaving so old-fashionedly, to the point of conforming to strict rules like a ssic knight¡­ was this really the power of faith? Gawain and Herti left. Betty looked around and decided that it was nothing to do with her and slipped into the wooden shed. It was still too early to make food and she had already done theundry, so the bored little maid¡¯s interest was piqued by the things that had many words and pictures on the wooden table. Knight Philip observed the littledy¡¯s movements and kept a close eye on her, in case she messed up anything of importance¡ªhe was ready to stop her at any time. Meanwhile, Betty was looking at a piece of paper with a drawing of a waterwheel on it. However, her interest quickly shifted to the records with the names and numbers. She moved closer to the table and pointed to the stationery. ¡°May I write?¡± Knight Philip moved to shift the stationery away. Looking seriously at the littledy, he asked, ¡°Can you write?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t write.¡± Betty shook her head and added, ¡°I don¡¯t know how to read either.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯re not allowed to touch them,¡± Phillip said a little sternly. ¡°The Lord has spent money to purchase the stationery. It¡¯s not for you to y with.¡± Betty paused for a while. Disappointed, she nodded, ¡°Oh¡­¡± Knight Philip frowned as he saw her disappointed face. He thought he might have been a little too stern, but protecting the assets of the Lord was his duty¡ªespecially when everything in the territory was in short supply. Even a single piece of paper or pen had to be brought in from Tanzan Town, so he could not let the littledy waste the precious stationery. In the end, he consoled Betty for a while, but the littledy still went away disappointed and sorry. As he watched the disappearing silhouette of Betty on the embankment, Phillip could not help but remember what he had heard in the conversation between Grand Duke Gawain and Lady Herti earlier. To teach them to read and write. To teach everyone to read and write. Could this really happen? Was it really possible? Would they really do it? If they really did it, then the little maid would be able to write too. Upon his arrival at the ¡°smithy¡±, Gawain discovered that this had be a construction site. The wide yard was filled with many busy ¡°construction workers¡± and there were a few soldiers guarding the pile of various resources in a corner of the yard. Reba was standing in the middle of the yard with a bunch of papers in her hand, familiarizing Hummel the old cksmith with something, while Hummel¡¯s disciples stood by, listening attentively. It looked like it was important, and it was also evident that Reba had only called for Gawain toe after the construction had begun sessfully. ¡°Ah! Lord Ancestor!¡± Reba spotted Gawain¡¯s almost two-meter tall frame from far away before noticing Herti beside him. ¡°And Aunt Herti¡­¡± This girl was quite in awe of Herti. ¡°I wanted toe and see your progress..¡± Herti smiled mildly. Even though she still did not know how well Reba would perform, she felt like she had to at least smile and encourage her because of how orderly the ce was. ¡°Looks like you¡¯re very confident.¡± ¡°Yeah! I¡¯ve been at it for a few days!¡± Reba ced her hands on her hips as she said. Even though she had burned the midnight oil and seemed a little out of it, she was still full of energy. ¡°This magic circle is super awesome! And those forms¡­ Lord Ancestor, let me tell you how easy it was to use them! They¡¯re so much better than those rigid rune permutations and spell models by a hundred thousand times, and they are applicable to anything, and this magic circle even¡­¡± ¡°Stop, stop, stop. We didn¡¯te here to hear you brag,¡± Herti quickly interrupted Reba¡¯s boasting. She knew that her niece was very good at calction and theory, but she was afraid that she would bore her ancestor to death by talking so much. ¡°Just tell us how you intend toplete the magic circle.¡± With that, Reba nodded vigorously. ¡°Oh okay, I¡¯m going to bury it under the ground¡­¡± ¡°Bury it under the ground?!¡± Herti was stunned. ¡°I saw all the holes you dug, but you¡¯re really going to bury it under the ground?!¡± Gawain had seen Reba instructing people to dig those ditches in the ground as he walked into the yard. The lines were curved, straight, crossed each other or were parallel, and formed the rough shape of a magic circle. Also, there were stakes ced around as markers where nodes seemed to be, with auxiliary white lines drawn around them and considering that all of theborers were illiterate, these guides and markers must have been ced by Reba herself. Firstly, she would draw the lines on the ground before telling theborers where to dig and how deep to dig. This was probably her work process. After hearing Herti¡¯s words, Gawain shifted his attention from the ditches and looked at her curiously. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with burying the magic circle underground?¡± ¡°No¡­ there¡¯s no taboo regarding that.¡± Herti shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s just that most magic circle are exposed, because on the one hand, it would take more effort to bury it, and on the other hand, it would be troublesome since the mage would need to control how the circle operates and monitor it.¡± What she said wasmon sense. As a third-level mage (even though she only knew how to cast fireballs), Reba should know this. However, she still did this, which meant that jumpy brain had lost control once again¡­ Herti was feeling uneasy and was afraid that Gawain was going to scold Reba because of this, which might unfortunately destroy her hard-earned confidence. However, this child had been through many hardships growing up. She should be fine after a while, right? Just as Herti¡¯s thoughts were running wild, Gawain spoke again, ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about why you¡¯ve decided to bury the magic circle underground first¡ªI want to know how you managed to get it precisely onto the ground.¡± Reba was stunned for a moment, not understanding what this old ancestor meant by his question. Gawain had actually asked this question with great dismay. Reba had drawn a magic circle full of geometric shapes with high precision on a in up to a 100 meters in diameter using only her naked eyes, which should have produced errors! In Gawain¡¯s home world, such a thing was not difficult at all. They had countless mapping instruments and mathematical tools which could draw out such diagrams. In this world where magic existed, these things could be aplished as well¡ªmages usually used the Eye of the Mage or Eagle Vision to obtain an aerial view and thenpleted theirrge-scale magic circles, which were both simple and crude methods. However, could Reba even use them? Except for a few stakes and auxiliary lines, she had no advanced tools. No perfect mathematical or geometric system existed in this world to help her either, and other than fireball casting, she was ignorant of other forms of magic. She was not even capable of casting the Eye of the Mage, a second-level mage skill. Then how did she do it? Gawain repeated his question once more. ¡°How did you draw it out on the ground so urately?¡± From 15 Feb 2020, Coins spent on books that aren¡¯t selected will be refunded within 30 days. However, Fast Passes will not be refunded. The selected book will have a mark on the corner of the book cover in 30 days to indicate continuation. Thank you for your understanding. Chapter 61 - Pride of Cecil Clan Chapter 61: Pride of Cecil n Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Reba didn¡¯t know why Gawain would be so interested in this problem. But at least, it didn¡¯t seem like the ancestor was going to criticize her. She heaved a breath of relief and said, ¡°I am calcting and drawing at the same time¡­ It will be much easier to treat the entire yard as a piece of paper.¡± The answer was too vague. Gawain frowned and asked, ¡°More details?¡± ¡°This side of the yard is a line. The other side is another line.¡± Reba maderge gestures with her arms. ¡°With these two lines as a reference, I¡¯m treating the entire yard like a piece of paper. Every line of the magic circle is separated into crucial points, and every crucial point can be calcted with the distance between the two sides of the yard¡­ This is just erging the scale of the manuscript, and the calction is a mage¡¯s expertise!¡± The calction was indeed the mages¡¯ expertise, but regr mages couldn¡¯t calcte like this! Gawain looked at Reba with a dumbstruck expression¡­ The way thisss was speaking was so messed that not even Heidi could understand. Instead, it was Gawain who understood: she was setting up a coordinate system and using it as a foundation to erge the proportion of the magic circle. There wasn¡¯t a need to look from a high ce. One simply had to calcte the positions of the crucial points before referring to the crucial points ording to the manuscripts and connect them. It wasn¡¯t enough to merely think of this idea; it actually required Reba¡¯s very incredible geometry imagination and calctive abilities in order to achieve it. Because this world didn¡¯t have aprehensive mathematic or geometry system, Reba would either have had to forcefully deduce it with arithmetic or perhaps even create her own forms! Of course, Reba¡¯s method wasn¡¯t the best. Gawain knew plenty of methods from Earth that could be used in this situation, but so what? In this world and in this era, it was already a miracle for Reba to do this! ¡°Did you think of this method yourself?¡± Gawain felt as though he had discovered a rare treasure and was looking at Reba with sparkling eyes. Reba scratched her head and replied, ¡°Not entirely. I read some of it on the rogue mage¡¯s notes. The other parts were thought up by me¡­¡± So that was the case. Gawain had a clear understanding. Gawain had also read the rogue mage¡¯s notes thoroughly. There was indeed plenty of superficial geometry and mathematical knowledge. Even though there wasn¡¯t an organized system, it could be said to be some sort of ¡®foundation¡¯. If Reba had this aspect to her talent, then it wouldn¡¯t be weird for her to receive some enlightenment, allowing her to achieve such things today. Even if she was enlightened by the rogue mage¡¯s notes, her achievements were still unbelievable. ¡°Very good, a very good method.¡± Gawain nodded with satisfaction before saying, ¡°Next¡­ Why would you choose to bury the magic circle underground?¡± ¡°Oh, that is because Lord Ancestor said that this magic circle is to beid down for the cksmith store.¡± Reba nodded and said, ¡°I thought that since the cksmiths and their apprentices were different from mages, the way they do things would also be different from mages. During the process of shifting materials between the furnaces and creating the ironware, they could destroy the magic circle¡¯s structure very easily. Furthermore, burying the magic circle underground wouldn¡¯t affect its function and wouldn¡¯t affect future constructions on the surface. As long as it is within the range of the magic circle, it would be very convenient to add in new furnaces, or to remove or modify the current furnaces. How should I say this¡­? It is simply more convenient this way.¡± Function, allocated area, energy source, energy consumption, crucial system encapstion, possible expansion¡­ Gawain¡¯s brain emerged with plenty of terms that could be used to rece Reba¡¯s words. Finally, he had a thought that was even more important. Reba had realized that this magic circle would be meant for ¡®normal people¡¯ like cksmiths and had fixed her design on being ¡®usable for normal people and also to be used in a safe method¡¯. Even though she was just simply burying it, her thoughts were extremely appropriate. A mainstream mage would never consider a magic circle meant for normal people to use, but Reba¡­ She was a non-mainstream mage who had taken five years to learn a fireball spell. Her thoughts didn¡¯t follow the thoughts of a regr mage! Gawain suddenly came back to his senses after a short daze. He saw Heidi¡¯s thoughtful expression and couldn¡¯t help butughingly ask, ¡°Did you have such thoughts?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve¡­ never thought of such things before.¡± Heidi had aplex expression while replying. Reba¡¯s thoughts were too irregr, but at the same time, Heidi was aware of the logic behind these designs. She could even subtly sense the importance of the magic circle being ¡®usable for normal people¡¯, and this seemed to be the direction that the ancestor was attached to. ¡°This is indeed very amazing, but if you bury the magic circle, how are you going to monitor it? This magic circle might be formed with fundamental symbols and isn¡¯t as precise or fragile as high-level magic circles, but basic monitoring is still required. Moreover, if it really broke down, how are you going to mend it?¡± ¡°I have left many stakes like this.¡± Reba pointed at those wooden stakes inside the yard. ¡°The stakes with ropes are the monitoring points. Later, I will switch them with mithril-ted rods. The bottom part of the metal rods will be in contact with the most crucial parts of the magic circle¡¯s symbols. If there is a problem with the magic circle, the corresponding symbols will be extinguished. Furthermore, after long-term use, mithril will turn ck after losing its energy and will produce heat for a period of time. A single nce will be enough to see which part of the magic circle has a problem. When repairing it, only the corresponding section will need to be dug up¡­ It might be a little more troublesome than traditional magic circles, but at least, the entire yard wouldn¡¯t have to be dug up.¡± As Reba was speaking, she revealed a pleased smile and waved the stack of paper in her hand. The papers were filled with symbols and lines which were obviously sketched by her. ¡°Moreover, this magic circle isn¡¯t going to break down so easily. Lord Ancestor, please take a look. I have rearranged the symbols¡¯ structure¡­ Of course, I didn¡¯t change the fundamental parts. I simply extended the symbols from the rogue mage¡¯s design that could stack functions and connected themyer byyer¡­¡± Goddamnit, a redundant system¡­! The corner of Gawain¡¯s eyes were twitching before he looked at the stakes that Reba had prepared in advance to use as monitoring points¡­ Primitive sensors! Once Reba started bbing, it was very hard for her to stop, especially when she was showing off her achievements. At this moment, she even said, ¡°¡­ This way, the entire self-sufficient magic circle¡¯s efficiency will be slightly improved. Furthermore, even if a part of a symbol is damaged, only the energy supply will be lowered. The consumption parts that are connected to the magic circle will not have a huge impact¡­ Because the magic circle is constructed with the standard to produce more energy than required¡­¡± Reba spoke a bunch of words with excitement before finally stopping. She seemed to have realized that she was speaking by herself; as such, she looked at Gawain with an anxious and frightened expression. ¡°Lord Ancestor¡­ are my ideas too reckless?¡± Gawain didn¡¯t know what kind of expression he should make right now. After some thought, he pressed down on the youngss¡¯s head and said, ¡°No, you are a genius.¡± ¡°Ah?!¡± ¡°Furthermore, I have a suggestion.¡± Looking at Reba¡¯s sketches, Gawain pointed at some redundant connecting parts and said, ¡°The symbol connections at these parts can be easily severed and merged together. If the symbols are damaged, the connections can be directly severed during repair and connected again after the repair. This way, the entire magic circle won¡¯t need to be stopped during the repair.¡± Reba¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°That¡¯s right! Why didn¡¯t I think of that¡­? Lord Ancestor is indeed very intelligent!¡± Gawain¡¯s eyes twitched. He knew that Reba was speaking sincerely, but he still felt very diffident¡­ Youngss, you are the most intelligent one! After dazing for a moment, Gawain couldn¡¯t help but turn to Heidi and ask, ¡°Didn¡¯t anyone notice Reba¡¯s talents?¡± ¡°Her calctive abilities and imaginative ideas have always been very¡­ outstanding.¡± Heidi was considering her words. ¡°But these abilities had never been put to good use. The standard of a mage¡¯s strength has always been determined by spellcasting, and in this aspect, she has always been a¡­ bottom feeder.¡± ¡°What a waste of talent.¡± Gawain frowned and didn¡¯t reserve himself while giving an evaluation. ¡°Is spellcasting really the only standard? Then, why notpare strength only to goris?!¡± Even though Gawain said it, he knew very clearly that it was actually reasonable and logical in the current state of affairs. In an era when technology was unable to facilitate a leap in civilization, it was very normal to judge a person¡¯s value by their individual capabilities. Especially in a world where extraordinary powers and demonic beings existed, exceptionalbat strength that would guarantee survival was a prerequisite. When one¡¯s survival was still at risk, was there a need to talk about technology and innovation? If individual strength was the standard, it wouldn¡¯t be a big problem for generations to continue. At the same time, the intelligentmunitiescking strength would also be unable to transform their intelligence into power, or perhaps, they just weren¡¯t able to generate enough power. If that was the case, then the current standard of judgment might continue forever. ¡®You are unable to prove that your intelligence will make you strong in the future, but I can already prove that my strength can guarantee my existence.¡¯ This was what was happening. But didn¡¯t this mean that humans would need to arm-wrestle with goris forever? Reba had extraordinary talents indeed. Gawain had finally confirmed this point. She was an unconventional viscountess that everyone looked down on. She had been ostracized by the aristocratmunity¡­ because she was a descendant of the Cecil n. She had been scorned by the magemunity¡­ because she couldn¡¯t even execute the illumination spell. She had been the topic of gossip for the merchants and residents of other territories¡­ because she was truly a terrible leader who issued bold and imaginative decrees but was unable to make her territory or herself prosperous. It was because no one could see her talents. In fact, they couldn¡¯t even understand. In a society where people made a living relying on nature and where the poor would retrogress, no one was able to value her calctive abilities. In a society where mages could be hired, especially mid or high-ranking mages in the upper echelons, no one required her calctions¡­ ¡®Convenient¡¯ magic could indeed solve everything, and if it couldn¡¯t solve something, one simply had to use stronger magic. With Eagle Vision and Eye of the Mage, was there a need to calcte the coordinates on thend? Professional mages could simply use their senses to controlrge-scale magic circles. Why would there be a need for sensors? Furthermore¡­ an inferior mage who only knew how to use Fireball wouldn¡¯t have the chance to take charge in the construction of a magic circle. It was why Reba was so happy when she obtained the approval from Gawain. This was the first time in her life she had been given the authority to do the thing she specialized in. ¡°Lord Ancestor¡­¡± Reba looked at Gawain with an uneasy expression. ¡°Do you think that I¡ª¡± Gawain smiled and ced his hand on her head. ¡°You are the pride of Cecil n.¡± Chapter 62 - Magic Web 1 and Blacksmith Store Chapter 62: Magic Web 1 and cksmith Store Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Feeling therge hand smoothing the top of her head, Reba felt a little confused. Her first reaction was that she had heard wrongly. Her second reaction was that Lord Ancestor had said it wrongly. Her third reaction¡­ was that this was some kind of constion. It couldn¡¯t possibly be sarcasm, right? The young viscountess who had never achieved anything from a young age would never have imagined that she would be so praised. After seeing Reba¡¯s reactions, Gawain repeated his words again beforeughing. ¡°Don¡¯t be startled. I am seriously praising you. It is probable that you aren¡¯t even aware of your incredible talent.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Reba was at a loss before she blinked her eyes with embarrassment and said, ¡°But I am just clever in these trivial matters¡­ Such things wouldn¡¯t be needed in normal situations.¡± Such exceptional talents had actually been categorized as trivial¡­ Gawain was truly a little speechless. Reba was born a little too early, but it was fortunate that Gawain came in time and would have the chance to bring out these innate talents. Gawain took a careful look at Reba¡¯s modified magic circle¡­ He might be a knight but back then, Gawain Cecil was considered half a schr and had studied magic circle theories quite a bit. Coupled with the fact that the Gondor Empire was rather magically developed, basic magic knowledge was therefore fairly widespread. As such, Gawain didn¡¯t have a hard time understanding the basic runes used to form this magic circle. After taking a serious look, he was certain that Reba¡¯s modifications to these runes were feasible. This magic circle had turned from a rough concept into something that matched his expectations. It could be used as the foundation of a ¡®prototype¡¯, and if it was going to be perfected, it would need to go through practical tests first. Gawain raised a question. ¡°Have you considered how to expand it further?¡± ¡°Expand it further?¡± Reba paused for a moment before asking, ¡°What expansion? Draw it bigger?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m asking whether you can connect it with other self-powered magic circles that are simrly structured but of different scale. Or even to use a certain magic circle as a unit in a foundational structure that can connect endlessly and that can expand to finally form argework covering a vast region.¡± Gawain looked at these orderly arranged runes and could subtly see a usiblebination and shadows of repetition. He couldn¡¯t help but propose a rather bold idea. ¡°Every magic circle wouldn¡¯t be independent and are all connected together¡­ Can you understand what I¡¯m proposing?¡± Reba might have outstanding mathematical talent and creativity, but such a grand concept was still rather profound to Reba. She was trying hard to ponder but finally frowned with distress and asked, ¡°Lord Ancestor, the thing you are saying¡­ Could it really exist?¡± ¡°Just treat it as my incredible imagination.¡± Seeing Reba¡¯s confused expression, Gawain knew that he must not be too eager for rapid results. Hence, he stopped the topic from going in this direction and instructed, ¡°Construct Magic Web 1 first and let the cksmith store start running it. We will talk about other things in the future.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Reba nodded with delight. ¡°Earlier on, I was discussing the cksmith store with Hummel¡­¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Gawain raised his brows. He had indeed seen Reba in a discussion with Hummel, but the pleasant surprise of Magic Web 1 had nearly made him forget about the matter. ¡°What were you discussing?¡± ¡°About the new furnace.¡± Reba raised her head and said, ¡°I was thinking that if Magic Web 1 started up, the furnaces would be able to produce proper magic circles, and we wouldn¡¯t need to use runes that are hard to use. If that was the case, the furnaces could be modified further, right? But I don¡¯t know how to forge, so I could only discuss it with Hummel and ask if he had any ideas to improve the furnace or workflow¡­¡± The old cksmith Hummel was staring in reverence at the nobles. His head was lowered as he listened to the Viscountess and the Duke discussing the problems. For amoner like him to stand in this ce and to participate in conversations with nobles, he was feeling honored and nervous at the same time. When Gawain shifted his attention onto Hummel, this old cksmith¡¯s back was truly perspiring with cold sweat. He would have never dared to imagine that the noble lord who had never used the bellows toe and guide him on the construction of the cksmith store. But Hummel had no choice but to cooperate; thus, he was already prepared for Gawain to propose a bunch of outrageous requests while Hummel and his apprentices would have to work desperately toplete the tasks¡­ In fact, such things weren¡¯t strange. It was rumored that there was a viscountess in the north who had a sudden impulse to guide the gardeners on pruning. She had set a rule that every golden fleece¡¯s blossom should have two flower buds instead of three¡­ Because of this, over a dozen gardeners had suffered for a long time until the Viscountess had lost interest in this matter. ¡°There¡¯s no need to be nervous.¡± Gawain could see Hummel¡¯s anxiety and spoke in a calm manner. ¡°Give me your opinion on this.¡± ¡°I¡ªI don¡¯t any opinions.¡± Hummel lowered his head and spoke humbly, ¡°The young Viscountess is truly knowledgable and intelligent. These things that she designed are things that poor people like us would never understand in our lifetime. It is already taxing just for me to learn how to use it. How can I possibly have any opinions?¡± Gawain looked at Hummel and shook his head. ¡°Of course, you wouldn¡¯t understand the parts on magic. But you know the most about the furnace and the anvil. You are the professional for this part, and we will respect your opinions.¡± Respect¡­ amoner¡¯s opinion? Hummel thought he was hallucinating at first, but after seeing the particrly serious expressions on the faces of Gawain, Heidi, and Reba, he finally confirmed that it was true¡­ At least, the Lord Duke had said so. Thus, he could only brace himself and said, ¡°I feel that¡ª I feel that since the furnace is going to use real magic to increase the temperature, instead of just modifying the furnace, why not just start over and make a brand new kind of furnace¡­¡± Gawain raised his brows. ¡°Brand new?¡± Hummel nervously grabbed his own arms and tried his best to use a clear and obvious way to exin his idea. ¡°Since we are using real magic, the previous restrictions of those runes would no longer exist¡­ Firstly, the furnace can be bigger, allowing more metal to be smelt at once. Secondly, since the magic circle wouldn¡¯t have the problem of shattering, the furnace wouldn¡¯t need to put out to cool off. Perhaps, it could constantly burn, and it would save us the time and effort of reheating it. But doing so would mean that it had to constantly be in use¡­¡± Gawain listened intently and would only interrupt when he felt he could make a suggestion. Hummel was then able to speak all his opinions. At first, Hummel was stuttering and speaking with error due to his nervousness. But soon enough, he was speaking smoothly and fluently. When he was almost finished, he felt very surprised. He didn¡¯t expect Gawain to really listen to all his opinions so seriously. A duke was true nobility and was a figure thatmoners would not dare to think too much on. But this duke was actually standing in this messy ce and listening to the opinions of amoner. Furthermore, Gawain wasn¡¯t pretending to listen as he would nod while listening and would even raise questions and suggestions for some of the minor details! Of course, these questions and suggestions would make Hummel bewildered from time to time. Was this noble lord in front of him truly someone who had never used the bellows and iron hammer? How could he ask so many questions rted to smelting and smithing? Although there were plenty of questions that Hummel felt were rather bold and imaginative, without a doubt, these questions were all closely rted to actual situations of smithing and smelting¡­ It definitely wasn¡¯t nonsense like ¡®golden fleece¡¯s blossom should have two flower buds instead of three¡¯! When Hummel finally finished, Gawain let out a light breath and looked the old cksmith in the eyes. The old cksmith got nervous. ¡°My¡ªmy lord¡­¡± ¡°How many years have you been a cksmith?¡± Gawain suddenly asked. ¡°Thirt¡ª About thirty years,¡± Hummel replied quickly. ¡°People like us don¡¯t remember months and years very clearly¡­¡± ¡°An old cksmith with thirty years of experience. I didn¡¯t expect that you would have so many innovative ideas.¡± Gawain was a little puzzled. ¡°ording to logic, these ideas will normally only be thought up by youngsters who aren¡¯t restricted by reasoning. How are you able to think of so many ideas?¡± Hummel opened his mouth and only spoke after a few seconds, ¡°¡­ My lord, I¡¯m not afraid of youughing, and these ideas didn¡¯t suddenly appear just now. They were umted over many years¡­¡± Gawain revealed an interested expression and said, ¡°Tell me.¡± ¡°After being a cksmith for decades, I have a full understanding of furnaces and iron. If this is a habit, then it has indeed been very ustomed.¡± Hummel¡¯s wrinkled face forced out a smile as he added, ¡°But I remember when I was still an apprentice¡­ Back then, my father was the vige cksmith, and I was learning the art from him. There was a year when the feudal lord wanted us to forge a batch of high-quality iron, and I volunteered to take control of the furnace. My father felt that since I had been learning for so many years, it was time for me to take charge. Therefore, he allowed me to try, but there was a hup¡­¡± Hummel paused before saying, ¡°I was too hasty, and before the furnace had enough time to cool down, I reheated it¡­ and caused the runes to be shattered.¡± ¡°Once the runes were shattered, the furnace would bepletely useless. It was the cksmith store¡¯s most valuable and most important tool. My father was enraged and hung me at the entrance of the store to whip for half a day, nearly whipping me to death. He said the only reason he didn¡¯t whip me to death was that if I really died, no one would be able to help out with the work at home, and no one would be able to inherit the cksmith store¡­¡± ¡°That year, we were unable to finish the feudal lord¡¯s order, and my father suffered dozens ofshes in the castle¡­¡± It was obvious that the incident during his apprenticeship had left a deep stigma in Hummel¡¯s heart. After being berated by his father and seeing his father getting punished at the castle, many ideas about smithing and smelting had started to germinate in his heart. It was fortunate that after 30 years, those ideas didn¡¯t wither in Hummel¡¯s heart. Perhaps they had already withered, but after seeing Reba¡¯s n to ¡®rece the furnace¡¯s runes with a magic circle¡¯, this old cksmith¡¯s heart was surging with hope. For new hope to surge, it was already a rather promising breakthrough. Since this old cksmith wasn¡¯t an inflexible person that was unable to ept new ideas, some of the things seemed like they could be prepared in advance. Chapter 63 - Abnormal Change Chapter 63: Abnormal Change Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The construction of Magic Web 1 was very sessful, and Reba indeed had a great talent for this aspect. However, because the ¡®Magic Web¡¯ needed an arrangement consisting of only the most fundamental runes, the rogue mage had used calction and innovation to simplify this unbelievable magic circle to the extreme. In fact, the materials required for the magic circle had been downgraded to an inconceivable degree. The quartz gravel that evenmoners could buy was actually used as the main material. As for the crucial points, they merely required a little bit of mithril and obsidian as conducting materials. The budget was entirely within Cecil n¡¯s capability. After all, that rogue mage was extremely unconventional, and if the Magic Web couldn¡¯t be simplified to this stage, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to do any of this. The currently smooth undertaking meant that the relevant pressure would soon follow suit¡­ In Gawain¡¯s vision, the territory would first need to maintain a sufficient stock of steel. With enough steel, there would be weapons, equipment, tools forbor, and basic facilities to produce a higher grade of products. Construction of the smithing facility was only the first step. It was more important toplete the eastern mining area to ensure a constant supply of ores. The construction of the mining area would need even more materials. With theck of heavy machinery, they could only rely on manpower to mine for ores; thus, they needed more manpower. At the same time, the construction of the camp on this side also had to be hastened. The switching of tents to wooden houses was just a makeshift n. A firm and proper camp should not be constructed with wooden blocks. But in this era, this was the fastest construction technique and material? After all the problems were ced in front of his eyes, Gawain felt that building up from nothing was a very difficult task. Even with the support of magic and the ability to neglect the problem of funds temporarily, it still wasn¡¯t easy to construct a new home in a piece of emptynd. At this moment, Gawain couldn¡¯t help but look forward to the aid that Francis II had promised. Food and clothing were a factor, but most importantly, it was the 100 artisans and apprentices. A hundred individuals. Even if they were unlucky individuals who had been ostracized and forced to go south for thend im, it was still 100 skilled talents! To the Cecil n who only had a total of over eight hundred individuals, what was the concept of having 100 skilled people? It was enough to make Gawain smile in his sleep, frightening the nearby soldiers that were on night watch. It was a pity that at least two weeks were needed before they would arrive. When mentioning talents, Gawain recalled that Amber had already departed for two days¡­ Why wasn¡¯t there any news? That disgraceful being thatcked moral principle wouldn¡¯t possibly abscond after taking a few gold bars, right? In therge tent at the center of camp, Gawain¡¯s mind was filled withplicated thoughts. He was trying his best to concentrate on the blueprint in front of him while Betty was seated in a nearby cushion and dozing off little by little. The blueprint in front of Gawain was the new type of furnace that he was designing. It had a simr shape and structure to the st furnace on Earth, but the mechanism within was entirely different. There was a need to reserve space for the magic circle; there was also the need for the magic-conducting structure of the furnace to be as close to the buried ¡®Magic Web 1¡¯ as possible. At the same time, the smelted molten iron should not damage the magic patterns of the furnace¡­ This was an entirely different thing aspared to the magic web and waterwheel. Gawain had tobine the knowledge of both worlds in order toplete this furnace design. If the ¡®Magic Web¡¯ was the Cecil n¡¯s foundation, then designing this peculiar ¡®hybrid furnace¡¯ would be Gawain¡¯s ¡®foundation¡¯. Gawain knew clearly that only bypleting the new furnace would it then be possible to realize all the bold and imaginative ideas in his mind. This was something that no one could help him with. He had alreadypleted thebustion chamber and molten-iron drainage. ording to Gawain Cecil¡¯s knowledge, a space for the magic circle had been properly reserved. Gawain rubbed his temple and reached out to the side. ¡°Betty, bring me that sheepskin bag to store the blueprint¡­ The one with the red string.¡± There was no response from the side apart from light snoring. Gawain turned around and saw a fatigued little maid who had curled up into a bundle on the cushion and was sleeping soundly. It seemed like it was truly a boring matter to apany him in this. Gawain shook his head and didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. Just as he was preparing to stand up to take the sheepskin bag, he saw Betty suddenly opening her eyes and standing up. She then walked towards the corner of the tent dizzily and opened the chest to retrieve the sheepskin bag before she wobbled towards him¡­ She had executed the entire process with nearly closed eyes¡­ Gawainughed as he received the sheepskin bag. As he was storing the blueprint, he looked at Betty who was trying to keep her eyes open. ¡°If you¡¯re tired, you can sleep first. I don¡¯t know how much longer I¡¯ll have to work.¡± Betty suddenly sobered up and forcefully opened her eyes while shaking her head. ¡°I am not sleeping. If my lord doesn¡¯t sleep, I won¡¯t sleep!¡± She then lowered her head and looked at the sketches on Gawain¡¯s table with a serious expression. Gawain felt a little curious. ¡°Are you able to read these?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t read¡­¡± Betty shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m illiterate¡­¡± ¡°Oh, then it must be very boring for you to read these,¡± Gawain saidughingly. ¡°No wonder you fell asleep earlier.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t sleep!¡± Betty quickly shook her head before she looked at the manuscript that was filled with words and asked, ¡°My lord, you know many words, uh¡­¡± She was obviously very tired, but when she saw the table that was covered in manuscripts, her fatigue seemed to have vanished. Gawain couldn¡¯t help but feel intrigued and asked, ¡°Do you wish to learn to read?¡± Betty subconsciously nodded before she quickly shook her head anxiously. She pinched the button on her maid dress and said, ¡°Madam Hansen said that maids don¡¯t need to learn how to read and simply need to know how to work.¡± ¡°That is unreasonable. Everyone can learn to read!¡± Gawain immediately corrected before he had a sudden impulse and said, ¡°If you wish to learn, I can teach you.¡± Betty¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t help but drift to the manuscripts again. But this time, she shook her head first and said, ¡°But Knight Philip said that paper in the territory is very precious and can¡¯t afford to be wasted by me¡­¡± Gawain was startled. He initially wanted to say there was plenty of paper here, but he immediately realized that Knight Philip¡¯s words were rather reasonable. The territory was still not self-sufficient, and anymunication with Tanzan Town had to be done with messenger riders. It was best to use as little of such resources as possible, and it would truly be rather luxurious for Betty to use it for writing practice. Furthermore, it was still unknown if thisss would truly be able to learn. What if she was just ying around? But seeing the little maid¡¯s nk expression, Gawain couldn¡¯t help butugh and said, ¡°Wait here.¡± He ran out to pick up a tree branch. He brushed his hand across the tree branch and used the power of a knight to clear up the spikes and small extensions. He then used a small knife to trim one of the edges before handing it to Betty. ¡°Use this to practice on the ground first. We will talk about it when you get better at it.¡± Betty received the branch with a startled expression. She then saw Gawain turning back to the study table and writing on a piece of paper. Soon enough, he started writing some letters¡­ The yellowish and rough paper was soon filled withrge letters, the fundamental alphabet. Below was arge word. Gawain handed the piece of paper to Betty and said, ¡°This is the alphabet, and below is your name. Practice ordingly¡­ If you have any questions, you can ask me.¡± Betty had a reaction as she received the paper like it was some treasure. She was so happy that a snivel nearly flowed out. The tent was pitched over soil, but it was tamped down firmly. Gawain marked an area beside his table and designated it as the ce for Betty to practice. After loosening the soil for the little maid, he went back to his table, while the little maid squatted at the side and started to practice the fundamental alphabet clumsily. She seemed to be rather diligent. Gawain¡¯s mind shed to a lesson that he had once attended in his previous life. He then shook his head andughed. After this interlude, he felt his spirit feeling a lot more rxed, and his train of thoughts was much more energetic. He took out another piece of paper and prepared to solve the other problems. But this peaceful atmosphere didn¡¯tst long. A short momentter, Gawain heard a noisy mor outside the tent. He soothed Betty and asked her to practice here at ease before he walked out of the tent quickly. Knight Byron was running towards this ce, and his face looked rather anxious. Gawain knew that something must have happened. Gawain asked before the knight even spoke, ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°My lord, the soldier guarding the treasure vault in the mountain sent a report. The report mentioned a strangemotion at the treasure vault, and something seemed to be grinding the wall or banging on something¡­ But the doors of the treasure vault are sealed, and they cannot enter to check on the situation inside. They had no choice but to deliver the news first.¡± A problem at the remnants?! Gawain could only feel himself perspiring with cold sweat. ¡®Everything can be discussed, but nothing must happen to that treasure vault!¡¯ ¡®That is truly my funeral funds!¡¯ Immediately after, heposed himself. If this news hade earlier, he might have been in more of a panic. But fortunately, he had been constantly arranging men to shift the important resources to the camp. Even though it had yet to bepletely shifted out, they had moved at least one-third of it. Even if something happened to the treasure vault or even if it copsed, it wouldn¡¯t be the death of him¡­ After some self-constion, Gawain managed to calm downpletely¡­ It was very dark now, so Byron didn¡¯t notice the cold sweat on his lord¡¯s forehead. ¡ªInsert ¡®Old Ancestor¡¯s Reputation Is Saved.jpg¡¯ Gawain was wondering whether to investigate immediately or to wait until tomorrow morning. But he quickly came to a verdict: ¡®How can I sleep! Who can actually sleep with such a problem hanging?! If it was Reba, she might have already copsed!¡¯ ¡°Let Knight Philip take charge of the camp¡¯s defense. Look for a few elite soldiers and follow me to the mountain. Also, call Heidi too. Her support magic should be rather useful.¡± Chapter 64 - Depths of the Remnants Chapter 64: Depths of the Remnants Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Actually, Gawain intended to call Reba too, but she had been busy with the construction of ¡®Magic Web 1¡ä and hadn¡¯t had a good rest for many days. She was finally able to rest a little earlier today; thus, Gawain didn¡¯t wake her up. In any case, an additional Fireballuncher wouldn¡¯t be of much use either¡­ It wouldn¡¯t even be as powerful as Gawain shing someone himself. Heidi had yet to rest. She was still studying the systems and the ns that Gawain had written. After hearing that there was a problem in the treasure vault in the mountains, she immediately put on her coat and rushed over. Seeing that she was a little anxious, Gawain consoled her, ¡°Don¡¯t panic. It was just some abnormal noises. Perhaps some of the ancient facilities in the remnants had budged¡­ If it was really going to copse, the noises wouldn¡¯t be that subtle.¡± Heidi nodded with a deeply worried face. Knight Byron quickly picked the elite soldiers and followed Gawain¡¯s lead to pass through the mountain paths and arrive at the main entrance of the ancient stronghold. The temporary wooden sentry post had five fixed soldiers that would guard this entrance in rotating shifts. The fire that illuminated the entrance of the remnants had made the situation clear¡­ Apart from the nervous-looking soldiers, nothing looked strange. ¡°My lord.¡± A soldier came over and bowed respectfully after seeing Gawain. ¡°There were another two series of echoes from inside.¡± ¡°Mm, I will take a look personally.¡± Gawain then walked toward the entrance while saying, ¡°Everyone is to stand guard outside. Without my orders, no one is to enter.¡± Standing in front of the remnants, Gawain used the tinum disc to activate the ancient Gondor magical runes. As the heavy purple steel door started opening in a splendid disy of magic, Gawain heaved a sigh of relief. At least the magic channels are working normally. It means that there aren¡¯t a lot of changes inside. At first, Heidi had subconsciously gripped her staff and drawn the spell mold of Ice Arrow, but she undid the magic immediately after. She changed it to support-type magic instead. It would have been embarrassing if my magic missed the target. The purple steel door was gradually opening when the magic crystal situated in the center of the hall lit up. Gawain ced his hand on the Sword of Pioneers¡¯ hilt and entered with caution. The hall¡¯s interior seemed normal as those metal ingots, weapons, and armors that had yet to be shifted were still in their proper ce. The consistent and bright illumination of the magic crystals reflected off those metallic objects. The entire hall didn¡¯t show any signs of movements or copse, and everything seemed normal. But after scanning the entire ce, Gawain immediately noticed some changes¡­ A few doors in the depths of the hall were opened. The ancient remnants didn¡¯t just consist of this hall after all. Inside the mountain, there were even bigger structures, and from the scale of this entrance and the walls of the mountain, one could already estimate the construction¡¯s structure. But as of now, Gawain and the group merely made use of the entrance hall¡­ It wasn¡¯t because they didn¡¯t wish to go deeper, but the doors that led into the depths had all been locked. Seven hundred years ago, when the northern pioneers discovered the remnants, the doors that led deeper were already locked. Furthermore, it used an entirely different magic seal aspared to the entrance. Back then, the pioneers were able to break open the magic lock of the main entrance but were helpless towards the doors in the depths of the hall. Hence, they merely treated the hall as a treasure vault and put down a new seal before leaving. Seven hundred yearster, Gawain led the Cecil n¡¯s pioneers and revisited this ce, but he and the people he brought were still unable to do anything about those doors. Heidi had once studied the doors in the hall for an entire day and was still unable to unlock them¡­ These seals were made with magical techniques during Gondor Empire¡¯s peak, and it was far beyond the capabilities of a level 3 mage like Heidi. Gawain had originally nned to leave these doors alone and would only reconsider dealing with them after the situation was stable. He didn¡¯t think that these doors would actually open up by themselves today. Heidi had also noticed the doors and restlessly tugged on Gawain¡¯s clothes. ¡°Ancestor, those doors¡­¡± ¡°I saw them. Heavens know how they were opened,¡± Gawain replied with a frown. His mind couldn¡¯t help but recall the red-spot burst and the surge of magic a few days ago¡­ Could it be that the surge of magic had reached the remnants and unlocked these seals? Afterwards, when Gawain asked Heidi and Reba to use the tinum disc to open the doors to move more items, had they somehow activated the doors on the inside? ording to Gawain¡¯s knowledge of the Gondor Empire¡¯s magical techniques, it was highly possible. Gawain led a few soldiers to those three doors and started to ponder. ording to tropes, if someone was to explore an ancient site that suddenly opened in the middle of the night, the explorers would generally die in the process. But it would also depend on the setting¡­ If this was an American TV series, everyone who entered would die. But if this was a Japanese TV series, there would be a possibility of encountering a female ghost before they died. But if this was a Chinese TV series¡­ it was highly possible that the female ghost would do something to him¡­ Gawain looked at everyone. This group of people was wearing armor and helmets, or a magic staff. No matter how he looked at it, this was an American TV series. If they didn¡¯t enter, they would certainly die, and they wouldn¡¯t even get to see the female ghost. Just as he had made his decision and prepared to close the doors for now, with the thought that he woulde back to explore when the conditions and timing were a little more suitable. However, he heard Heidi muttering something. ¡°There seems to be a magical response from the inside¡­ In a very deep ce.¡± Gawain¡¯s eyebrows rose up. ¡°Magical response? Deep inside?¡± ¡°It ising from the depths of this door.¡± Heidi pointed at the door in the middle. ¡°Previously, the flow of magic must have been obstructed by the door, and I wasn¡¯t able to sense anything. Now that the door is opened, I can vaguely feel something inside¡­ It might be a magic circle or something that is circting mana. But the response is very very weak, and it is constantly weakening. It mightpletely vanish at any moment.¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± His impulse to turn and leave had been forcefully rejected. He let out a long sigh. Humans are creatures that court disasters indeed. No matter what was inside, it seemed like they had to see it before leaving. Wielding the Sword of Pioneers, Gawain silently used knight skills to give himself a few additionalyers of protection before he led the way. The depths of the remnants didn¡¯t have any light, and it was darker as they walked through the door. Heidi lifted her staff and chanted a few words quietly. A glowing magic ball floated on the top of the staff and illuminated the path. The ability to cast the Illumination spell¡­ a true mage! Seeing the extensive hallway with a tall and wide space, Knight Byron couldn¡¯t help but click his tongue in wonder. ¡°No wonder this ce was created during the prime era of the Gondor Empire¡­ How big is this ce?¡± ¡°Only the Heavens know. This was a stronghold constructed during the Meteoric Era of the Gondor Empire. They could empty an entire mountain to construct such arge-scale stronghold.¡± Gawain¡¯s mouth twitched as he added, ¡°I wonder if Amber has truly taken the funds and escaped¡­ It would¡¯ve been good if she was here.¡± ¡°For this kind of ancient remnants constructed with such high expertise, not even a brilliant rogue would be able to deal with it, right?¡± Heidi looked at Gawain with a puzzled look. ¡°Unsealing this kind of ce would normally take the expertise of a mage¡­¡± ¡°Not really. If Amber was here, I could throw her to scout ahead, and I wouldn¡¯t have to experience this tension,¡± spoke Gawain casually. ¡°Furthermore, she has excellent escape skills. And if she ran back, I could always throw her forward again¡­¡± Heidi had a bbergasted face. If the Ancestor spoke with such ack of moral sense, what could the juniors do?! Gawain took another nce at Heidi and smiled. ¡°I¡¯m just joking¡­ It¡¯s mainly because Amber has the Shadow Walk skill. In this ce with plenty of shadows, she will be more adept in finding hidden paths than us.¡± Heidi let out a breath of relief while Knight Byron nodded and said, ¡°I know that Ancestor is a role model for knights and definitely wouldn¡¯t do such a thing to ady¡­¡± Gawain¡¯s mouth twitched. Amber¡­? If it wasn¡¯t for her face and breasts, who would associate her with ady? To be honest, her chest wasn¡¯t that closely rted to mostdies either¡­ After a casual conversation that alleviated the tense atmosphere, everyone still remained vignt. With the illumination of Heidi¡¯s magic light sphere, Gawain looked closely at every detail and didn¡¯t miss out on any possible trap or the asional ancient writing on the wall. These mostly hadmonly used words of the ancient Gondor Empire. Thenguages used by the four great kingdoms now were developed from these writings. Due to the span of a thousand years, the writings would have some changes over time. Furthermore, the ¡®Meteoric Era¡¯ was the great revolution of the Gondor Empire; hence, only Gawain would be able to understand the ancient writings here. Heidi could only partly understand the writings. The scale of these mountain remnants was indeed massive; even Gawain was rather surprised. As they advanced in the center hallway, the group encountered plenty of forks, bends, and stairs. They went deeper into the mountain, and were constantly descending. During this expedition, Heidi had tested the flow of air and was certain there was aprehensive set of air vents in ces that couldn¡¯t be seen. It was almost expected with how incredible the ancient Gondor Empire was in its construction skills. During the process, they had also discovered plenty of rooms and other halls. The rooms and halls seemed to be constructed with rock-like materials. But after Heidi appraised it, she realized they were not rock-type materials after all but something man-made that was more durable than rock. Every room and hall was empty apart from some crumbling shelves or metallic tools that were about to turn into scrap. Basically, they were ancient objects without any value¡­ It was obvious that the people who had been in this ce had plenty of time to evacuate in an orderly manner. This also fitted Gawain¡¯s judgment of the ¡®Meteoric Era¡¯. But Heidi felt rather regretful. She assumed she would find some antique treasures inside. Even if they couldn¡¯t be used, they would still be things that ¡®came from the Gondor Empire¡¯s Meteoric Era¡¯. Just those words were enough to turn a piece of scrap into a highly contested treasure. The group didn¡¯t have time to explore each fork and room; thus, Gawain could only order a marking made for the ces they were unable to explore for now. In the future, when they had more manpower, they could slowly explore the ce. The group continued on, led by Heidi¡¯s sense of the magical echo. Chapter 65 - Ancient Facility Chapter 65: Ancient Facility Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Another hour passed by, and the group was still advancing into the unending hallway and passage. The scale of this thousand-year-old facility had already surpassed Gawain¡¯s imagination. Even during the Gondor Empire¡¯s prime in the ¡®Meteoric Era¡¯, it was very rare for the empire to construct a facility of this scale¡­ Even if it had the dual functions of a military stronghold and research facility, the scale was still far beyond Gawain¡¯s expectation. It seemed like the entire mountain had been emptied for the construction, and there were more downward slopes and stairs awaiting them. Gawain even suspected that it wasn¡¯t just the mountain that was hollowed. The magical discharge was still steadily being emitted, but it was rather weak. Due to the multiple forks and hallways, Heidi¡¯s guidance wasn¡¯t very reliable anymore. She was only able to judge the rough direction and used spirit-summoning and divination spells to determine which path on the fork they should choose. Even then, the group still made many detours and discovered plenty of deadends. Even though Knight Byron had been putting down markings along the way and also asked Heidi to mark out signs with magic, the soldiers were still rather ufortable after exploring the ancient remnants for such a long time. After noticing the difort, Knight Byron walked over to Gawain and said, ¡°My lord, if we continue exploring inside, we might get lost¡­ Everyone¡¯s sense of direction is in disorder.¡± Gawain frowned. In fact, he had also considered the problem of losing their way. But he was more confident than everyone else¡­ With his satellite spirit¡¯s excellent memory in use, he was able to remember nearly all of the forks they took and nearly every detail. His mind actually had the rough sketches of a map too, but it wouldn¡¯t be good for him to reveal such abilities. Even if he mentioned it, it wouldn¡¯t be able to put everyone at ease. After all, this ce was truly too huge. It would be great if Amber were here¡­ She would at least be able to scout ahead, and she could even run around using the shadow realm. She was adept at lockpicking and infiltration and definitely wouldn¡¯t be trapped in the remnants like normal people. She had already proven herself in the Cecil n¡¯s ancestral tombs. This time, Gawain had seriously considered this matter. It was a pity that Amber wasn¡¯t here right now. Gawain could only shake his head and said, ¡°Your concerns are reasonable¡­ We will walk a little further and make a few more markings. It doesn¡¯t matter if we have any discovery or notter. We will head back first beforeing again next time.¡± The lord didn¡¯t immediately order a return, but Gawain¡¯s ambiguous instructions allowed the soldiers to heave a sigh of relief as it felt as though they had received a kind of guarantee. The group then braced themselves before advancing again. After a section of path that was a descending stairway, there was another hall at the front. This hall had something additional aspared to the ones before: there were giant obsidian cubes that were arranged in an orderly manner in the hall. They were like stone tablets that were leaning on the wall. Below the cubes, there were metallic ducts or ¡®rails¡¯ that extended outwards. These all converged in the center of the hall where a strange hemisphere-shaped device was ced. Gawain frowned and walked to the side of the hemisphere-shaped device. He used his iron gloves to rub the surface of the device. The dust and oxidized substances on the surface were scraped off, revealing a silver metal underneath. ¡°What is this?¡± Heidi came over with curiosity. This room¡¯s facility obviously couldn¡¯t be taken away as it was a ¡®fixed instation¡¯. It was rare to see such things in the remnants, and all those obsidian cubes and metallic connectors had given her a strange intuition that this was all rted to magic. ¡°Magic Gathering Array¡­ I want to call it a Magic Capacitor.¡± Gawain was saying something that a person of this era wouldn¡¯t understand after mixing in some inexplicable terms. ¡°These obsidian cubes are linked to the facility¡¯s magic well. This hemisphere can gather powerful energy and produce a short-term, high-intensity energy flow. It will then go through this main duct¡±¡ªGawain pointed at a thick duct that was extending out from the hemisphere device and ultimately burrowed into the wall¡ª¡±and transfer the energy to the required location.¡± Heidi¡¯s eyes were widened slightly. As a mage, she couldn¡¯t help but feel excited for the ancient magical devices that were left behind from a thousand years ago. ¡°Gathers powerful energy? So this is a weapon?¡± ¡°No. This is a type of subsidiary energy source for the research facility. It is normally used to provide a temporary ¡®ignition¡¯ for those facilities that require huge energy consumption. Like the Rainbow Lens or something.¡± Gawain shrugged his shoulders and continued, ¡°During the Gondor Era, magic wasn¡¯t just used for fighting¡­ It might have been one of its important functions, but magic was also used for many other things. In my opinion, the mages should be putting their knowledge and magic into such research.¡± ¡°Research¡­,¡± Heidi mumbled while feeling befuddled. She wasn¡¯t unfamiliar with the term ¡®research¡¯ as mages were also known as researchers. Researching the mysteries of magic and analyzing the rules of runes were the work they were most proud of. But no matter what kind of research was undertaken, it would ultimately be on how to increase spellcasting power. A mage who didn¡¯t work on increasing one¡¯s spellcasting power would be viewed as a shoddy researcher. Heidi instinctively felt that the ¡®research¡¯ that Gawain mentioned was probably not the kind of research that she was familiar with. This old ancestor seemed to have the habit of putting his vision in a very wide and far angle. He would always mention ¡®generalization¡¯ and ¡®mass-production¡¯. However, the mages¡¯ focus on themselves ¡ª and even deliberately hiding their research ¡ª seemed to be in the opposite direction of his thoughts. Heidi shook her head, putting all these unimportant thoughts to the side, and heard Knight Byron asking, ¡°Madam, is the magical responseing from this ce?¡± Heidi concentrated her senses for a moment and shook her head, ¡°No, but it is already very near.¡± ¡°Note down this ce,¡± Gawain spoke. ¡°This ancient device is alreadypletely nonfunctional. There is no need to consider repairing it¡­ But it can be taken down to provide us at least half a ton of mithril and seven to eight tons of obsidian. There is also arge quantity of adamantine, purple copper, and purple steel.¡± ¡°Wait a moment¡­¡± Heidi quivered for a moment and looked at Gawain with astonished eyes. ¡°Ancestor¡­ Are you nning to break down this priceless ancient magical device?!¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Gawain looked at Heidi and replied, ¡°This device requires an extremely pure magic to be ¡®ignited¡¯. Right now, there isn¡¯t any corresponding technique to increase the purity of magic. Furthermore, even with the appropriate energy source, this thing has been in here for a thousand years, and theposition of the inside is already rotten to the core. Repairing it would be the same as constructing a new one.¡± Heidi was startled before she spoke with a queer expression, ¡°Ancestor might not feel a thing since you are from seven hundred years ago, but, to us, this thing is an antique¡­¡± Gawain¡¯s face trembled as he said, ¡°This item was already an antique before I died¡­ We need to view this practically. This thing doesn¡¯t have any value just sitting here. Only by smelting it will it obtain new life.¡± After hearing Gawain¡¯s words, Heidi realized that nothing she said was going to be of use. As such, she could only nod with an agonized expression. There was a saying, ¡®The child doesn¡¯t feel any pain when selling the grandfather¡¯s fields.¡¯ But why did it seem like the grandfather didn¡¯t feel any pain when he sold his own fields too¡­ The magic gathering device being here meant that the research facility was very close. From linking this ce with the magical response that Heidi had sensed earlier, the source might be a research device that was still operating. Gawain calmly activated the knight¡¯s ¡®Danger Detection¡¯ skill so as to defend against a possible magic trap or an ancient weapon that might still be operating. As they continued to advance, he casually asked Heidi, ¡°That¡¯s right. I hear them addressing you as Madam instead of Young Lady or Lady¡­ Are you married? Where is your husband?¡± Gawain had been wanting to ask this question for a long time, but he wasn¡¯t able to find a chance to ask. Heidi paused for a moment. It was normal for the ancestor to be worried about her marriage, so she answered, ¡°I¡¯m not married. But when I reached adulthood, I converted my religion to the Magic Goddess Milmina and forsook my right of inheritance, so the right of inheritance was given to Reba¡¯s father. ording to nws, adult women who had forsaken their right of inheritance due to religious conversion are all viewed as married, which meant that they had devoted themselves to religion. Originally, I still had my nobility and was a baroness without session rights. But there was a year when the territory was in difficulty and I¡­ I sold my title to a merchant¡­¡± Gawain nodded and responded with an ¡°oh¡±. At the same time, the information about Magic Goddess Milmina had appeared in his mind. Magic Goddess Milmina was also known as the Goddess of All Magic or the Mysterious Lady. She was believed to control the power of magic and was also the world¡¯s first giant dragon and first elf master mage¡­ As such, the legendary dragonnguage magic and the current elf magic were also created by her. She didn¡¯t have an official religion or faith as almost all those of the spellcasting professions were her ¡®shallow believers¡¯. But less than 1% of the mages officially converted their religion to this goddess. This was probably rted to the spellcasters¡¯ general fondness for unraveling mysteries and ack of divine beings to revere. Among the 1% of believers, there were plenty like Heidi who simply wanted to show that they had forsaken their right of inheritance. The Anzu Royal n¡¯s Princess Veronica who converted her religion to the God of Holy Light also did it for simr reasons. But that princess wasn¡¯t like the Cecil n¡¯s descendants who were so disappointing that they had no choice but to sell their nobility status. As such, she was still addressed as a princess (or her corresponding clerical status). After Heidi gave her reply, she was rather anxious and frightened. She was mainly afraid of two things. Firstly, it was whether the ancestor would be angry when he found out that the disappointing Cecil n¡¯s descendants actually had to survive by selling their nobility titles. Secondly, it was whether the ancestor would be angry when he found out that she was still not married at such an age. Especially the second point¡­ What if Gawain suddenly turned around and said, ¡®Why are you still not married? When are you nning to marry? What do you think of that XXX person?¡¯ and then press her to get married? Oh my god! An ancestor from 700 years ago pressing her to get married would be much worse than her own parents pressing her to get married! In fact, Heidi wasn¡¯t really worried about getting a beating for selling her nobility title¡­ However, Gawain merely gave an ¡°oh¡± reply and didn¡¯t say anything else. Heidi¡¯s wild imagination didn¡¯t persist for long as she finally sensed that the magical response was in front of her. Chapter 66 - Ball Chapter 66: Ball Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Heidi finally sensed that the magical power was right in front; perhaps there was only onest intersection left. Meanwhile, after roughly estimating the distance that the party had covered and the terrain of the Dark Range in this area, Gawain believed this to be the center of the mountains. The Gondor construction team might have really emptied a section of the mountains to build this inconceivably massive facility! What exactly was here that was worth building such a monstrous-level facility ¡ª for research or keeping guard over something? However, regardless of what was here, they had ultimately given up this ce. Heidi replenished the energy for the magic ball of light again. The ball of light that had begun to dim lit up therge areas around them once more. Gawain saw that ahead was a neat corridorid using gray stone bs. Magic crystalmps that had lost their efficacy were mounted on the walls on both sides of the corridor. There were also some tightly shut doors. And straight ahead, at the end, was a door leaf casted in bronze. The symbol of an eye and a triangle was carved on that door. The bronze door was notpletely shut; a very wide gap was left open. Gawain initiated his Danger Detection ability and did not find any traps or potential threats such as toxic gases and the like behind the door. However, this did not mean they could let down their guard. Before pushing open the door, Heidi first summoned a rune resembling eyes that radiated a faint glow. This rune drifted gently past the gap. A soft light floated in Heidi¡¯s eyes at the same time. ¡°It¡¯s a circr, empty room inside. It¡¯s very big. There are many broken long tables and shelves¡­ I can see lots of pipelines on the walls. The center of the room is a sunken pit¡­ There is an odd, spherical item in the pit. Right in the middle of the ceiling, there are also numerous hanging chains and tools.¡± Heidi frowned as she described what she saw, but all of a sudden, she cried out under her breath. The magic was cut off following that. ¡°What¡¯s going on?!¡± Gawain instantly focused on Heidi nervously. Heidi rubbed her eyes, sounding extremely embarrassed. ¡°I crashed into a wall.¡± ¡°¡­Uh, was there anything that appeared dangerous or resembled a trap?¡± Heidi shook her head. ¡°No, it just looks like aboratory, but it is many times bigger than theboratories I know of, and there are many pieces of equipment that I can¡¯t figure out. Besides, I¡¯ve confirmed that the magical power ising from the sphere in the center of the room. However, this energy form is something I¡¯ve nevere into contact with before.¡± Having confirmed that there weren¡¯t any traps or out-of-control ancient magical puppets, Gawain heaved a sigh of relief. As for the odd energy form that Heidi spoke of, they could only study it in detail after entering. Two stout soldiers came forward and, together with Knight Byron, pushed the ancient, dusty bronze door hard. The rusty and weathered hinges let out a creaking noise from their forcefulbined push. In this silent and airless space, the sound of hinges turning was especially piercing, and it resounded very, very far out along the corridor. Heidi instinctively grasped her staff tightly as she turned back, looking towards the dark corridor. She was almost afraid there would be some indescribable ancient monsters in the darkness that could be roused by the sounds of the bronze door opening and spring out of the shadows. But in the end, nothing happened. The door was pushed opened. Gawain stepped in, and in next to no time, he saw the things that Heidi had seen ¡ª a circr hall, damaged long tables, shelves spread along the hall, the magical power ducts, a depressed floor in the center, and a big rock-like ball lying in the pit. Gawain stood before the sphere. From a rough estimate, its diameter was about 1.5 meters. Its shape could be considerably well-defined, not taking into ount the coarse and uneven surface; this could almost be a standard sphere. While its material seemed to be rock, under the shine of the Illumination spell, it also showed hints of a metal-like texture. It was somewhat like a natural ball-shaped rock, yet also too round. However, if they were to say it was a man-made magical equipment, it was entirely different from the creation styles of the Gondor Empire. Moreover, there were neither runes nor metal connection points on its surface. It didn¡¯t seem like an ancient magical equipment no matter how they looked at it. ¡°The magical power is indeeding from inside this.¡± Heidi was frowning as she continued, ¡°But it¡¯s too weird. I¡¯m even finding that it¡¯s not quite like magical power, but a kind of¡­ distinct energy wave? Ancestor, was this also produced by the ancient Gondor Empire?¡± ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t seem so.¡± Gawain¡¯s brows were furrowed as he reached out and tapped the ¡®rock ball¡¯. It felt about the same as a real rock, very hard. ¡°Judging by the circumstances here, instead of saying this was something they had created, it was more like something they were researching¡­¡± ¡°Was this entire facility built to study this ball?¡± Knight Byron found it very inconceivable. ¡°The Gondor Empire spent so much effort just to study a ball?¡± Gawain thought for a moment and felt that even if it was the Meteoric Era where magical power was free, the people then probably wouldn¡¯t be silly to that extent. ¡°No. When this facility was evacuated, the people here took almost everything that they could with them in an orderly manner. It¡¯s unlikely that they would instead leave the most important item behind. This ball was probably an item they were studying, but most likely just one of the items and a not-too-important one, something they¡¯d decided to give up on. Presumably, they had not had much progress after studying it for some time, and just as they were preparing to dispose of it, orders to evacuate came from the top, so this was cast aside here.¡± ¡°So we¡¯ve gone through such a long hassle and only found this thing.¡± Knight Byron rubbed his chin. ¡°Your Excellency, how shall we deal with it?¡± Gawain was slightly troubled too. How were they supposed to transport this rock ball out? He reached out a hand and pushed the surface of the ball as he muttered, ¡°It upies so much space and is heavy too. No wonder the people of Gondor back then had¡ªeh?¡± With a push from him, the rock had shakily rolled out of its position. Gawain felt slightly embarrassed at once. ¡°It¡¯s not heavy?¡± The weightlessness of this ¡®rock ball¡¯ was beyond imagination! Initially, Gawain had thought that this lump had to weigh at least a ton; he never expected it to shift with a light push. When he tried again, he estimated that the rock probably weighed only a bit more than ten kilograms. To the extent that even Heidi could easily push and walk with it; this showed that it wasn¡¯t made of rock at all! Either that, or its inside was hollow¡­ Suppressing the urge to break it open on the spot to look inside, Gawain formed a judgment ording to the scale of this researchboratory and the remaining traces around the ball. This ¡®rock ball¡¯ should have been a research object of ¡®first species of safe wondrous items¡¯ and ¡®harmless with peculiar attributes¡¯ in this research facility. Hence, he decided, ¡°Let¡¯s bring this thing out, transport it back to the camp, and properly study it¡­ Hold on, it¡¯s not appropriate to put it directly in the camp. For safety¡¯s sake, put it on the newly leveled piece ofnd beside the camp. Send two soldiers to watch it. We¡¯ll specially build a tent for it tomorrow.¡± The Gondor Empire and the current era had several levels of generational difference in technology. A safe, harmless object of research then might not still be harmless today; therefore, it was better to be slightly more cautious. They were nervous on their way in but were now pushing a ball on their way out. One had to say, the scene of pushing a ball within the team ayed the soldiers¡¯ nervousness immensely, yet it also gave Gawain a deep sense of conflict. He felt that the atmosphere of his ¡®first alternate-world relic exploration that didn¡¯te easy¡¯ had been ruined by such a ball. It was like you were wearing the legendary armor, carried the best sword in the vige, epted the title of ¡®valiant hero¡¯ bestowed by the emperor, and even teamed up with four sages. Then, all of you started ambitiously on the journey to exterminate the demon king, but in the end, the demon king turned out to be Patrick Star 1. The people of Gondor in those days really had nothing better to do: why were they studying a ball?! With Heidi¡¯s magic marks and the almost hack-like map in Gawain¡¯s mind to show the way, the team¡¯s speed on their return was many times faster than before. Although they were now also pushing a ball, this unbelievably light thing couldn¡¯t be considered much of a burden. When it came to upward slopes or steps, Heidi would directly summon a Sculpture Hand to lift it. The team went back the way they hade just like that. Very soon, the faint light of the exit appeared ahead. Meanwhile, the soldiers outside had been waiting for a long time and were even starting to feel uneasy. The sounds of footsteps andmands that came from deep within the central door finally had them heaving sighs of relief. However, the noiseing together with the footsteps made them stare at one another. That sounded like something rolling on the ground¡­ The sight of two soldiers pushing a ball appeared before their eyes. As a matter of fact, one person was enough for the job; this was mainly to maintain bnce. ¡°Let¡¯s end it here and get back.¡± Returning to the entrance hall once more, Gawain let out a long exhale. He rested a hand on the rock ball. ¡°This is the result.¡± The soldiers looked at one another. The next day, everyone who moved about at the edge of camp all saw this odd sphere. It had been parked on an empty area ofnd outside of camp with several fully armed soldiers keeping guard beside it. The surrounding ten-odd meters around the sphere was circled by wooden stakes nted into the ground and linked using rope to form a partition. It looked utterly embarrassing, the bunch of soldiers keeping guard must have lost at cards; such murmurs of discussion spread among the people. Reba heard this news after she woke up and quickly rushed over to watch the fun. Seeing that both her ancestor and Aunt Heidi were present, she squeezed her way in, also looking curiously at the ball. ¡°Lord Ancestor¡­ this was what had been brought back from the remnantsst night?¡± ¡°We also had some metal samples and whatnot. There was a considerable amount of good stuff that could be dug from the ruins,¡± Gawain said with a nod. ¡°But it¡¯s just this thing that we can¡¯t figure out.¡± Reba curiously circled the big ball twice, then came back to ask, ¡°Can I touch it?¡± Gawain waved his hand. ¡°Don¡¯t throw big fireballs at it. You¡¯re free to do anything else.¡± Although this ¡®rock ball¡¯ was strangely light, it was actually really solid. He had already tested it. Under the premise that no superpower be used, striking on the sphere using ordinary swords caused almost no damage; hence, giving it a few knocks should be no problem. However, throwing fireballs at it would not necessarily be so; especially given Reba¡¯s stubborn temper, she just might throw a super fireball the size of a bathtub at it¡­ Reba curiously ced her ear on the surface of the sphere while tapping on it twice with her staff. She turned and shouted to Gawain, ¡°It¡¯s not hollow!¡± ¡°Yes, it is solid, yet it¡¯s also unbelievably light.¡± Gawain shrugged. ¡°Your Aunt scraped bits off it and found that it¡¯s apound material with extremely high metal content. If the entire ball was made of the same material, it¡¯d definitely be able to kill a man with its weight.¡± ¡°Perhaps the outeryer is only its shell, and the inside is actually an extremely weightless material?¡± A deep interest in research emerged in Reba. ¡°Shall we cut it open and have a look?¡± Gawainughed. ¡°That was what I¡¯d been nning on, but not now. We¡¯ll first use all sorts of methods that won¡¯t cause damage to study it. If there are really no results from it, then we¡¯ll consider cutting it open. After all, the Gondor people back then had used so many tools to study it but ultimately did not break its outer shell. There¡¯s probably a reason for that.¡± Reba appeared to be slightly disappointed. ¡°Oh¡­¡± Gawain nced at her with a smile. ¡°Compared to researching this ball, I have something else I would like to have you do¡­ if you have the time.¡± Reba¡¯s eyes lit up instantly. ¡°Ah? I do, I do! I¡¯m not personally needed with Magic Web 1 for now. The craftsmen and apprentices are currently digging ditches to smelt quartz sand. I¡¯m idle now! What do you want me to do?¡± Chapter 67 - The Steelworks Plan and Amber’s Return Chapter 67: The Steelworks n and Amber¡¯s Return Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Often, Reba found that she couldn¡¯t quite understand her Ancestor¡¯s thinking. However, there was something good in being a stubborn girl, and that was not forcing herself to understand stuff that she could not. Anyway, Ancestor can¡¯t be wrong; she¡¯d just do as he said. Watching Reba who¡¯d happily left after receiving the order but did not even inquire why she had to burn rocks, Gawain could not help but rub his chin and muttered, ¡°Indeed, the innate gifts that every person was born with are limited. Having more or less of it all depended on the dice. In Reba¡¯s case, she¡¯d probably rolled once and topped up her gifts in mathematics and imagination, then she was born with everything else at number one¡­¡± But that didn¡¯t matter since the blueprints and operation method had been assigned to her, he¡¯d let her figure it out herself. The actual case of project Magic Web 1 had proven that other than being candid, stubborn, having low EQ, and asionallying up with thoughts that were asking for a beating, this youngdy really had an astonishing talent in mathematics and creation. Such a gifted yer should be thrown out and left to crash headfirst into it. As long as she didn¡¯t fail, there¡¯d usually be unexpected gains, and giving her a bunch of restrictions and fetters would instead easily restrict the oue. Besides, even Gawain himself wasn¡¯t sure how many of those indigenous methods that he¡¯d restored through his memories of Earth could seed¡­ After casting the mission of ¡®burning rocks¡¯ to Reba, Gawain headed to the farm to have a look at their cultivation progress and confirm that production of the waterwheel had begun. Following that, he made a trip to the cksmith store and tossed the modern furnace he¡¯d designed to the old cksmith, Hummel. The old cksmith revealed astonishment towards the blueprint that Gawain took out. He was truly surprised. Hummel knew that the Lord was concerned about the modern furnace, and he remembered that Gawain had gathered some opinions and suggestions regarding the production of modern furnaces from him a few days ago. However, in his concept,ing to this extent for an aristocratic lord was already the utmost limit. Subsequently, he would, at best, send several craftsmen over to help him with the building of the new furnace and check on the progress asionally. He¡¯d never expected that Gawain woulde to him directly with the blueprint. Upon hearing the lord¡¯s words that the blueprint for the furnace was ready, Hummel¡¯s first reaction other than shock wasn¡¯t surprise; neither was he very touched; instead, he felt nervous and troubled. He maintained his stance. A duke, a great aristocrat, a figure who ought to be seated in a castle and eating using golden bowls, did he really have proper knowledge of forging, of building furnaces? Could the blueprint that he¡¯de up with really work? What should he do if it couldn¡¯t? Who would dare toment? But if they were to forcibly use it¡­ whose responsibility would it be? The old cksmith took the blueprint that Gawain handed over with a slightly woeful look. He quietly made up his mind: if this furnace was too impossible, he must not reveal it. At the worst, he would first agree, then work hard to build a furnace with a simr outer appearance but entirely different on the inside. If the Lord were to discover anything fishy and questioned him, he¡¯d im that the illiterate apprentices and veborers were too stupid, that they could not build the new furnace properly¡­ This thoughtsted until he had a clear look at the blueprint with deft structures and a logicalyout. Gawain took in all of Hummel¡¯s reaction and smiled. He was not a cksmith. To be honest, even if his experiences in his previous life had nothing rted to smelting or forging, which inte powerhouseing from an era of information explosion wouldn¡¯t be able toe up with a bunch of theoretical knowledge? Of course, an inte powerhouse with only theoretical knowledge would note in handy, but that was all right; he still had the memories of Gawain Cecil. Gawain Cecil was not a cksmith, but the first Duke of the East was. And an important piece of bragging material for the Duke of the East when he treated everyone to wine was knowledge in smelting. Add to that their intimate friendship, Gawain Cecil had numerous experiences of being dragged by the Duke of the East to the furnace to practice his skill. He naturally knew what kind of structure a qualified furnace ought to have. With twoyers of knowledgebined and suggestions from Reba and Heidi, as well as minor damage to his hairline, drawing out a blueprint was at least possible. However, confidence was confidence; Gawain wasn¡¯t at the extent of being blindly conceited. He knew the drawbacks of a non-professional leading the proficient and understood that his identity could easily keep the true specialists from giving their honest views. Hence, he volunteered, ¡°This blueprint is just something I modified ording to some furnaces from the Gondor era, so it might not suit the current situation. It¡¯s only meant to give you a line of thought. As for how this furnace could be operated, it¡¯s your business. Feel free to reconstruct it as you wish, as long as it fulfills my demands.¡± ¡°No, no, no, this design is already very logical,¡± Hummel said hurriedly. ¡°It has all theponents that a furnace should have, and they all seem to connect very well. And this idea of continuous smelting¡­ So long as there is a steady flow of ores into it and the g is cleared, it can burn on?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s continuous.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°But in doing so, the work pattern of ¡®a cksmith and a few apprentices rotating around a furnace¡¯ might no longer be suitable?¡± This evidently had note to Hummel¡¯s mind before this; he was still immersed in the intriguing concept of the modern furnace. With this reminder by Gawain, he was suddenly aware of what an extremely efficient furnace that didn¡¯t need to be extinguished meant. As if it was a certain instinct stemming from his upation, he realized that a deep gap had appeared between the former nging cksmith stores and this furnace before his eyes. And he associated that with those huge courtyards with lengths of a hundred meters that could hold tens of furnaces. He looked at Gawain with wide guys. ¡°Lord¡­¡± ¡°Steel¡ªsteel is the basis of everything. Of course, we will still have to take into consideration all sorts of strange metals,¡± Gawain said as he pulled out another item from his chest for Hummel. ¡°I¡¯ve asked around. You¡¯re literate, so you should be able to read these.¡± cksmiths were an upper ss amongst the civilians. Though they were still civilians, these people who held hammers had a roughly simr standing to n warriors or even training knights with swords or whips in hand. Moreover, several generations within the Hummel family had been tasked with smelting steel and forging weapons for the Cecil n; their status was all the more exceptional. Hence, Hummel was literate; his father had been very liberal in this aspect. Taking the sheet of paper from Gawain, Hummel merely nced through it briefly before his eyes widened in surprise. ¡°This way¡ªthis way, is it still a cksmith store?¡± ¡°No, this is Cecil Steelworks.¡± Gawain looked the old cksmith in the eyes, ¡°I want arge amount of steel. It could even exceed the total amount of steel you¡¯ve seen in your entire life. The modern furnace and Magic Web 1 are merely foundations within the foundation. And all of this can only be sustained by apletely new set of production structures.¡± This was the change from a workshop to a nt. Even Gawain himself wasn¡¯t sure what results such a rigid, top-down revolution would bring. However, he could not continue waiting in leisure. He could not wait for this society to slowly develop the sprouts of capitalism and an industrial revolution. Even if he was willing to wait, the Heavens might not be. While you¡¯re caught up in farming and have yet to set up a base, and a flood of aliens and the Dark Wave is thrown at you, can you still go on?! The progress of Magic Web 1 showed him an opportunity to greatly expand their productivity, or should he say, their productivity hade to a point where it could be expanded considerably. Only, in this world where magical power existed, it had been stuck in ce. Magic Web 1 was the hope of breaking these shackles. Failure could be a magical power. But so could sess. Hummel had sunk into deep thought yet realized that nothing came to mind. This had exceeded his world view; he, who had been forging metal his entire life, could not find a ce for himself among the metals for the very first time. ¡°Lord, if we really were to go ording to your n and had this many steel furnaces¡­ how many cksmiths would be enough? I am the only cksmith in this territory now¡­¡± ¡°The smelting of ores and steel processing will be separated into two parts sooner orter. For that, I have subsequent arrangements.¡± Gawain nced at Hummel. ¡°After seeing the blueprint of the modern furnace, you should know this isn¡¯t some sudden, fanciful idea.¡± This dangerous thought had appeared in Hummel¡¯s mind before, but with a reminder from Gawain, he recalled the bold yet logical furnace design. Several seconds of silenceter, Gawain deliberately went on in an even tone. ¡°Did you think I was some foolish aristocrat with my head full of all sorts of naive, funny ideas and a wild imagination but with absolutely no idea of reality?¡± Hummel broke out in cold sweat instantly. ¡°No, no, how could you be¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s only normal if you had such a thought, because I see that more than ny percent of the aristocrats in this era are seen in the same light.¡± Gawain chuckled. ¡°Living in castles, superior, luxurious yet naive, unaware of how grains are grown, and without any knowledge about forging, building houses, lumbering¡­ Yet, they love to carelessly give absolutely impossible orders. Am I right?¡± Hummel stared speechlessly at Gawain; it took him a long while to keep himself from letting out the two words, ¡®soul mate¡¯. How could this lord from 700 years ago be this incisive in his evaluation of the aristocrats? ¡°You must be wondering why I¡¯m so sharp in my assessment. Very simple. I am Gawain Cecil. Seven hundred years ago, when thisnd was still barren, I was already leading pioneer teams here.¡± Gawain looked Hummel in the eyes. ¡°We weren¡¯t living in castles then. Speaking of production, I¡¯m afraid many craftsmen in this territory are no match for me.¡± Hummel¡¯s expression changed slightly, and he slowly nodded. Gawain rested a hand on the shoulder of this old cksmith. ¡°So, go do as I say. The first step is to finish building the modern furnace.¡± From the corner of his eye, he saw Betty who had jogged the entire way here. ¡°Lord!¡± The little maid first panted heavily for air and then bent over clumsily yet exaggeratedly. ¡°Miss Amber is back! She also brought a¡ªa¡ª¡± Betty thought hard for a moment and then said loudly, ¡°A dirty old man!¡± Chapter 68 - Druid? Chapter 68: Druid? Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Returning after leaving for a few days, Amber, as expected, found that the scale of this camp was now bigger than before. There were now many houses constructed from wooden nks between the tents, and some drying yards, work sheds, and warehouses distributed around various areas of the camp. A new sawmill had been built by the White River, close to the simple temporary pier. Firm roads connected the camp to the various facilities along its perimeter; this ce had taken on the form of a permanent residence, beginning the transformation from camp to territory. Thebor system that fellow hade up with turned out to be very effective. That muddle-headed little maidservant had dashed off to inform her master. Meanwhile, Amber was in an idle daze in Gawain¡¯s big tent, and beside her stood an old man dressed in dirty gray robes and a beret overflowing with messy hair and beard. This old man, who looked as if he¡¯d been dug out from the slums, was the ¡®professional¡¯ that Amber had found. At present, he was standing in the middle of the tent, carefully keeping a distance from all the items around. However, his eyes wandered, just like an unscrupulous merchant in a lord¡¯s castle. Whereas Amber looked around at this tent that had stood up for a good half month and muttered, ¡°Even the masons and carpenters have started living in wooden houses, yet he¡¯s still in a tent. I really don¡¯t know what he¡¯s thinking¡­¡± ¡°Aye, aye,¡± the little old man beside her suddenly spoke then. ¡°Was what you said true? Is he really the Gawain Cecil from seven hundred years ago? The one who the south has been abuzz with talk of?¡± ¡°Of course, it¡¯s true.¡± Amber rolled her eyes at the little old man. ¡°Could it be false when I was the one to personally dig him out? Let me tell you, the Cecil n may be this poor now, but their Ancestor is really impressive. His entire being is a portable treasure house¡­¡± The little old man touched his matted beard. ¡°As long as it¡¯s true. Let me tell you, little girl. In the profession of antique appraisal, my capabilities are¡­¡± Amber was stunned after listening to just half of what he had to say. ¡°Eh? Wait a minute! Aren¡¯t you a druid?!¡± The old man immediately froze in the action of twiddling his beard. He looked at Amber with his mouth agape. ¡°I¡ª¡± He¡¯d just said the word ¡°I¡± when the tent¡¯s thick portiere was lifted. Bright light cast in then was immediately blocked by Gawain¡¯s almost two-meter tall sturdy build. The little old man and Amber were startled at the same time. Meanwhile, Gawain had noticed the stranger the moment he stepped in. He was dressed in a dirty robe that was an odd garb in between a tunic and a long robe, where almost all of the edges were frizzy. He also wore a beret of an irksome gray; there were even a number of holes on it. His hair and beard were matted; God knows how long he hadn¡¯t washed them for. His person was old and shriveled, but his eyes were bright¡­ That¡¯s right. ¡ªInsert ¡®The True Style Of A Hermit.jpg¡¯. Gawain silently formed a judgment: this little old man almost perfectly fit his image of a druid living a sequestered life in the forests, with tons of ancient knowledge in grasp. Though if he¡¯d seen him on another asion, he would have taken him for a beggar in the slums. But Amber had said she was leaving to look for a druid, so what was before him must be a druid¡¯s style. A certain disgrace to the elves had really brought a druid back (or at the very least, he looked very simr to one). It seemed he had slightly misjudged Amber previously. After apologizing to Amber internally, Gawain greeted the little old man on wide steps, ¡°Wee, in the name of the Cecil n. Thisnd has been waiting for a true learned man for a very long time. I¡¯m Gawain Cecil. You should have heard of my name.¡± The little old man sobered from his temporary daze. An especially bright smile presently appeared on his face; the smile was so radiant that he became totally unlike a hermit. ¡°Ah, your name is known to all on the continent. I am very pleased to be able to serve you and your territory.¡± The old man continued, ¡°May I know where the antiques to be appraised are¡ª¡± Gawain spoke simultaneously, ¡°The arrival of a druid would definitely bring to thisnd¡ª¡± ¡°Antique?¡± ¡°Druid?¡± The two people questioned each other in sync, with puzzled faces. ¡°Did I hear wrongly?¡± Gawain said, bewildered. ¡°You mentioned antique appraisal? What I sent Amber to find was a druid¡­¡± ¡°Druid? Not an antique appraiser?!¡± The little old man was shocked as well. ¡°I thought I was here to appraise antiques!¡± The corners of Gawain¡¯s mouth instantly twitched as his gaze involuntarily flickered to the half-elf girl at the side who was desperately trying to shrink her head into her abdomen. ¡°How did this ¡®Miss Half-Elf¡¯ put it across to you?¡± The little old man casually replied, ¡°She said that she had dug up an old antique with seven hundred years of history. I rushed over without asking for the details¡­¡± Gawain grabbed Amber¡¯s pointed ears once he reached out; thetter immediately cried out, then instantly wormed out of Gawain¡¯s hand, and disappeared into the ubiquitous shadows. However, someone reacted even more quickly. Before this bandit couldpletely enter the shadow realm, Gawain shifted his steps and blocked Amber¡¯s escape route, at the same time activating his knight protective aura. As the shapeless ring of light spread, Amber deliriously left her shadow state in an instant and crashed onto Gawain¡¯s chest. She howled in pain then and there. The camp¡¯s defenses were inadequate; in order to respond to emergencies at any time, Gawain¡¯s armor never left his body. The iron-headed Reba had a bump when she crashed headfirst into Gawain, let alone the non-iron-headed Amber. The half-elf was disoriented from the collision. After leaving the shadow state, she held her head and made two circles on the spot before stopping after feeling her ears back in Gawain¡¯s grip. She immediately shouted, ¡°Hey, hey, hey! It hurts, it hurts! Let go, let go, let go¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s with the ¡®antique from seven hundred years ago¡¯?!¡± Gawain red at this ultimate disgrace. ¡°Where is the druid that I tasked you to find?!¡± ¡°He is the druid! How would I know about any antique appraisal?!¡± Amber felt extremely wronged. She desperately tried to break out of Gawain¡¯s grip while shouting noisily, ¡°I did casually mention that I¡¯d dug out an ancient from seven hundred years ago, but I didn¡¯t think he had actually misunderstood!¡± The old man was dumbstruck as he watched the farce before him. At this point, he vaguely came to his senses, ¡°Wait a minute, the antique from seven hundred years ago was Duke Gawain Cecil?¡± ¡°Stop mentioning ¡®antique¡¯! He¡¯s about to kill with this grip!¡± Amber screamed. ¡°Haven¡¯t I told you! Gawain Cecil resurrected! He was personally awakened by me! But I did not ask for you to appraise him. I thought you understood me!¡± The little old man stared. ¡°I thought you had also robbed his tomb after awakening this ancient hero! I even wondered how you managed to bluff him into allowing someone to appraise the antiques after you¡¯d robbed his tomb¡­¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± After going through every great name in history that he knew in hisst life, Gawain finally suppressed the urge to throw Amber out. He looked at the little old man before him, at a loss of whether tough or to cry. ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re not a druid then?¡± Unexpectedly, the little old man stroked his beard after hearing this question and straightened his tattered gray robes before speaking in an inexplicable tone, ¡°This would depend on the specific situation and your needs. If your terms here are suitable, I can also be a druid¡­¡± Gawain was taken aback. ¡°There is a ¡®can be¡¯ for druids?¡± ¡°Then are you a druid or not?¡± Gawain frowned. ¡°I need a druid to support the construction of the territory¡¯s agriculture, and I do not wish for any problems to surface in this project, so your answer had best be prudent.¡± After the farce, he now had serious misgivings towards this little old man with the aura of a hermit. Yet he saw the little old man crack a smile; then he took out an ordinary-looking seed. He casually threw the seed onto the ground, then picked up a ss from the table at the side, and poured some water on it. Following that, he muttered some incantations, and momentster, a speck of green began to glow from where the seed had been dropped. The seed sprouted at a speed visible to the naked eye. Although it was a really tiny sprout, it was a great eye-opener for Gawain. ¡°Look, look! He is a druid!¡± Amber made a fuss at once. ¡°Quickly release me! It hurts like hell!¡± Gawain let go of the half-elf¡¯s ears with a dumbfounded look and then stared oddly at the little old man. ¡°So you really are a druid¡­ but what¡¯s with being an antique appraiser too?¡± ¡°I was a druid in my earlier years in the true Forest Heart faction.¡± The little old man stuck his chest out slightly and proudly spoke, ¡°But an antique appraiser is also my upation. You could say that there are barely any antique appraisers better than me in the entire southern borders.¡± Gawain was puzzled. ¡°A druid who studies flowers, birds, fishes, and insects and an appraiser who studies antique. How did you put these two unrted professions together?¡± ¡°Mainly because I had no money.¡± The little old man shrugged, ¡°I was too poor being a druid, so I started an avocation. And let me tell you, that¡¯s not all I can do. If you¡¯re short of a chef here, I also have some grilling and soup-making skills¡­¡± It wasn¡¯t just the corner of his mouth that trembled; even Gawain¡¯s forehead throbbed for a moment. ¡°As long as the price is right, you can even do fortune-telling. Am I right?¡± The little old man held his beard. ¡°That depends on how much you¡¯re paying. If the price is suitable, I can learn it right away.¡± Gawain looked up to the sky and sighed. He thought, this was indeed a person brought back by Amber; such a development was truly logical and expected. He had not underestimated Amber¡¯s morals; neither had he overestimated her virtue. This ¡®agriculture expert¡¯ perfectly fulfilled Amber¡¯s standards. An utterly unreliable fellow, yet he really was a druid. ¡°Um¡­ are you okay?¡± Amber watched Gawain¡¯s reaction cautiously and only dared to speak up after some time. ¡°At least he¡¯s a real druid.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s better than having none.¡± Gawain sighed and then lowered his head to look at the little old man. ¡°Then from today onwards, you are the druid of the Cecil territory. I will give you a suitable remuneration¡­ your grade?¡± ¡°Grade three druid from the Forest Heart faction. At the same time, also a grade three magic spell herbalist,¡± the little old man said smilingly. ¡°And also a pretty good griller. Are you really not going to consider?¡± Gawain quirked up the corners of his mouth. ¡°No, I have a maidservant who cooks quite well. I will pay you ording to the standards of hiring an official grade three spellcaster, but the premise is you have to refine a batch of drugs that boosts growth to prove yourself. We will provide the materials and tools.¡± The little old man nodded heavily in satisfaction. ¡°Of course, of course.¡± Chapter 69 - Failed Project Chapter 69: Failed Project Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Looking at the little old man¡¯s gleeful manner, he totally seemed like a person who¡¯d finally secured a new job after going hungry for weeks. This image wiped away every bit of Gawain¡¯s impression of him as an expert in seclusion. Now, Gawain could be wholly certain that his torn old robes, ripped beret, and untrimmed beard were not because of a hermit lifestyle. It was because he was genuinely poor¡­ Faced with this situation, Gawain could not help but whisper to Amber, ¡°This person you found¡­ Is he dependable?¡± ¡°Gosh, don¡¯t you worry. Although his personality may be a little weird, you¡¯ve seen it, haven¡¯t you? At the least, his druid capabilities are real. You aren¡¯t the kind of pompous, rigid aristocrat who judges people by their ss origin, are you? Don¡¯t you always im thatpetence is the most important?¡± He did not expect that thements he usually muttered were taken to heart by this half-elf and even used to thwart his argument now. Gawain could only purse his lips in resignation and then questioned curiously, ¡°Say, how did you get to know him?¡± There was no ipatibility when the little old man, who was probably a disgrace to druids, was put together with Amber, this disgrace to elves. However, Gawain was still very curious as to how these two met. Was it solely because they were the disgraces to their respectivemunities that they shared the same rotten style? Gawain¡¯s low murmur was caught by the little old man by the side. The druid with great hearing turned his head and chuckled. ¡°Lord, I am an old acquaintance of Amber¡¯s adoptive father. I watched this little brat grow up. ording to seniority, she would have to address me as uncle¡­¡± Amber immediately rolled her eyes. ¡°A fellow like you who has no looks of a senior wants me to call you uncle?¡± ¡°I see. There¡¯s still this connection between you two.¡± Gawain nodded in understanding. He had heard Amber speak of her adoptive father before and knew that he was a human rogue. In actuality, he was probably just a bandit hanging in the bottom rungs. Amber wagged her head smugly as she said, ¡°This fellow used to be real close with my adoptive father. Back in those days, they even wanted to be the southern border¡¯s greatest bandits under the name of Night Walkers. But they did not be famous at all.¡± Gawain instinctively frowned for a moment and then looked towards the little old man. ¡°You were once even a bandit?¡± ¡°It¡¯s all in the past, all in the past.¡± The old man waved his hand repeatedly. ¡°I¡¯ve quit. All I¡¯ve been doing these years are decent means of living.¡± Gawain found it interesting. ¡°You switched professions also because you couldn¡¯t get by as a bandit?¡± ¡°Because his skills were too trendy.¡± Amber rolled her eyes at a side, wearing a disdainful look. ¡°He would get caught stealing dead people¡¯s belongings and get a violent beating. He¡¯s naturally not cut out to be a bandit. Of course, he¡¯s also not cut out to be a druid. Now, it seems like he¡¯s not made to be an antique appraiser or cook either.¡± Gawain was stunned. ¡°How did you get caught stealing from the dead?¡± ¡°Mainly because there were also more than two hundred grave visitors there¡­¡± The little old manughed in embarrassment. Very clearly, despite being an elder, his attitude towards Amber was really amiable. Such roasting by Amber was probably also a frequent thing. Especially on today¡¯s topic, Amber had the confidence and qualifications to ridicule his bandit skills; after all, he received a beating after stealing from the dead; whereas, on top of sessfully stealing from the dead, Amber had also resurrected this dead person¡­ Although the situation then wasn¡¯t considered a ¡®robbery¡¯¡­ After some small talk, Gawain suddenly realized that he had let a key matter slip his mind. ¡°Oh yeah, I still don¡¯t know your name?¡± The little old man held a hand to his chest and did an ambiguous salute. ¡°Pittman Lauren is d to be at your service. Just call me Pittman.¡± ¡°Very well, Pittman. You can first have a rest. I¡¯ll arrange for someone to bring you to your lodging. You¡¯ve seen this ce. Everything is still in the pioneering stage. The housing conditions may not be the best yet. However, if you work hard like my residents, this ce can soon be a well-off andfortable new home for you.¡± Pittman Lauren¡¯s face bloomed with a smile. ¡°For the sake of those glittering little cuties, I will definitely do my best.¡± This eclectic learner type of druid left the tent with the guiding personnel that Gawain had arranged, leaving Amber and Gawain to gaze at each other. Slightly noticing the atmosphere, the half-elf girl prepared to sneak out with an awkward smile but was seized by Gawain. ¡°Where are you going?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to help patrol the perimeters of the camp!¡± Amber shouted noisily on her tiptoes. ¡°Hey, let go of me!¡± ¡°First exin the ¡®dug out an old antique with seven hundred years of history¡¯ part. I didn¡¯t forget thatment.¡± ¡°Oh¡ª¡± Everything in the camp was on the right track, but not everything would go without a hitch. In a courtyard on the western end of the workshop area, Reba was staring nkly at the things before her. She had an odd-looking kiln in front of her. The kiln had been made using fire-resistant bricks and mud mixed with quartz sand, like a huge bowl ced upside down on the ground. Simple runes used to increase temperatures and control the fire were drawn on the side of the ¡®huge bowl¡¯, whereas on the bottom was a newly made kiln door that originally had been sealed up with mud. The model of it slightly resembled brick kilns used to bake bricks, but what was being made inside weren¡¯t bricks. They were rocks, or rather, a mixture of lime, stone powder, and y. Ancestor said that the product ¡®calcined¡¯ from thisbination ¡ª mixed with g from the cksmith store and ground into powder form ¡ª would be a new kind of construction material. However, it didn¡¯t seem like it had seeded no matter how she looked at it. The basket in front of the kiln contained some of the finished product. It was a dark-gray hardened object that looked dirty and unpleasant. Many hard and brittle lumps were mixed in the fragments of many sizes. Reba had tried to forcibly grind a portion of the fragments together with g into powder and then mix it with water ording to her ancestor¡¯s instructions. At present, the first batch of experimentalpound had dried up. They became a substance that broke when force was applied, almost like rotten wood. It was totally impossible to build a house using this. Reba sank in thought with her fingers propping up her chin. She was simply too upied to clean her ck and dirty face. In thest couple of days, she was either at the cksmith store (now named Cecil Steelworks) supervising the assembly of Magic Web 1 and the modern furnace, or baking rocks here. She was a viscountess yet was this filthy for most of the day, every day. However, the knights and soldiers in the territory weren¡¯t surprised at all; after all, the viscountess had been of simr manner, often for the whole day, in the past. Smoking her own face ck as she practiced her fireballs was amon thing. Some days, she would go into the forest to fight the wolves and returned covered in mud. Everyone was used to it¡­ As for the civilians who rarely got the chance to meet real aristocrats and only got to interact often with Heidi, Reba, and the others these days, they¡¯d developed a fairly good and friendly impression towards this busy, always-running viscountess. Gawain was a strong pir, yet he was too authoritative in the civilians¡¯ opinion. Heidi was intelligent and benevolent; however, to some extent, she appeared reserved and overly stern. That left them with Reba, thisdy who ran everywhere; she had no airs and greeted everyone with a smile. Thus, everyone subconsciously neglected her identity as an aristocrat. Another important reason was that Reba¡¯s big fireballs were a great help for burning the wastnds and blowing up rocks¡­ Seeing Reba sunken in thought, the few assisting civilians beside her didn¡¯t dare to utter a word to disrupt her. They too did not understand the Grand Duke¡¯s intention in building such a ce to bake rocks. However, the waterwheel that the Grand Duke ordered built had revealed its magic, and the nning of the camp was also rather brilliant. Add to that the ease which the remation work had been and the existence of the newly recruited druid, everyone was quite convinced by Gawain¡¯s arrangements. Although they could not figure out the use of baking rocks¡­ doing as he said was right. After pondering hard for some time, Reba finally lifted her head and came to a conclusion ¡ª she wasn¡¯t suited to thinking about this! Hence, she waved her small hand. ¡°Carry these things. Bring them to let my ancestor have a look!¡± Momentster, Gawain saw the pile of¡­ indescribable substances that had been brought to him. ¡°This is the¡­ ¡®cement¡¯ that you baked?¡± He watched Reba in shock. If he wasn¡¯t the one who personally gave the order, he almost would not have associated these dark gray mounds with the ¡®cement¡¯ in his mind. ¡°Ah? So this substance is called ¡®cement¡¯?¡± Reba had her eyes wide. ¡°What an odd name.¡± But Gawain had neither the time nor the energy to exin the meaning behind this term. Although he had long been mentally prepared to feel defeated, a subtle sense of frustration still emerged in him at this point. And when he saw Reba bring out from the basket another ¡®stone¡¯ that looked like a porous rock, he was even more certain of this failure. ¡°This is the oue of mixing the product with water ording to your instructions.¡± Reba blinked. ¡°It did harden very quickly, and its appearance after hardening was simr to stone, but in reality, it¡¯s soft and crisp¡­¡± Before Reba could finish, Amber sneaked out from an unknown nook and cranny. ¡°What¡¯s soft and crisp? Let me have a taste!¡± Gawain pushed the other party back into the shadows and then turned to those ck lumps and sighed. ¡°Seems like we¡¯ve failed.¡± He confirmed Reba¡¯s operational process over and over again and concluded that there was absolutely no problem from the raw materials to the manufacturing process. Moreover, he¡¯d even learned that Reba had specially adjusted the ratio of the various raw materials, the temperature of the fire, the baking times, and all sorts of other parameters. She¡¯d also used four furnaces and carried out several cross tests; she even used lime, stone powder, and y of different consistencies and ces of origin. Yet, the results were all nearly the same. This world had presented its peculiarity and malice to Gawain once again. The properties of the materials didn¡¯t match. How many of the widely known primitive forms in his memory were useable? Gawain decided to experiment with everything he knew in his mind that could be tested using simple and easy methods as long as they had the means. And when he settled on this decision, he was mentally prepared for all the experiments to be dered a failure. At the same time, Reba was still staring anxiously at him. This girl who could finally help everyone out but failed didn¡¯t seem to have ever considered that it could be Gawain¡¯s ¡®form¡¯ that was problematic and instinctively attributed the problem to herself. ¡°Lord Ancestor¡­ have I disappointed you?¡± ¡°No, any experiment is an endless process, especially when seeking out a new kind of material.¡± Gawain shook his head and sighed. ¡°Continue to bake using all sorts of stones and ys. I will give you a few more possible forms. Take this as a long-term work that you can do in your leisure time. Just don¡¯t let it affect the progress on the steelworks side.¡± Chapter 70 - When Tricks Do Not Work… Chapter 70: When Tricks Do Not Work¡­ Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The project of getting iron-headed girl to create primitive cement had failed, but Gawain wasn¡¯t nning on giving up this easily. Applying his experience from Earth mechanically might not have worked, yet this didn¡¯t mean that all ideas from Earth were wrong. Perhaps the forms of certain things were different; nevertheless, it didn¡¯t mean they were without value. At the very least, an inexpensive, ample, solid, and easy-to-process construction material could be used anywhere. It was the same even if it had to be renamed as Magic XX in this world. He sent Reba to continue trying out new manufacturing processes and told his general ideas and anticipated goals to her. This was not a slipshod attempt. Although his own manufacturing method had failed, Gawain knew that there was once ¡®cement¡¯ in this world. Deep in the remnants in the mountain, he and the people he led had seen such a material. The engineers of the ancient Gondor Empire had used this man-made material instead of stone to build the stronghold in the mountains. It made the stronghold sturdier and more durable than average stone forts. A thousand years had passed, and it still showed no signs of copsing. In Gawain Cecil¡¯s memory, this material had been developed as far back as in the ¡®Steel Era¡¯ that came before the ¡®Meteoric Era¡¯ and continued to be used for as long as ten centuries. Through repeated modification and improvement, by thete Gondor period, it had be one of the mostmonly used construction materials within the empire. And this was what Gawain found most regretful. After the fall of the Gondor Empire, many skills were lost: some because the skill itself depended on the Well of Deep Blue; some becausemunities that had mastered the relevant skills suffered mass extinction and did not leave behind information; others because the raw materials (or environment) required had be polluted. The Gondor Empire¡¯s ¡®otherworldly cement¡¯ was merely one of the many lost skills. Due to the chaos in that period, Gawain could not be sure which reason of the three caused such a skill to be lost, but he assumed it wasn¡¯t because of the magic well. Just like producing Earth cement, otherworldly cement also did not require equipment that was tooplicated or energy that was too advanced. Thus, it was mostly like due to the extinction of people, loss of information, or problems with the raw materials. Regardless, this skill ¡ª which could be considered the most fundamental ¡ª should have been one of the cornerstones of civilization but was lost just like that. Seven hundred yearster, the Anzu people used rocks and timber to build houses. The aristocrats who had the means to would indulge in using all sorts of molding spells and alchemical potions from the mages to make their pces and castles even more exquisite and sturdy. But of course, thetter did not meet Gawain¡¯s request of ¡®universality, inexpensiveness, and mass-production¡¯. However, though the skill had been lost, rediscovering it wasn¡¯tpletely hopeless. After all, it was one of the mostmonly used fundamental skills in the Gondor Empire then. Even if Gawain Cecil had not made it personally, he had seen it before. At present, there were still segments of the rted skill remaining in his mind. He gave them to Reba; as for how far the skill could be restored to¡­ that would depend on the iron-headed fireball girl¡¯s capabilities. At this point, Gawain could not help but feel tempted to sigh. How great would it be if the Gawain Cecil from 700 years ago was an intellectual¡­ Even it out by sparing some of hisbat abilities to various other aspects, then the situation now would be much better. Forget about the others, but at least memorize the form for cement! With the spirit of ¡®what does a tens-of-thousand-years-old satellite soul that descended from the sky need to fear¡¯, Gawain recklessly nagged at the original owner of this body. Following that, he began to make a list of all the experiments that had to be carried out. Then, in the next few days, Amber saw Gawain send for people to transport a huge pile of items into the tent. There were weird ore powder, metal containers connected together, crystal lenses of all sizes, and the mas and metal wires that mages and seers often used. This clutter of items covered his entire desk. A small part of them had been urgently purchased from Tanzan Town, and the rest had been made with Gawain guiding Heidi and the craftsmen. Looking at the table full of things, the half-elf girl looked stupefied. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Gawain fiddled with the set of lenses in front of him and answered without looking up, ¡°Experiment.¡± ¡°Aristocrats are difficult to understand.¡± Amber batted her eyes; they then lit up as if she¡¯d finally grabbed Gawain¡¯s little tail. ¡°Oh, oh! I finally got you! You can no longer keep up the pretense. You¡¯ve lost your aspirations and have started to trifle with ythings! I said it, how could an aristocrat in the right state of mind tolerate such a long period of hardship. You are finally starting to exploit the people and drain the treasur¡ª Ow, ow, ow. Hey, it hurts!!¡± Gawain released Amber¡¯s ears after giving them a good twist. He looked at this fellow who asked for a beating daily with particr curiosity. ¡°I cannot understand you. Do you not remember beatings or something? Can¡¯t your personality be slightly cuter?¡± ¡°You¡¯re spouting crap! I¡¯m a great bandit being locked up by you here to be a bodyguard. Usually, I am either guarding those piles of ugly drawings of yours, or covering the hills and dales to carry out patrols, or standing sentry, or gathering intelligence for you. When I¡¯m asionally free, you even make me study the ugly drawings with you. Are you respecting my profession or not!¡± The half-elf girl argued with reason; the conclusion of all her thoughts only boiled down to the words ¡ª ¡®I¡¯m idle¡¯. ¡°You¡¯re not even as motivated as Betty is.¡± Gawain held his forehead in helplessness. ¡°Shees here to learn how to read every day after finishing her chores. Is getting you to learn simple mathematics that difficult?¡± ¡°Oh? So that little maidservant is learning how to write?¡± Amber batted her eyes and became animated. ¡°No wonder she was always mutteringments to herself when alone these days. And when she has the time, she would scribble on the ground with a tree branch¡­¡± ¡°Alright, alright, alright. Anyway I¡¯m washing my hands of you. If you¡¯re really awfully idle, head out and y on your own.¡± Gawain waved a hand at Amber. ¡°In any case, you cannot do three things ¡ª no stealing, no creating trouble where people are working, and no fighting with other people. Of course, fighting with geese is okay.¡± Having gotten Gawain¡¯s permission, Amber immediately dashed back into the shadows in glee, and as her figure was gradually concealed, she muttered, ¡°You¡¯re really weird. Why are you always emphasizing geese in front of me¡­¡± After Amber left, Gawain finally had the chance to focus his attention on the pile of items. He had already experimented with a part of them, while the others were still in the middle of testing. Before sitting back into the chair, he took a nce at the basket by the side and sighed. In the basket was the indescribable substance that Reba had achieved when she attempted to create cement previously. Originally, Reba had wanted to throw them away but Gawain kept them. And he specially put them in an exposed spot near him where they would be in his sight at all times. He had taken them as a form of vignce, a symbol, a mark to remind him at every moment that ¡®this world¡¯ was ¡®this world¡¯. Retracting his gaze from them, he then looked briefly at a certain container on the desk before bowing his head and writing a new record on the paper in Chinese: ¡°Year 735 of the Anzu calendar, day 46 of Frost Month, 23rd day since the camp was pioneered. Production of gunpowder failed. A ssic form from my knowledge on Earth, as well as various forms adjusted for magic, turned out ineffective. There is no end product that can create an instant me and releaserge amounts of heat in a short period of time or any simr results. Thepleted product of the ssic form cannot be ignited at all, whereas the end product of the Magic Web 1 form can burn quietly in the air. However, the me is dark and weak; burning straw would be better than this. The end product of form number two also burns quietly, but there is a bright and stable me. We initially nned to use it for illumination, but it emitted a pungent smell¡­¡± ¡°If we continue experimenting, we may discover a usable form of otherworldly gunpowder, but I¡¯ve vaguely realized that this route might not be the best choice. The ¡®magical power¡¯ of this world is more relevant, and we could probably make more progress with it. Its might is not exactly awe-inspiring to the people here. Researching an explosive rune that could be industrialized and mass-produced might be more dependable than gunpowder. And besides this new record, there were many others on the paper. Gawain¡¯s gaze swept past them: ¡°Year 735 of the Anzu calendar, day 45 of Frost Month, 22nd day since the camp was pioneered. Confirmed that electromaic induction is ineffective, or at least the process of ¡®getting a maic field to produce electricity¡¯ was. There was no electric current produced in the coil. It has been verified that mas exist in the north and south poles, and their properties match those of Earth¡¯s mas. The wind element runes that Heidi provided could also sense the weakest of electric stimuli. Though the coils were coarse, they still fit the requirements, so the problem could only be with the electromaic induction itself. Now, it still cannot be verified that the maic-field producing electricity process has also failed, because Heidi¡¯s Lightning Arrow magic is unable to provide a sustained and stable secure electric flow. Her Lightning Palm had almost struck Amber¡¯s hair¡­¡± ¡°It seems like the n of using an electric generator to provide energy for the wind element array has to be shelved, or we wait till we¡¯ve grasped skills such as thermo-electricity or the likes of it.¡± ¡°¡­prepare to give up on the steam engine. The results of this experiment are too confusing. The process of boiling water in this world appears to be simr to that on Earth, but the impulsion produced by the vapor is terribly weak. Perhaps, the factor of expansion in the process when the water became water vapor is much smaller than that on Earth. I suspect the ¡®water¡¯ here isn¡¯t even water. It could also be the pervasive ¡®water element¡¯ in this world that¡¯s ying tricks. Such an illogical thing has changed the explicit condition of water when it is changing between the three states.¡± ¡°¡­ Though I¡¯ve been drinking it regrly, using it to wash my hands and face, and watering the ground and flowers, this cannot prove anything. My body isposed of the elements of this world; my senses are also working ording to the rules of this world. Except for a consciousness in my head that is from another world, I have absolutely nothing that can step out this world¡¯s ¡®world view¡¯ to carry out observations¡­ Is the blue sky that I¡¯m seeing really a ¡®blue¡¯ sky?¡± ¡°¡­regardless, the routes must be adjusted. The part that Earth¡¯s human civilization was the proudest of has suffered a heavy blow. I have no way of ¡®boiling water¡¯ here. Without the ¡®boiler¡¯, how am I supposed to bring in all of the most-fundamental machinery?¡± ¡°Year 735 of the Anzu calendar¡­ Heidi has never heard of ¡®coal¡¯; neither has the druid, Pittman Lauren. In reality, it seems there is also nothing of the sort even in Gawain Cecil¡¯s memories¡­ the good news is charcoal can still be produced by burning¡­¡± ¡°¡­ The Typhon Empire produced a kind of ¡®burnable stone¡¯. It is not coal but a white ¡®mmable stone¡¯; it seems to be a type of seawater sediment. It is more me resistant than wood and is very difficult to ignite. Moreover, I heard that the burning is extremely unstable, and the smell produced is also unpleasant. Only the poor use it for warmth, take note.¡± ¡°¡­ Damn it, gold is actually a semiconductor, and pure silver does not conduct electricity¡­ what the hell?!¡± ¡°I believe I need an entire team of the best toe up with a periodic table for me¡­ or at least, tidy up the properties of allmon materials.¡± ¡°However, I do not have one.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s wash up and go to bed.¡± Chapter 71 - Abnormal Changes with the Ball Chapter 71: Abnormal Changes with the Ball Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios These experiment logs were proof of crushing defeat when physics from Gawain¡¯s ¡®Earth experiences¡¯ and ¡®this world¡¯ was put together. He bound them into a book; he then encrypted it using Chinese, taking it as his untold secret. Amongst all of the experiment logs, close to eighty percent were failures. This meant that while this world appeared to be very livable and the surface of its natural environment seemed rather simr to Earth¡¯s, it was entirely different from Earth in its underlying physics. Supporting its operation was a systempletely alien to Gawain. In this unfamiliar system, the various forms of supernatural powers, which included magical power, carried considerable weight. No, perhaps he shouldn¡¯t call them supernatural powers anymore. In this world, only chanting an incantation to call out to immortals while rubbing a fireball between one¡¯s hands was considered ¡®supernatural power¡¯. However, Gawain did not choose to wash up and go to bed. On the contrary, this mysterious world left him full of fight. He believed that allws could be interpreted. All things should have an underlying regtion; humans should be in awe of nature but should not stop moving closer to it because of this reverence. Since those supernatural powers truly existed in this world, he would treat and research supernatural powers as something definite. Just like the winds, rains, thunder, lightning, and universal gravitational force in his native world, the so-called magical powers here were merely part of nature¡¯s cycle. Although his ¡®Earth experiences¡¯ could not be put to use, his mode of thinking¡­ Could a mode of thinking polished in an era of information explosion not be able topare to those conservative aristocrats and pedantic schrs constrained by the medieval life? Moreover, some of his experiences could still be utilized. Gawain picked up the two pieces of transparent lenses ced at the corner of the desk. They were cheap man-made crystals (the low-price was merely in rtive terms to magic crystals), the most skillful craftsmen in Tanzan Town had spent two days to polish them into a convex lens and a concave lens ording to Gawain¡¯s requests. Gawain put the two lenses before his eyes, one behind the other. He constantly adjusted their positions until a clear image was presented to his eyes. Although the speed of light could not be determined yet, at the least, light still adhered to aw familiar to him in its transmission. Then at the very least, telescopes could be created; an inexpensive ¡®Eagle Vision¡¯ could be poprized for civilian use. He just had to further lower the cost of constructing the man-made crystals and settle the problem of the low efficiency of manual polishing. Besides optical phenomena1, the sessful operation of the waterwheel also proved one point ¡ª in this world, although the basicws of the microcosmic field might be different from Earth¡¯s, some direct, macroscopicws of physics probably did not differ much from his native¡¯s. Hence, many things could still be attempted. After noting down the entry rted to telescopes in his memorandum, Gawain let out a long yawn. Only then did he notice that it had totally quietened down outside. Night had fallen; it was time to sleep. Gawain¡¯s ears were very sharp, and he could catch light snoring and mumbling while asleeping from nearby. They were Betty and Amber, who were sleeping next door. Hearing Amber, who mumbled about getting rich even in her slumber, he could not help but chuckle with a shake of his head. It was really time to wash up and go to bed now. As the night deepened, thest bit of light in the camp was put out. A tranquil darkness enveloped them, just like the draperies of the legendary Lady Night which protected dreamers. Gawain tried to empty his thoughts while slowly sinking into dreand. And only when everything had fallen into darkness would some faint glimmer ¡ª which had originally been neglected by everyone ¡ª have the chance to flower. Beside Gawain¡¯s desk, some extremely subtle rays of light slowly emerged. They came from the big basket by the desk, the pile of waste produced when Reba tried to make ¡®cement¡¯. ¡­ In the camp at night, there were some people who were still awake. They were not ¡®workers¡¯ of ¡®Cecil Steel Works¡¯. Gawain had renamed the cksmith store and already given the craftsmen some information regarding the new production system; however, at the present stage where all key infrastructure was iplete and where there wasn¡¯t any electric lighting, no workshop in the camp could be operated round the clock in three shifts. Those awake were the loyal soldiers on night shift. The militiamen wore armors and helmets as they walked down the paths with burning fire pans and did their handover at the various stations. A small group of militiamen passed through the warehouse area at the southern part of the camp and arrived at an independent tent set on the fringe of the camp. The squad leader was a middle-aged soldier with a full beard. He confirmed themand and identification token with therade he was relieving; he then looked towards the tent with a teasing look. ¡°Is that thing sleeping?¡± ¡°Duh, what else can a piece of rock do other than sleep?¡± The squad leader who was about to go rest shrugged. ¡°I really don¡¯t see the point of us guarding here. It¡¯s just a rock ball, and there hasn¡¯t been a stir for so many days. Madam Heidi even uses all sorts of spells to stimte it every day, but I don¡¯t see any effect¡­¡± ¡°Watch your tongue.¡± The squad leader taking over reminded. ¡°This is the Grand Duke¡¯s decision. He gave orders to guard this thing. Do you have a problem with that?¡± ¡°Of course not, of course not,¡± The person across him hurriedly replied. Then he bowed his head, only to see the borate equipment on him that was full of magical brilliance. ¡°I still got to thank the Grand Duke. I never thought I could be using such good equipment in this life. It feels like an illusion where I¡¯ve be a knight¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t look forward to the day when thises in handy.¡± The squad leader relieving the shift patted his shoulder. ¡°Get back and have a rest.¡± Theirrades who incessantly yawned finally left. The bearded squad leader took over the security of this area. Leaving two soldiers at the entrance, he lifted the curtain of the tent and stepped inside. The ¡®rock ball¡¯ with a diameter of about 1.5 meters sat quietly in the center. A pit had been dug in the ground beneath it to ensure that the rock ball would remain well in ce. And around it, numerous thick wooden stakes were nted. The original thick ropes connecting them had now been changed to ropes weaved with magic threads. These inteced magic threads radiated a faint fluorescence in the darkness of the night, but its main function was to provide reassurance. Besides that, there were also several wooden shelves and a desk in the tent. Some magical crystals and alchemical potions were disyed on the shelves, while a paperweight held down some scribbled-on manuscripts on the desk. The ordinary soldiers wouldn¡¯t dare to touch these; they were the study notes that Heidi had left behind. Pity there was absolutely no progress made in those notes. ¡°This thing hasn¡¯t changed at all.¡± A soldier circled the rock ball, he restrained the impulse of using his rifle to tap the rock ball, which could be seeking death. He muttered to himself, ¡°I heard that it¡¯s a relic of the ancient Gondor Empire. I¡¯d thought it would be really impressive.¡± The squad leader pped the head of this soldier. ¡°Cut the crap. Check conscientiously whether there are any cracks on the surface and whether it has shifted. Leave after you¡¯re done, ande in after an hour to relieve me.¡± The soldiers began their checks while mumbling to themselves; meanwhile, the squad leader freely surveyed the furnishings in the tent. However, the moment his eyes shifted away from the rock ball, an indistinct feeling like static electricity began to spread on his skin, and some of his little hairs stood up. Any person who could survive the Cecil catastrophe was no ordinary person. But despite being a squad leader of the militiamen, if ced in the territories of other noble ns, he would have just been a new knight in training. This middle-aged soldier with a full beard was instantly on alert; his hand gripped the longsword at his waist and unsheathed it slightly. ¡°There¡¯s a problem!¡± However, in the next second, that ¡®static electric¡¯ feeling with all his hair standing on end disappeared. The two soldiers nervously held their long spears in a tight grip for a long time before staring at each other. One of them turned to his squad leader. ¡°Chief¡­ I think you¡¯re too nervous?¡± ¡°No, I did feel¡­¡± The squad leader himself was also puzzled. He exined himself, but midway through, he noticed that the sheen of a magical halo on the soldier¡¯s enchanted breastte had gone out. ¡°Locke! Your breastte!¡± The soldier named Locke lowered his head for a look and instantly cried out. ¡°Ah!¡± However, the moment he did, the initially dimmed enchanted breastte returned to normal. A very dim magical halo covered his armor again as if nothing had happened at all. Following that, the same changes happened to the other soldier¡¯s breastte ¡ª it first went out and then recovered; the squad leader also saw that the longsword in his hand had lost the halo of enchantment in that brief moment. He immediately unsheathed the whole longsword. ¡°Stay calm! Slowly retreat. This ce¡­¡± Before he could finish, a peculiar force came from the longsword, as if there was an invisible pair of hands tugging at it. The enchanted longsword which came from the ancient Gondor Empire was abruptly pulled in the direction of the rock ball in the center of the tent. The squad leader instinctively resisted against this force and eximed, ¡°Quickly get someone! There¡¯s a problem with this ball!¡± The soldier Locke immediately rushed towards the entrance, but midway, a huge force came from his armor: strictly speaking, this force was towing his armor. He was dragged and thrown into the air as a result of this powerful attractive force, breaking past the surrounding fencing and ropes; his entire body was practically flying toward the rock ball. Locke struggled in terror. He tried to remove his armor to free himself from the pull, but that powerful attractive force had caused the armor¡¯s catch to be stuck together. He could not get out even after several desperate attempts. On the other hand, the squad leader sensed the attractive force on his longsword growing stronger. He finally lost his grip on his weapon; it promptly slipped out of his hand, let out a whistle in the air, and ended up stuck to the top of the rock ball with a tter. The tip of the sword and Locke¡¯s head were only half a palm¡¯s width apart. Locke rolled his eyes and nced at the sword above his head. He finally shouted at the top of his voice. ¡°The rock ball hase alive!! There¡¯s a problem!!¡± His shouts spread through almost half of the camp¡­ The squad leader who¡¯d lost his weapon stared dumbstruck at his empty right hand; he lifted his head to share a speechless gaze with the other soldier in the tent. The armor he was wearing wasn¡¯t pulled away, and the remaining soldier had everything intact. This ¡®rock ball¡¯ picked and chose which items to attract? Chapter 72 - Signs of Life? Chapter 72: Signs of Life? Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Gawain had been awakened by the noise outside while still drowsy in sleep. The sounds of soldiers running and shouting roused him from his dreams, mingled with cries of ¡°the rock ball hase alive¡± and several footsteps that sounded like they were heading to his tent. Gawain who hadn¡¯t been deep in sleep instantly sobered up. He grabbed a piece of clothing and put it on himself while directing his shout outside. ¡°What has happened?!¡± Knight Philip¡¯s voice came from outside the tent. ¡°Your Excellency¡ª there¡¯s something wrong with the rock ball you brought back!¡± What did ¡®something wrong¡¯ mean? The always clever and capable young knight had used such an unclear description that Gawain instantly realized that the situation might be ratherplicated. Hence, he swiftly straightened out his clothes, picked up the Sword of Pioneers which he constantly kept with him, and lifted the screen to walk out of the tent. At present, there were about two more hours before daybreak. The horizon showed no signs of light; however, the burning fire pans and torches everywhere chased away the darkness in the camp. Once Gawain stepped out of his door, he sensed a figure suddenly wriggling by his feet. Right after, Amber appeared from the shadows. The half-elf girl hadn¡¯t had the time to change into her usual leather armor; instead, she was lightly dressed in a set of normal garments. She blustered noisily while leaving the shadows, ¡°What¡¯s happening, what¡¯s happening? I was sleeping. Why¡­ Ah, ah! I¡¯m stuck, I¡¯m stuck! Give me a hand¡ª¡± Gawain was in a cold sweat when he gripped the cor on Amber¡¯s neck and lifted her out of the shadows. It felt like she was as lithe as a cat. ¡°A shadow master like you would actually get stuck in her own Shadow Walk?¡± ¡°I was in a hurry and not totally awake.¡± Amber looked slightly embarrassed, so she quickly diverted the topic. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Something seemed to have happened to the rock ball I brought back,¡± Gawain said casually and motioned for Knight Philip to lead the way in front while he followed behind the knights and soldiers with Amber. ¡°Let¡¯s go have a look together.¡± Upon hearing that it was such an issue, Amber instantly yawned. ¡°Ahhhh, I¡¯m going back to slee¡ª¡± Halfway through her words, she was already pinned under Gawain¡¯s armpit and taken away. The single tent at the south of the camp was surrounded by soldiers and militiamen. A ring of people formed a defense line within a dozen meters of the tent. The burning torches had the area as bright as daytime, and the civilians in this southern part of the camp had been awakened by the stir here, but almost none dared to walk out of their tents to check the situation. Most huddled in their tents in fear; it would be considered good if they even had their heads out of the tents for a look. By the time Gawain rushed over with this half-elf struggling fiercely under his arm, Heidi was already present. She drew magic runes in the air and set up protective wards with weakening effects around the tent. When she saw Gawain, she could not help but look slightly stunned. ¡°Ancestor, you are¡­¡± Gawain put Amber down. ¡°This rascal¡¯s senses are more acute than ours in the night, but she wasn¡¯t willing toe.¡± Amber protested on tip-toes, ¡°You can¡¯t do this! You almost strangled me!¡± However, no one listened to herints¡­ ¡°How is the situation inside?¡± Gawain looked towards the tent and noticed that it was a deserted zone between the tent and the defense line as if one would be in great danger if one got close to the rock ball. ¡°Are there casualties?¡± ¡°No casualties, but two militiamen and a soldier are trapped inside.¡± Heidi had an odd expression. ¡°They¡¯ve been¡­ ¡®attracted¡¯ and kept there.¡± ¡°Attracted?¡± Gawain faltered for a second. ¡°Like a ma attracting metals?¡± ¡°Simr, but very strange.¡± Heidi recounted the situation. ¡°At the start, it was a militiaman who noticed that the enchanted equipment on them seemed to have suddenly lost their magical powers. Then, their weapons and armors were pulled toward the rock ball. However, not all metals would be attracted. The rock ball seemed to be making a selection. Some people remain unaffected when they walk near it fully armored¡­ As we weren¡¯t sure what other changes might happen to it, I forbade anyone from going near it for now. Only the druid called Pittman is inside checking on the three anchored men. Selective attraction? And it even affected the magical powers? With these properties, it was totally unlike a ma. Gawain pondered for a moment. He removed his Sword of Pioneers and handed it to Knight Philip at his side. Then, he tapped Amber¡¯s shoulder. ¡°We¡¯ll go in and take a look¡­ Leave all the metal products on you behind.¡± ¡°W¡ªWhy am I going too?¡± Amber instantly looked frightened. ¡°In such a dangerous situation, shouldn¡¯t a knight like you be going first?¡± ¡°Yeah, so in a while, I will be walking in front, and you are to follow.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°Unless you don¡¯t want your sry for this month anymore.¡± Amber gritted her teeth. She threw the metal items that she carried with her with an expression that she was ready to risk everything ¡ª two small daggers, two talismans, a small and exquisite pendant, the pocket watch belonging to the old butler in Viscount Andrew¡¯s household from the neighboring Tanzan Town¡­ Speaking of that, why hasn¡¯t she returned this?! Gawain¡¯s eyes swept past the pocket watch and stared fixedly at Amber, only speaking up after thetter got goosebumps from his look. ¡°How about your coin bag?¡± Amber immediately covered her own waist in horror. ¡°That is an absolute no!¡± Gawain continued to stare right at her. A few secondster, Amber finally pulled out her coin bag with great reluctance; she held its contents in her palm and counted them again and again. Eventually, she handed them to Knight Philip beside her. ¡°Let me tell you, I¡¯ve gotten a clear count of them! If one is missing when I get back¡­¡± ¡°I swear by the honor of a knight! I will guard the belongings that other people have handed to me!¡± The young knight immediately held his head high and dered loudly. In the end, Amber was startled. ¡°Hey, hey, you don¡¯t have to shout so loudly. Actually, there isn¡¯t much money in there¡­¡± ¡°Ancestor, I¡¯ll go with you¡­¡± Heidi took half a step forward but was stopped by Gawain. He looked at Heidi¡¯s eyes and said, ¡°Keep guard here with Phillip. That ball might be able to affect the flow of magic. You instead won¡¯t be of any help if you get close to it.¡± Heidi nodded and retreated with a bow. ¡°Then, please be careful.¡± Gawain sighed to himself: What wonderful attributes of a wife¡­ Should he find a time to ask when she nned to get married? As an unrted thought passed through his mind, Gawain led Amber, who looked as though she was facing a formidable enemy, towards the tent. In front of the tent, he used his Danger Detection ability to check the situation inside. Roughly determining that there were no threats to them, Gawain lifted the screen carefully. The first thing that came into sight was the big ball ced in the center of the tent. It lookedpletely unchanged, still coarse and rock-like. However, three fully armed men were amusingly stuck around the rock ball. A militiaman, a squad leader of the militia, and an official soldier. He also caught the figure of the little old man. Pittman was indeed, as Heidi had said, taking care of the trapped soldiers here. When Gawain lifted the screen, the little old man was squatting down in front of the squad leader and speaking amiably. ¡°¡­ So your situation is evidently due to bad luck. Do you really not want to try the changing-of-luck rite of the druid sect?¡± ¡°Since when did the druid sect have a changing-of-luck rite? Don¡¯t try to bluff my soldiers here.¡± Gawain stepped into the tent on wide steps and then lowered his head, ncing at the three soldiers. ¡°Who was the first to be trapped?¡± The three soldiers stuck to the rock ball were already in an extremely dispirited and nervous state. After that, a verbose little old man came here and promoted the changing-of-luck rite to them. They were essentially on the edge of breaking down, and Gawain¡¯s sudden appearance instantly eased up all of that. Regardless, the encouragement that the legendary pioneer knight could give them was immense (although only this legend knew how false he was). The three of them promptly exhaled deeply as if they¡¯d been rescued. Then, the squad leader with a full beard tilted his neck to the side with some effort. ¡°Reporting to Your Excellency, Locke was the first to be trapped. At that point, I was standing at the side with my armor on, but I did not get attracted, so I was very curious as to why. In the end, just as I was feeling curious, I was suddenly pulled in¡­¡± The third soldier sighed dejectedly. ¡°Your Excellency, I was attracted when I came to check on the situation.¡± Gawain lowered his head and surveyed the soldiers¡¯ condition. He found that the rock ball had indeed attracted their armors; there was also a longsword stuck to the top of the rock ball. But what was odd was that on the ground beside the rock ball was a metal ring that fell off from an armor, yet that metal ring showed no sign of being attracted. Gawain picked up the metal ring and rubbed it on the rock ball. He did not sense the slightest amount of maic force. Just then, the druid Pittman who was beside them spoke up, ¡°I checked earlier. This isn¡¯t a pure maic force. Moreover, it was as if their armors had been ¡®welded¡¯. They are in the state where they can¡¯t be moved at all, so they can¡¯t be freed either.¡± It seemed like this fellow who was promoting his changing-of-luck rite still did some proper business. ¡°It sounds like the effect of a certain magic¡­,¡± Gawain mused and then turned towards Amber. ¡°Try from the shadows. See if you can get rid of the effect.¡± The shadows existed together with the real world but on a different ne. As such, the shadows were very suitable for disrupting the magical power operating in the real world or even carrying out cross-dimensional damage. This was why the rogue profession had the most skills for undoing magic traps and breaking seals. And as a pet of the shadows, Amber was a master in this aspect. He brought her here just so she could deal with this type of situation. Amber no longer made trouble at this point. Instead, she nodded and very seriously utilized her innate ability. Her body became hazy and illusory. Her entire being had entered the space between the real world and the shadow realm. Some blurred shadows extended from beneath her feet and gradually blended into one with the shadow around the rock ball. And as Amber began the process of unsealing, Gawain tried to push the rock ball. He found that it wouldn¡¯t budge an inch. ¡°Wasn¡¯t this thing practically weightless in the first ce¡­¡± He frowned, wearing a puzzled look. ¡°Even with the added weight of three people, it¡¯s impossible that even I can¡¯t move it.¡± ¡°This is where something is wrong.¡± Pittman nodded. ¡°I heard of the scene when you brought this rock ball back. A person could easily move it with just one arm, but now¡­ I reckon it¡¯s as heavy as an isometric ck gold marble. The abnormally light weight from before might have been a magic effect. This now is its true weight.¡± Pittman¡¯s voice had just fallen when Amber suddenly ¡®leaped¡¯ out of her shadow state and fell onto her butt. ¡°Ouch¡ª¡± Gawain quickly reached out and pulled her up. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Amber also looked utterly confused. ¡°I don¡¯t know either¡­ There seems to be ayer of an odd energy field around this ball. I¡¯d just extended my consciousness over, and I was directly thrown back¡ª¡± ¡°Wait a minute!¡± Pittman suddenly said loudly. ¡°It showed signs of life earlier!¡± Chapter 73 - So Could This Be a Trick? Chapter 73: So Could This Be a Trick? Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Pittman¡¯s yell stunned Gawain. For a moment, it actually didn¡¯t ur to him what the other party meant by signs of life, until two secondster ¡ª he was referring to the ball. ¡°When Amber rebounded earlier, weak signs of life appeared inside the ball,¡± Pittman repeated while carefully moving closer to the sphere. He took out a dried and crumpled piece of leaf. While twisting the leaf stalk, he went on. ¡°But the signs disappeared after a split second¡­ I¡¯ve never seen such an unusual phenomenon¡­¡± Amber rubbed her butt while staring at the rock ball in disbelief. ¡°What the hell¡­? Could this thing really be alive?¡± The three soldiers still stuck on the rock ball instantly looked more nervous. Gawain, however, was more focused on suspecting the professional skills of a certain druid. ¡°You couldn¡¯t have sensed wrongly, could you?¡± Pittman promptly red. ¡°Impossible! I am a true druid, a professional from the Nature and Soul faction. How could I make a mistake in such a basic domain!¡± ¡°¡­ Aren¡¯t you from the Forest Heart faction?¡± Pittman was stunned. ¡°Was that what I said the previous time?¡± Then he immediately looked towards Amber. ¡°Which faction did you tell people I was from thest time?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°In any case, my senses are not wrong.¡± Noticing that the atmosphere was really awkward, even with Pittman¡¯s thick skin, he could no longer sustain it. He could only change the topic stiffly. ¡°Regardless of factions, sensing for signs of life is the foundation for all druids. Without this foundation, one wouldn¡¯t be able to cast any druid spells¡­ Moreover, look, this is proof!¡± While he spoke, he showed the originally dried and crumpled leaf in his hand to Gawain. The piece of a leaf had be healthy and fresh; now, it was a bright verdant green as if it had just been plucked from the tree branch. ¡°Although it looks to be lifeless on the surface, there is a certain form of sign of life internally¡­,¡± Pittman said very solemnly and professionally while circling the rock ball. ¡°It seems to be in a very deep, heavy sleep. Or could it also be because it has yet to develop into itsplete form?¡± Amber batted her eyes. No one knew what thought went through that mind when she suddenly let out, ¡°Hold on. This couldn¡¯t be an egg, could it?!¡± ¡°Egg?¡± Gawain faltered and thought to himself, ¡®if the thing that the group of Gondor researchers had been studying for such a long time in the mountains was really an egg, this matter would be exceptionally interesting¡¯. However, he soon grew even more puzzled. ¡°What living thing¡¯s egg would be this big?¡± The moment he finished, he jolted and the thought appeared in his mind. He himself answered, ¡°Could it be a dragon¡¯s egg?¡± Amber and Pittman instantly went silent. The two of them watched the big rock ball in the middle of the tent with fear and nervousness. Meanwhile, Gawain had entered a troubled state as he rubbed his chin. What development of an ancient joke was this? Obtaining a dragon egg after transmigrating, such a clich¨¦ had gone out of trend several years before he¡¯d transmigrated. Had such a prehistoric plotnded on him in the end? However, he soon thought of another aspect. So what if this was a dragon egg? Heavens knew how long it would take to hatch. Judging by the gigantic dragon¡¯s rumored lifespan of tens of thousands of years, the hatching of an egg itself might take thousands of years. Picking up a dragon¡¯s egg might mean brooding it for his entire life, and his own lifetime might not even be enough. They¡¯d have to brood it for generations, and when it finally hatched, the dragon papa and mama could juste and take it away. And they might not even say thank you before leaving¡­ Perhaps this was the gigantic dragon¡¯s usual trick? However, if he really were to calcte by the millennium, this ¡®egg¡¯ was brought out of remnants that had a thousand years of history. Who knew? Maybe it would be hatching soon? Probably because the sudden memory of such a familiar trick had triggered some recollections deep in his mind, Gawain simply stood there and entered a greatly dazed state. Amber got no reaction even after calling to him several times. Finally, the half-elf girl jumped and crashed her head onto Gawain¡¯s chest. ¡°Wake up!!¡± ¡°Oomph¡ª¡± Gawain wasn¡¯t wearing his armor and was almost left breathless then and there. When he returned to his senses, he immediately reached out to pull Amber¡¯s ear. ¡°Do you have a screw loose? How could you use your head to knock someone?!¡± ¡°Duh, you had me remove all the metal items on me beforeing in. If I had a hammer in hand, would I need to use my head?¡± Amber nimbly dodged Gawain¡¯s ws this time and retorted boldly, ¡°Why were you suddenly dazed earlier?¡± Although he was really tempted to question what exactly she would do if she had a hammer in hand, Gawain still directed his attention back to the rock ball. ¡°I was wondering if this really was a dragon egg¡­ How should I switch off this damn ¡®energy field¡¯.¡± There were three soldiers still stuck and unable to move. ¡°An ability that can control metals and affect the flow of magical power. In the legends, a subspecies of gigantic dragons known as metallic dragons or ¡®dragons of thend¡¯ do possess such abilities.¡± As a semi schr (his other half was chef, bandit, appraiser, and fortune teller), Pittman rubbed his chin and began, in his mind, to toy with the knowledge whose truthfulness was unknown. ¡°If we¡¯re thinking of it as an egg of some kind, then it¡¯s highly likely that this thing is a dragon¡¯s egg.¡± Gawain did not expect this old man to actually have some ability. He revealed an interested look. ¡°Oh? Then, do you know how to stop the energy field?¡± ¡°That I do not.¡± Pittman shrugged and rushed to go on before Gawain gave him a beating. ¡°And it¡¯s useless even if I do. If this really is a dragon egg, how could the ability of a low-level druid like me be enough to handle it? Gigantic dragons are a legendary species. This might just be an egg, but gigantic dragons have magical power equivalent to intermediate human mages when they¡¯re still an egg.¡± Gawain gaped. What did this absurd, nature-defying setup mean? So after working hard for half their lives, humans couldn¡¯t evenpare to a zygote of theirs? At this time, Amber suddenly looked over. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a legendary hero? You chop up Master Mages like you¡¯re chopping long beans. Can¡¯t you take care of it?¡± ¡°The abilities of knights and mages are different,¡± Gawain said with furrowed brows. He knew how fake of a ¡®legend¡¯ he was. Although he had been getting more adapted to this body and learning how to grasp the abilities in his body and memories, the long sleep had taken too much after all. Moreover, thebat experience wasn¡¯t his own, and it was rather difficult to fuse with his true self; hence, the power that he could truly muster in battle might have to be discounted further. Perhaps he could be the champion in his current territory, but if he were to leave the ¡®starter vige¡¯, he¡¯d probably die on the way¡­ Besides, this egg (assuming it really was an egg) was totally out of the domain that a knight¡¯s abilities could handle. However, after some careful thought, Gawain still decided to give it a try. ¡°Let me try.¡± A knight¡¯s abilities were indeed not as varied and convenient as a mage¡¯s. The majority of the skills in Gawain¡¯s memories involved using a knife to hack at someone, totally unlike how mages coulde up with seven to eight variations in a mere water creation spell. However, to deal with this egg¡­ Perhaps some basic abilities coulde in handy. Since this egg showed signs of life and could interact with magical power, he¡¯d use magical power to attempt tomunicate with it? In this world where all kinds of things were driven by magical power, all supernatural upations learned the basic use of it. Knights used magical power too, only in a different way from mages. However, in the most fundamental levels of sensing, guiding, and more, there wasn¡¯t much difference between the use of a knight¡¯s and a mage¡¯s magical power. Gawain walked over to the rock and pressed a hand on its rough surface. The three soldiers anchored to the rock ball instantly turned their heads over nervously. They did not know what method their Lord nned to use to engage with this ¡®rock¡¯; moreover, they were unsure whether their lives would be sacrifices in this process. Although the lives and deaths of almost all civilians were held by the aristocrats in this era, when it really came to the point, they could not help but feel tense. Gawain noticed the soldiers¡¯ gazes and reassured them with a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m very steady.¡± Following that, he became indifferent to their reactions and focused on sensing the flow of magical power. An additional ¡®field of vision¡¯ emerged in his mind. This was the distribution of magical power within a certain range of himself. Though he wasn¡¯t ¡®seeing¡¯ as clearly as mages in meditation did, it was enough to point out the flow of magical power. He saw that there seemed to be an extremely thinyer of mist shrouding the inside of the tent, and within the mist, there vaguely seemed to be a subtle flow. There were several more obvious ¡®convergence points¡¯ inside the mist; the two slightly stronger ones were Amber and Pittman standing nearby, with another three extremely weak balls of magical power gathered together, clearly the threeyman soldiers. What about the ¡®rock ball¡¯ that was supposed to be a dragon¡¯s egg? It was a group of pitch-ck holes. In the ¡®vision¡¯ of his magic senses, the center of the tent presented an absolute ck color as if space had simply been dug away. It was a darkness that showed absolutely no light, no details. There were only two possibilities: either this rock ball was something that by no means should exist in this word ¡ª matter that didn¡¯t have any magical power at all ¡ª or the rock ball had absorbed all magical effects targeted at it. The first reason could be eliminated because Heidi had once sensed magical powering from the inside of the rock ball. Though the power was very strange and unlike the known forms of magic, it did exist. So, this rock ball had probably entered a kind of ¡®self-protection¡¯? Gawain guessed while cautiously guiding his consciousness to draw closer to that darkness. Amber¡¯s unguarded probing of peril had proven the strength of this ¡®self-protection¡¯. An excessively violent prodding would very likely cause himself to be ¡®rebounded¡¯ like Amber had been; hence, he had to be careful and more careful. Just like that, after engaging extremely cautiously, he realized that he hadn¡¯t triggered a ¡®rebound¡¯ from the rock ball. Not knowing whether a dragon¡¯s egg had the ability tomunicate, Gawain could only constantly push forward the thought ofmunicating and interacting with the attitude of just giving it a try. At first, there was no response. But after sustaining it for a few seconds, he heard some buzzing sounds reverberating in his mind. And he was sure it wasn¡¯t just his imagination. This rock ball was grumbling softly to him. Gawain¡¯s spirit was instantly revived, and he almost lost the link because of the turbulence in his feelings. But he soon stabilized this fragile connection and sent his first greeting. ¡°Hello, I mean no harm. You can call me Gawain.¡± The mental fluctuationsing from the ball were bing clearer and clearer. Finally, the soft buzzing grumbles became words that he could hear clearly. It was a voice with a metallic tone and an indistinguishable gender. ¡°Is the outside safe now?¡± Gawain suppressed the agitation in his heart and did his best to transmit his sincerity. ¡°It is very safe here. You can bepletely assured.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe you. Scram.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Chapter 74 - What’s Glowing Chapter 74: What¡¯s Glowing Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios To be honest, Gawain had neither guessed this start nor had he expected this ending. He never thought that he would actually build a connection with a ball, and even more surprising was that the ball would be so in need of a beating¡­ If it wasn¡¯t because there were people watching and he had to maintain his dignified ancestor image, he would probably have immediately split this unlucky ball into two halves with a champion sh. Though the Sword of Pioneers wasn¡¯t with him, it did not stop such a thought from emerging¡­ Making great efforts to calm his mind, Gawain resisted the urge to curse and adjusted the ball before him from a ¡®frightened young child who needed help¡¯ to a ¡®naughty child in need of a beating who deserved to be locked in aboratory and studied¡¯. He controlled his impatience and said, ¡°What good do I get from lying to you? Theboratory used to lock you up back then has been abandoned for a thousand years. It¡¯s been a thousand years, do you know?¡± The ball kept silent for a while, seeming to be in thought. Following that, it replied especially firmly. ¡°Don¡¯t try to fool me into leaving my shell!¡± ¡°I¡¯m speaking the truth! If you don¡¯t believe me you¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t try to fool me into leaving my shell!¡± All the veins in Gawain¡¯s forehead were bulging. ¡°It¡¯s your business if you love to stay in this shell! First, release my men before anything else!¡± In the connection of consciousness, the ball sounded a curious voice, ¡°Your men? What men?¡± Gawain was stupefied by this curious attitude of the other party that didn¡¯t seem to be faked. ¡°You attracted three of my soldiers to your body. Are you still trying to deny it?!¡± The ball stayed quiet for an even longer period; then, it was ¡®sounded¡¯ utterly shocked, ¡°So there were also people coupled with these steel-te pieces?!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°It must be because my perception has been affected!¡± This unlucky ball had simply admitted its mistake. As its words fell, he heard a tter, the three soldiers had been instantly released and fell from the surface of the ball. They wore looks of apprehension and terror. The first thing they did afternding was to frantically dash to a spot further away from the ball and dump their armors, weapons, and all sorts of metal belongings on the ground. Gawain still believed that perhaps this strange ball could bemunicated with. Hence, he asked, ¡°Why did you attract all these armors and weapons?¡± The ball¡¯s response was in a bold and justified tone. ¡°Can¡¯t I get something to defend myself? Heavens know what other vile tricks you mad barbarians have!¡± ¡°I have said, the research facility from those days is long gone. How would I know how those people who captured you had¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t try to fool me into leaving my shell!¡± ¡°¡­¡± For the first time in his life, he had lost so terribly when debating with another. And what made this former know-it-all especially dispirited was ¡ª he¡¯d actually lost to a ball! If this ball was really a dragon¡¯s egg, he would have lost to a zygote¡­ Subsequently, regardless of whatever he said, this rock ball suspected to be a dragon egg refused to respond directly. Even when it was driven into a corner, it would only respond with ¡°don¡¯t try to fool me into leaving my shell¡±. This even had Gawain suspecting whether the essence of this ball was a damn repeater. And no matter what its essence was, the interaction could not be continued. Gawain removed his hand from the surface of the ball with a somber yet odd expression. At the same time, he ended the magic sensing. Lifting his head, he saw Amber and Pittman staring at him with curious gazes. Amber had just stood by and watched as the three soldiers gained their freedom a while after Gawain started interacting with the ball. Following that, Gawain entered a state of having his mind elsewhere as his face alternated between a fuming purple and a pale white. This had this half-elf girl thinking that this old dumpling1 was about to pass away again due to excessively utilizing magical power and losing control. She had been in dilemma in the past few minutes, deliberating for a long time whether to run out immediately and announce the division of belongings and disband or to strip everything valuable on Gawain and run away¡­ In the end, before her inner struggle ended, Gawain had ¡®revived¡¯. And he looked furious. This made Amber, who had a guilty conscience (well deserved), immediately break out in a cold sweat; even her tone became an octave lower. ¡°Are¡ªAre you okay? Your expression changed really often. I thought you were going to spontaneously explode¡­¡± ¡°I establishedmunication with this ball.¡± Gawain was rather focused on suppressing his anger, such that he didn¡¯t even notice Amber¡¯s abnormal attitude. ¡°This thing¡­ does have a mind!¡± ¡°A mind?!¡± The most surprised person wasn¡¯t Amber, but the druid Pittman beside her. The little old man rushed to the ball right after but wound up hesitating, afraid to press his hand on it. It would be okay for the legendary knight to touch it, but he was merely a grade three druid. What if he seeds in seeking his own doom? ¡°A dragon egg would actually possess a mind?! Which means¡­ gigantic dragons are already able to think when they¡¯re just eggs? This is literally¡ªliterally the most inconceivable matter. It¡¯s a profound mystery that no schr or druid in the world has ever discovered!¡± ¡°No, we still cannot confirm that this is a dragon egg,¡± Gawain quickly corrected. Even now, he still couldn¡¯t believe something so utterly plot-like would happen to him. However, his correction was of no use ¡ª Pittman had sunken into an inexplicable excitement, and he¡¯d started nning to write this new discovery into a book to be sold to the Sacred Dragon Kingdom in the north. If he really dared to sell such fictitious ¡®research findings¡¯ to those fanatics who worshiped gigantic dragons, Gawain would have no choice but to hire a new druid. Fortunately, Pittman did not have the money to print books; neither did he have money to travel through the entire Anzu kingdom and the northern mountain range in order to do promote himself in the Sacred Dragon Kingdom. Taking into consideration that the rock ball had refused all contact, Gawain could only opt to continue leaving it here. However, to prevent this ¡®dragon egg¡¯ ¡ª which was able to control metals and, to a certain extent, affect the flow of magical power ¡ª from stirring up more trouble, he changed the original housing measures: all metal items within a 10-meter radius of the tent were moved away; a circle of obsidian bs was nted around the sphere so as to impair magical power; the sphere was tied up withyer uponyer of strong ropes and thick wooden posts were used to fix it to the ground; the rock ball was told that he nned on buying oranges¡­ No one understood thest step. And while he was arranging all of this, Gawain recounted the entirety of his interaction with the ball to Heidi who¡¯d waited outside the whole time. Surprisingly, the always mature and steadfast Heidi who strived to be realistic also suspected the ball to be a dragon egg. Turns out this manner of thinking was trendy in this foreign world? ¡°This dragon egg was probably stolen by the Master Mages of the ancient Gondor Empire.¡± After listening to Gawain¡¯s description, Heidi shared her own inference, ¡°I¡¯ve heard that the gigantic dragons did indeed appear on the continent a thousand years ago. The Sacred Dragon Kingdom has records of that. Although those mad dragon worshipers have always been a little strange when it came to topics involving dragons, they are the most reliable recorders about when and where gigantic dragons have appeared. This point in time tallied with the construction era of the remnants. ¡°And judging by the dragon egg¡¯s attitude toward humans, the Master Mages of the Gondor Empire had clearly used underhanded means in the process of obtaining this egg and weren¡¯t exactly amicable to it in the subsequent steps.¡± ¡°That goes without saying. They¡¯d left it on theboratory bench! How amicable could that be?¡± Gawain pursed his lips. ¡°I suspect it¡¯s been in a slumbering state since. Those Master Mages had probably used some method to suppress its spirit because that ¡®egg¡¯ has absolutely no memory of a thousand years going by. When we brought it out from the remnants¡­ I¡¯m afraid we¡¯d destroyed the seal left by the Master Mages a thousand years ago.¡± ¡°How do you n on handling it?¡± Heidi asked cautiously. ¡°If it really were to be a dragon egg, then we can¡¯t do anything to it. Legend says that gigantic dragons are a species that holds grudges, and they especially value their eggs. The Gondor Master Mages from back then might not fear the vengeance of the dragons, but it¡¯s different for us today. Besides, to the dragons, I fear they can¡¯t even differentiate between us and the humans from a thousand years ago.¡± Almost no one living had ever seen a true gigantic dragon, but there wasn¡¯t ack of descriptions about them. Regarding their temperament, ssification, preferences, and even diet, this continent had countless professional books making a fuss of introducing them. A number of them were the ounts of gigantic-dragon specialists from every ce, while another came from the northern Sacred Dragon Kingdom. Thetter boasted themselves as Aristocrats of the Ice, descendants of dragons. They used lots of resplendent yet terrifying terms to describe the ¡®dragon ancestors¡¯ in their hearts, and Heidi chose to believe the most dangerous part of that description. Gawain rubbed his chin. ¡°That makes sense too¡­ We¡¯ll first leave it alone there for a few days. Don¡¯t have anyone disturb it. Let it believe that there is indeed no one doing experiments on it. Then I¡¯ll think of a way to build up trust.¡± With that, he let out an uncontroble long yawn. The drowsiness from being woken up in the middle of the night and the fatigue of intensive concentration came crashing at once as he yawned. ¡°Uahhh¡­ Let¡¯s just do this for today. Everyone is tired from busying around in the middle of the night. Except for the people on night duty, everyone, go back and have a rest.¡± The gathered crowd dispersed. A yawning Amber also disappeared from sight through her Shadow Walk. Gawain turned back and took onest look at the ¡®dragon-egg tent¡¯ being watched from afar by the soldiers. Shaking his head, he turned and walked toward his tent. After entering his tent, he sat on his bed but did not go to sleep immediately. Instead, as a habit, he focused his attention and called upon the ¡®magical-power imaging view from the sky¡¯ in his mind. After ensuring that there weren¡¯t many energy distribution fluctuations in the magical-power imaging view, that there were no high-energy reactions nearby, especially near the dragon egg, and that there were no new alerts from the satellite, he then let out a small sigh of relief and prepared to go to bed. However, the moment before heid down, his peripheral vision caught some indistinct, faint light in the unlit part of the tent. Gawain rubbed his eyes and verified that this was not an illusion; moreover, the faint light wasing from the big basket beside his desk. Those were the waste products from Reba¡¯s process of ¡®baking cement¡¯; the hardened materials whose use could not be figured out. Gawain leaned over curiously and saw a faint glowing from the hardened materials. The glow, though weak, was like stars in the sky. Chapter 75 - Unexpected Result And Unexpected... Chapter 75: Unexpected Result And Unexpected¡­ Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Those materials glowing faintly in the darkness swept away most of Gawain¡¯s sleepiness. Disregarding that these dark gray materials would stain his clothes, he began digging directly in the big basket. Soon, some fragments, evidently different from its surrounding materials, were turned out. The light set in them was even brighter, more centralized, and stabler. From the exterior, these pieces were still dark, hardened materials, but there were many crystalline solids less than one millimeter in diameter that looked like poor-quality crystals with unstable patterns. These crystalline solids were the source of the glow. Gawain crushed a piece of hardened material and carefully picked out a few crystals from it. He found that they were still glowing and were even brighter without the influence of the surrounding impurity. A certain instinct had him activating his own magic-sensing ability; hence, some constant, shimmering cloud-like mist appeared in his vision ¡ª these crystalline solids, sure enough, contained a certain amount of magical power. Gawain pinched a grain of crystal, his fingers slowly used force, and the solid finally crumbled. It was very hard, almost as hard as rock, but weaker than the natural crystals used by mages to process staffs or store magical power. And as it was crushed, its glow also disappeared. Magical power dissipated from itpletely. So what exactly was this? Gawain frowned deeply. He was so tempted to immediately consult Heidi about these things, but she was probably already asleep. Tonight¡¯s unforeseen circumstance must have tired her out; moreover, she still had to worry about matters regarding the construction of the camp in the day. It wasn¡¯t easy for her to get a good sleep. Therefore, Gawain could only repress his thoughts and n to approach Heidi early the next morning. The rest of the night was finally peaceful. The camp was enveloped in darkness and silence; the kingdom of the legendary Lady Night befell¡­ Early in the morning the next day, Gawain headed towards Heidi¡¯s tent with those bits of crystalline solids that could glow in the dark. He learned that Heidi had already woken up even earlier and had gone to theboratory, so he went there instead. This ¡®magicboratory¡¯ was situated at the southeastern corner of the camp, near the Dark Range. It was the only house in the entire camp that took up a sizable area and was built with rocks and wood as its main materials. Even without extra furnishing, it could be considered the ¡®mansion¡¯ here. This was not because Heidi wanted to be special but due to a magicboratory¡¯s effect on its environment. Many magic and alchemy experiments were required to be conducted in fairly quiet and stable locales. At the same time, using rocks for the walls was to make it more convenient to carve magic circles. Mages were beings who were rather particr about being practical. In the eyes ofymen, this solid yet grand building was filled with a mysterious aura. Amber had always suspected that Heidi¡¯s work in here was to mix potions and poisons, like an old witch, but she simply didn¡¯t dare to step in to confirm her suspicions ¡ª she was afraid of getting a beating. When Gawain arrived in a rush, Heidi was already upied with a pile of crystals. She had ced her working tform in the center of theboratory. The exceedingly spacious circr desk was divided into three parts: one part was engraved with magic circles, with all sorts of magic materials arranged around them; another part was used to set out various bottles and jars and alchemy tools; whereas thest part only had a set of equipment, and that was the crystal resonator they had purchased from Tanzan Town at a high price. It was equipment specially used to study all types of crystals as well as the engraved magic circles inside crystals. This was an outstanding creation from the mages of this world. Its precision and beautiful exterior were poles apart from those crude, primitive tools that Gawain has seen in the civilian society of this era. It had a pedestal which was its core. Brass gear fixed three natural magic crystals of different sizes in ce on the pedestal. And around this centralized tform were numerous independent, circr man-made lenses with adjustable angles. Before every piece of lens was a gray upright frame for imaging. This could be said to be the most expensive item in the wholeboratory. Heidi was always cautious when she used it. Even her niece, Reba, who was likewise a mage (though she¡¯d only ever mastered fireball spells), was not allowed to touch it. It seemed Amber would really get beaten if she dared to sneak in¡­ Gawain saw Heidi ce a light purple crystal in the middle of the crystal resonator. Through the stimtion of three magic crystals, the target crystal would produce a resonance, and such resonance would create detectable ¡®ripples¡¯ in this magic-pervasive environment. Through the man-made lenses all around the resonator, such ripples would then form an image that could be observed by the naked eye and projected onto the gray frame. A rtively clear rune structure could already be seen on two of the frames, and on the rough papers at the corner of the table was a sketch that Heidi had drawn ording to the projected structure. It seemed she was studying those ancient military-use crystals from the vault in the mountains. Regarding Gawain¡¯s sudden visit, Heidi appeared to be slightly surprised as Gawain would usually be checking on the progress of projects at the various areas at this time or drawing a pile of blueprints in his own tent. ¡°Ancestor? Why are you here?¡± ¡°I have some things that I would like to show you.¡± Gawain replied while pouring out those hardened pieces with bits of crystalline solids set in them from the small sheepskin bag he always carried around. At the same time, he looked at Heidi¡¯s ¡®workbench¡¯. ¡°You¡¯re studying the magic circles inside those ancient crystals?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Heidi nodded with a slightly apologetic look on her face. ¡°Pity the progress is no good.¡± While she spoke, she looked towards those coarse and ugly fragments in Gawain¡¯s hands. ¡°These are¡­¡± ¡°The ¡®waste¡¯ residue that Reba produced the previous time. But I found something interesting in it.¡± Gawain exined as he rubbed those crystalline solids in the residue. ¡°These things have magical power.¡± ¡°Magical power?¡± Heidi¡¯s brows furrowed; then, she carefully sensed for some time and was instantly astonished. ¡°They actually do?! What are these?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m having you take a look.¡± Gawain picked out one of the fallen crystals. ¡°Can your crystal resonator make out its structure?¡± Heidi did not expect Reba toe up with something so strange after a bout of slipshod work; she believed that Reba¡¯s act of baking rocks all day in the work shed was simply an amateurish pursuit, even if this task had been given to her by Gawain. After all, Reba had had numerous mind-boggling ideas during this process, for example, throwing locusts into the furnace and the likes of it. She carefully picked up the crystal handed over by Gawain and lifted it before her eyes to observe it. ¡°Aren¡¯t there bigger ones?¡± Heidi frowned, slightly troubled. ¡°It¡¯s so small. It¡¯s not easy to examine.¡± Gawain could do nothing about that. ¡°This is already the biggest piece. At least it¡¯s about the size of a rice grain.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll try my best,¡± Heidi said while removing the ancient crystal in the crystal resonator. ¡°Its rune sequence has been recorded. There¡¯s no need to continue testing.¡± Following that, Heidi carefully picked up the ¡®crystal¡¯, only the size of a rice grain, with a pair of small tweezers and ced it in the center of the pedestal of the resonator. Then, she activated the three magic crystals. After a brief wait, some blurred lines appeared on the ¡®screens¡¯ around the resonator. Not only were they extremely blurry, they were so faint as to be almost transparent. If Heidi hadn¡¯t doused the magic crystalmps around in advance, Gawain probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to see them at all. After all, the crystal was really too small as a subject of examination. ¡°This structure¡­ It is indeed a type of man-made crystal, and it has a very regr pattern.¡± Heidi carefully distinguished between the forms of these patterns and gingerly infused the lowest level of magical power into the pedestal. Following infusion of magical power, those patterns on the projection gradually turned brighter and were coated with a rainbow-like glow. ¡°¡­able to absorb external magical power and transform them into a stable form within the crystal¡­¡± Heidi removed her own magical power and observed the subsequent changes in those projections. Several minutes passed. There wasn¡¯t the slightest degree of change in the image projected on the frames, and the resonator¡¯s mechanism, which could precisely sense magical power, was totally calm. ¡°Magical power has been stably stored?!¡± Heidi revealed an even more surprised look. ¡°The rate of dissipation¡­ is this low?!¡± Gawain stared fixedly at the central pedestal of the crystal resonator. On the pedestal, the ¡®man-made crystal¡¯ was radiating a white glow that could be observed with the naked eye. It seemed that as magical power filled it, its brightness would also grow. He immediately realized why he hadn¡¯t previously discovered these bits mixed in the waste products even when it was very dark in the tent. These man-made crystals were empty when they were first produced. Without magical power, they naturally wouldn¡¯t glow. And as they wereid aside for an extended period of time, they started to absorb the magic energy drifting in the atmosphere. This was a gradual self-charging process; continuously charging over two days, they were then able to glow faintly in the night and finally discovered by Gawain. Heidi was also attracted by the peculiar properties of this crystal. She continued to infuse energy into the crystal with an uncontroble excitement. The grain-sized crystal must have absorbed a considerable amount of magical power for she very quickly realized that this thing had entered a ¡®saturated¡¯ state. The tiny crystal began to release a stable milky-white glow. There were no signs of self disintegration due to saturation. ¡°So this is a man-made crystal that can store magical power?!¡± Gawain looked at Heidi in surprise, feeling as if he¡¯d picked up a treasure. ¡°Then how does its maximum capacitypare to a natural crystal? The stability? I see it¡¯s been glowing the entire time. How is its self-consumption rate?¡± ¡°Hold on, hold on. I still need¡­ I still need to do more serious tests.¡± The agitation in Heidi¡¯s heart could match Gawain¡¯s, but she still maintained theposure that a mage ought to have. She picked up the tiny crystal and walked towards the side with the magic circle used for analysis while answering, ¡°Its self-consumption problem shouldn¡¯t be too severe. Although it is glowing, it is mainly the drifting magical power in the atmosphere that is resonating due to the influence of the crystal. There isn¡¯t much loss of the stored magical power in the crystal, so it should be able to store magical power for a very long period of time¡­¡± While doing so, she ced the crystal into a ¡®dish¡¯ made of ruby with a trough around the center and ced this dish in the center of the magic circle. She prepared to try extracting the magical power stored inside the crystal again. The magic circle was activated. The crystal bit in the ruby dish let out a soft crack and became crumbs. Chapter 76 - The First Step to Art Chapter 76: The First Step to Art Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The crystal in the ruby dish broke into a pool of crumbs just like that. Gawain and Heidi exchanged a speechless nce. After a long pause, Gawain then choked out as the corner of his mouth twitched, ¡°This means star raising1 has failed, right?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Ahem, I mean, what¡¯s happening?¡± Gawain quickly covered up thement that he¡¯d subconsciously blurted out with a dry cough. ¡°The magic circle overexerted it when drawing out energy and left it in crumbs?¡± As light rays of arcane magic floated in Heidi¡¯s eyes, she examined the remaining traces of magic in the ruby dish in detail. The initial look of excitement on her face slowly dulled. ¡°No¡­ I¡¯m afraid this is the inherent defect of such crystals¡­¡± ¡°Defect?¡± Gawain frowned. He had a vague sense of foreboding, like an unlucky yer who threw lots of money into in-game purchases but ended up summoning the most basic Shikigami1. ¡°Is it single-use only? It will be destroyed if it releases energy again after being recharged?¡± If that was the case, the value of such man-made crystals would undoubtedly plunge, but Gawain found that he was able to ept that. In this world, crystals that could store magical power were extremely valuable materials. Mages categorized such crystals into two different qualities. High-quality crystals were pure and stable, and they could be carved with magic circles and operate stably. As such, they were used as the cores of various magic articles, such as being mounted on staffs. Whereas, crystals at a grade lower could not be carved with magic circles due to poor stability, but they could be used as storage for magical power and are, therefore, also viewed as an important strategic resource by mages. However, in all this time, storage crystals could only be obtained from nature; man-made crystals could not substitute for them at all. This was mainly because man-made crystals had severe ¡®natural dissipation¡¯ problems; magical power stored in these crystals would dissipate at an rming rate and would even be emptied within a few days. They werepletely unusable; hence, man-made crystals could only be used as supplementary materials in the production of magic articles or even as ornaments in the aristocrats¡¯ castles¡­ If these crystalline solids that Reba had unintentionally created only had the defect of being single-use, it wasn¡¯t a big problem to Gawain. Heidi had confirmed that these crystals were very stable; thus, at worst, they would be used to manufacture single-use magic articles. To Gawain who was ustomed to the industrial times, ¡®single-use¡¯ did not mean depreciation but a synonym for inexpensive, convenient, and mass-produced products. Yet Heidi shook her head. ¡°The problem is not that it is single-use, but that the magical power it stored cannot be drawn out for use.¡± Gawain waspletely stunned this time. ¡°How could that be?¡± ¡°The magical power lost its ¡®alignment¡¯, which probably urred the moment extraction happened. The originally sequenced magical power became disorderly ¡®waste energy¡¯ in this process. It will dissipate the moment it is extracted, and even if collected before it does, it remains unusable. After all¡­ it is ¡®waste energy¡¯.¡± Waste energy. This was the specialized term mages used, also known as ¡®disordered magical power¡¯. This was a kind of magical power that could not participate in any magic reaction nor be used to release magical power for any spell. It was worthless, like musical notes that had lost their tone. Disordered magical power was the byproduct of many spells; it was the ¡®g¡¯ left over after mages had released the magical power. And, unforgettable to Gawain, the incident where disordered magical power held the greatest presence was the big explosion of the Well of Deep Blue a year before the Gondor Empire copsed. Huge amounts of disordered magical power appeared inside Deep Blue which directly led to the Well of Deep Blue operating at full power but unable to export any energy. Finally, the reactor core melted and caused an explosion. Deposited into the crystal was magical power, but what was extracted became waste residue. This was like the boosters of certain ck-hearted games in his previous life. What was put inside was equipment and gems, but taken out were g and small horn1 which the entire server sneered at¡­ The facts were clear as day: Reba had produced a little, white crystal block that could tick off a strengthening party1 on the spot (no mistake). Giving a disappointed nce to the powder-form crystal residue, Gawain shook his head. ¡°Reba might be able to produce storage crystals that are usable some day¡­ In any case, we¡¯ll remain expectant of that for now. Let¡¯s move on. I saw you working with those antique crystals earlier. Any results?¡± Heidi gathered herself, but her tone was a rather apologetic one. ¡°Sorry, Ancestor. There were many magic circles and rune arrangements within the crystal that are lost to us, and they werebined using an iprehensible method. The precision of the present crystal resonator is limited. So far, I only recognize a part of it, and I¡¯ve restored it into a magic circle¡­ Pleasee this way.¡± Gawain followed. He saw Heidi bring out from her desk some drawings of magic circles that had already been sorted. Other than all sorts of symbols and lines, there were also notes written in a graceful handwriting on the papers; they were annotations that she¡¯d left behind. Gawain studied the drawings, while Heidi shared her thoughts beside him. ¡°The magic system of the ancient Gondor Empire is very different from today¡¯s. Their magic circles went in yers¡¯. Everyyer was connected using key nodes, and those nodes were also a type of magic circle themselves when banded together as if everyyer was nested. It is impossible for the technology of today to build a magic circle with such a structure. I cannot imagine how the Master Mages of ancient Gondor shoved this entire set ofplicated runes into a tiny little crystal¡­¡± Gawain lifted his head and enlightened her with a smile, ¡°They first prepared a room with almost no dust or suspended particles. Then they used magic-conducting materials to build a huge magic-circle model. Following that, they vacuumed out all the air in the room. Finally, they shined beams at the magic-circle model using powerful magical power from the Well of Deep Blue, and on the focal points of the illumination, they ced empty crystals that were to be processed. Through a unique prization technique, magical power would brand theyered magic circle onto the interior of the crystal,yer byyer. Just like that, with one more illumination, the crystal would have a set of magic circles branded in it. Twenty-seven could be made in a minute.¡± With a tter, a dip pen in Heidi¡¯s hand fell to the ground and broke in two. Damn, the ancients turned out to be so formidable?! ¡°However, this is where my point of view differs most from the people of this era. You all believe that many things are precious and rare. It is only natural and right for masters to carefully craft it and then leave them for people to pass down through the generations. But in my opinion, it is only natural for these things to be mass-produced cheaply. It¡¯s a pity. We lost the Well of Deep Blue, and people of that generation are all dead. It¡¯s inevitable that all of you would progress this way.¡± Heidi¡¯s expression was odd; she had an intense sense that the unfilial descendants had disappointed Ancestor once again¡­ Just then, Gawain¡¯s eyes were suddenly caught by the magic circles on one of the drawings. ¡°Hmm?¡± Heidi quickly leaned forward; after spotting what Gawain¡¯s gaze was on, she exined, ¡°That is a magic circle to control a crystal¡¯s spontaneous explosion. You know it. Thest function when these manufactured crystals are close to disintegrating is spontaneous explosion. Thisyer of magic circle was branded in a location independent of other rune groups, and it was unusually simple, so it was fairly easier to restore. But I wasn¡¯t able to restore the friend-or-foe identification portion rted to this detonating magic circle. Till now, I have not found out which runes were the ones to achieve this unbelievable function. I trulyck talent in this aspect¡­¡± ¡°Hold on. Set aside how those identification runes were made.¡± Gawain interrupted Heidi¡¯s self-criticism. All was good about this granddaughter. Except, once she felt that her Ancestor was upset, she would immediately sink into a state of self-criticism and self-reflection, and this was really troubling. She was a character who could easily be a domineeringdy or a queen, yet she always seemed as if she was being bullied in front of him. ¡°I saw the annotations you wrote here¡­ You said that this magic circle is different from a conventional magic circle. It wasn¡¯t that the explosion was generated after the energy in the crystal had been released to the outside world but that an ignition of energy had urred within the crystal and took the crystal itself as an explosive too?¡± Heidi faltered for a moment, then nodded. ¡°Yes. The usual or simr magic circles would lead the energy of the storage crystal out and create an effect externally. But because the function of this magic circle is spontaneous explosion, it skips the leading step and directly ignites the energy within the crystal. At the same time, the broken crystal fragments would also have massive lethality. To be honest, I¡¯ve nevere into contact with such magic circles before. Although they aren¡¯tplicated, any mage with a sound mind would not use them. This thing willpletely destroy a precious storage crystal¡­¡± Heidi trailed off. Clearly, she was no fool and had swiftly be aware of the uses this had. Their gazes unanimously shot towards the ruby dish on theboratory bench. It was as if the small amount of crystal dust in the ruby dish was sparkling once more. This was the glow of art (convinced emoji here). ¡°The magical power extracted from those crystals would instantly be waste energy, but they are in a stable state when stored inside the crystal¡­,¡± Gawain summarized slowly. ¡°Then we¡¯ll simply not extract them. How great would it be to directly ignite them inside the crystal?¡± Heidi concurred unhurriedly, ¡°Yeah, such ¡®crystals¡¯ are produced from rocks anyway. They aren¡¯t costly¡­¡± Mages with a sound mind would not use an explosive magic circle that would destroy a storage crystal with it. That was because storage crystals were expensive, and they only needed to add a structure to lead the energy out of the explosive magic circle, releasing explosive magic while keeping the crystal. Since the effect was exactly the same, why the need to ruin a piece of crystal? However, if there existed a type of crystal whose stored magical power had no way of being extracted, would it continue to be worthless? Then, this thing would literally be made for spontaneous explosions; its properties were as straightforward and iron-headed as the person who invented it. Countless bold ideas that made one jump for joy emerged in Gawain¡¯s mind. These thoughts were apanied by bright mes and stirring whistles. They were the future; they were hope; they were the sword and shield to protect the people andnd; they were the rays of light that broke up all the clouds gathered from the failures of creating gunpowder¡­ It was art! So utterly artistic! On the same level as the Louvre¡­ Gawain repressed those agitated thoughts and suddenly asked a very practical question with an odd look, ¡°How are we going to carve an explosive magic circle on a crystal the size of a rice grain?¡± Heidi had also calmed down and seriously considered this question. Following that, she said in a rather unsure tone. ¡°Perhaps¡­ we don¡¯t necessarily have to carve it on the crystal because this is a magic circle with an ¡®interference model¡¯.¡± Chapter 77 - New Furnace Chapter 77: New Furnace Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Magic circle with an ¡®interference model¡¯¡­ Although Gawain Cecil was half a naturalist and knights shared many simrities with mages in the fundamental use of magical power, Gawain had to admit that to really rte to those detailed yet professional areas, his knowledge was stillcking. He had to ask Heidi before he understood what was so special about the magic circles in those antique crystals. In short, they were ¡®Area-of-Effect¡¯ magic circles. Such magic circles could work on energy storage apparatuses within a set area, and they did not have to be carved on the surface or interior of the apparatus. Or rather, as long as the key nodes on the magic circles were connected to the energy storage apparatus, this effect could be stimted. Magic circles with an ¡®interference model¡¯ were very simr to thoserge arrays. Large arrays meant building a magic circle, then cing sources of magical power, such as storage crystals or the like, onto key nodes as power sources. Such a structure naturally did not require having to carve the magic circle onto the crystal, but in reality, magic circles with an ¡®interference model¡¯ did have intrinsic differencespared torge arrays. Magic circles with an ¡®interference model¡¯ were usually extremely small and exquisite. They also had a very small area of effect and only had one function, and their rune structures were actually iplete: the storage part had to bebined with the rune portion to be considered aplete ¡®operating body¡¯. Thus, such interference-style magic circles were usually used as ¡®starting gears¡¯ to do simple activating and shutting off of some magical power sources or¡­ Used to blow up the magical power sources. Gawain understood the Gondor mages back then had carved interference-style magic circles inside these crystals for military use. Logically speaking, since they¡¯d already shoved these runes inside the crystals, there was absolutely no need to spend more effort to set them as interference models. However, in actuality, the problems which soldiers faced on the battlefield were much moreplicated; not all crystals for military use were able to remain intact throughout the entire battle. Many a time, cracking or breaking due to violentbat was the ending for such crystals. At this point, perhaps the magic circle aspect of the crystal core could still operate due to proper protection, but the crystal body had already disintegrated. In such situations, the rune experts of the Gondor military sector came up with an idea: they had to at least ensure that these crystals¡¯ spontaneous-explosion function was still usable at the very end. Hence, these magic circles with an ¡®interference model¡¯ were used for the crystals¡¯ spontaneous-explosion aspect. Such magic circles ensured that even if the crystals were to break, they could still explode when the fragments were thrown out ¡ª as long as some energy still remained in these fragments. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the effect would be if huge amounts of these crystals are gathered and set off at the same time.¡± Gawain rubbed his chin as he began thinking in his mind. ¡°Or use something to glue them together? Besides, we¡¯re still unclear as to how they¡¯re formed. Only a small amount of the entire basket of samples that Reba sent over contained such crystals¡­¡± Heidi watched Gawain¡¯s expression. She could sense that the other party¡¯s spirits were at an all-time high; this had her slightly confused. Although she was also rather pleased that these odd crystals could be put to use, she could not imagine exactly how valuable these magical crystals that had no other use except for explosions were. ¡°Ancestor¡­ you seem very happy?¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t I be?¡± Gawain turned and nced at Heidi. ¡°Don¡¯t you think that once these things are put to use, the effect would be immense?¡± ¡°Mm¡­ if the processing is suitable, perhaps they could be made into explosive magic articles. They would be very useful for average mages like Reba and myself. They can also be distributed to the soldiers as supplementary weapons.¡± Heidi had stretched her imagination to its limits. ¡°But I cannot think of what else they can be used for other than these.¡± Gawain watched Heidi¡¯s slightly confused expression and opened his mouth, but he found it hard to let the other party understand the image that was in his mind right now. Before personally witnessing the spectacle of explosives cutting into mountains or industrial mass production, no one living in the Middle Ages would be able to dream of those images. Hence, he simply did not exin further but raised the sheepskin bag in his hand. ¡°I¡¯ll leave all these samples to you. To be honest, there isn¡¯t much. Try your best to confirm their various properties before they¡¯re all expended. While doing so, see whether the ¡®detonation magic circles¡¯ work on them. I¡¯m going to look for Reba and figure out how that girl managed to create these.¡± Heidi received the sheepskin bag from Gawain in a cherished manner; she then seemed to be reminded of something and specially mentioned, ¡°Ancestor, Reba is a very hardworking child, but she has almost never been praised since a young age, so¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I will bevish in my praises for her.¡± Gawain smiled and pointed at the sheepskin bag that Heidi was now holding, ¡°I¡¯ve even decided to name these crystals ¡®Reba Crystals¡¯ ¡ª if thatss can reproduce them.¡± With that, Gawain warned Heidi to be absolutely cautious when testing out the explosive magic circles and to ensure precautions are in ce; he then left the magicboratory. Watching Gawain leave, Heidi was too embarrassed to voice the true thoughts in her heart. Actually, she had meant for Gawain to take it easy when he praised Reba; that child had never received praises since she was a child. Once someone praised her, she might just be too full of herself¡­ But never mind, since Ancestor seemed so pleased, she¡¯d better not be a wet nket. Reba was optimistic and could stand beatings; if she really became toocent, at worst, a beating would solve it all¡­ [E/N: Aunt Heidi is so mean!] After leaving the magicboratory, Gawain headed straight to where Reba had attempted the baking of cement but did not find her there. There were only a few workers clearing up the waste residue, and after asking around, he learned that Reba had left to go to the ¡®steelworks¡¯. The baseponent of a magic web had beenpleted; the first furnace was also in the final stage of assembly. Reba had gone to supervise the work bright and early. Gawain briefly checked the waste cleared out of the furnaces. After confirming that there weren¡¯t crystals mixed in them, he left for the steelworks (though only a frame had been put out at present) at the east side of the camp. Once he arrived at this ce which had been known as the ¡®cksmith Store¡¯ not long ago, Gawain found that it had been the right decision to hand this task to Reba. The courtyard which was once full of dug-out gullies (for the sake of burying magic circles) was now re-leveled properly. Absolutely no signs of magic circles could be made out on thepacted ground, and the only proof that there were indeed magic circles buried under were those silvery-white pirs neatly spaced out in intervals of ten-odd meters. Those pirs were coated with a mithrilyer of primitive magic sensors. And other than these almost one-meter tall ¡®sensors¡¯ that appeared out of the ground surface, Gawain also noticed many neatly arranged stone bs. These stone bs were distributed in between the sensor pirs at equal intervals, and they lined a good half of the courtyard. Glittering runes could be seen on the surfaces of the stone bs. Gawain had vaguely guessed the use of these bs. The whole project had been rationally done, a good job indeed. Not only were those magic circles most sensibly ¡®encased¡¯, what was even more satisfying were those orderly arranged pirs and stone bs. They were such a perfect delight to the eyes, so urate and precise. Even knowing that they were handmade products rather than manufactured ones, Gawain still felt that, as an OCD1 person, he was exceedingly satisfied. Orderly! Being orderly was the way! Reba had fully understood all the demands that Gawain had listed for her, and she had even thought of, in advance, the requirements for this ce to increase its capacity in the future! Empty spaces were reserved in advance in those areas where stone bs had not beenid, clearly in preparation for the future! There were lots of people bustling about in the courtyard, transporting tools, or cleaning up the leftover materials, but Reba¡¯s form could still be easily spotted. That was because Gawain had caught therge ck furnace in a courtyard corner at first sight, as well as the iron-headed fireball girl directing things with animated gestures. ¡°Be careful, be careful¡­ This structure has topletely adhere to the stone b! Do not cut corners! uracy, uracy, do you understand¡­ If it is not fitted urately, there¡¯ll be no meat. Do you understand now?! Hey, hey, we don¡¯t need that iron bar at the side now. We¡¯ll see about it after the runes have been installed¡­ Where¡¯s the drainage trough? Move the drainage trough here¡­ Let me have a look at the blueprint!¡± Watching Reba who was excitedly immersed in her work, Gawain did not have the heart to disturb her. He stopped several serfs ¡ª who were rmed upon seeing his face and wanted to bow ¡ª and turned to the newly installed furnace, observing it with an admiring gaze. This was a¡­ very beautiful furnace. Compared to those old-style furnaces that are only about a meter tall, it was more than four meters tall and entirely pitch ck; this was because ck stone powder was added into the materials used to build the furnaces to further strengthen its magical powerpatibility. It abandoned the traditional ¡®pot-belly¡¯ furnace design and also employed a rectangr chamber as its main structure. At the upper end of the rectangr chamber, there were three chimneys running parallel, whereas the lower end had a protruding rectangr t surface. There were ratherplicated rune arrays carved on that surface; a part of those arrays extended all the way to the front of the furnace. There was a metal te that seemed to be movable; there was even a connecting rod under the metal te linking it to something like a pedal, which seemed to be a type of control gear. As a result of the control gear being positioned at the front, the openings to pour in ore, remove g, or drain molten metal were all set either to the back or to the left of the furnace. It was neither like any furnace that Gawain had known in his past life on Earth nor was it simr to the traditional furnaces of this world. Better yet, it totally did not match the blueprint that Gawain handed to Hummel at the very beginning¡­ Evidently, that old cksmith had racked his brains and improved the design. To Gawain, this was excellent news; whether it was the oue of doing so or the ¡®improvement¡¯ itself, both were wonderful. Only now did Reba notice that everyone around had be much quieter and wore looks of reverence. She nced around impetuously before she saw her Ancestor who was strolling around the furnace. The youngdy was instantly surprised. ¡°Ah! Lord Ancestor! Why have youe?¡± ¡°I was looking for you for a matter¡ª But now I¡¯ve also seen your progress while I¡¯m here.¡± Gawain waved his hand, a satisfied smile on his face. ¡°To be honest¡­ it¡¯s better than I¡¯d imagined.¡± ¡°Is that so, is that so?!¡± Reba immediately looked overjoyed. ¡°Do you really think so?¡± ¡°If you weren¡¯t able to handle these well, I certainly wouldn¡¯t have allowed you to continue being in charge long ago.¡± Gawain could not hold back his smile. ¡°Be more confident in yourself. I¡¯ve said before, you are the pride of the Cecil n.¡± Upon hearing these words, Reba¡¯s head was held so high that her face was about to be raised into the sky¡­ Chapter 78 - Rune Trigger and Amber’s Slacking Time Chapter 78: Rune Trigger and Amber¡¯s cking Time Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Gawain¡¯s praise was, of course, rather pleasing to Reba; she almost came forward wagging her tail to ask to be praised more (if she had a tail). Meanwhile, Gawain conscientiously examined the structure of this modern furnace after praising her. He¡¯d already found many aspects that he hadn¡¯t nned for at the start, and a part of these additional structures could possibly be Hummel¡¯s reformation ording to his experiences as a cksmith, while the rest would definitely be Reba¡¯s work. After all, Hummel did not know how to make changes in runes and magic circles. ¡°What is this structure for?¡± Gawain pointed to the linked pedal, connecting rod and steel te at the bottom of the furnace. These structures appeared to be very small and delicate; Hummel had probably forged them bit by bit using a hammer. A part of it was fitted with the stone b on the ground, while another seemed to be rted to the magic circle structure of the furnace. This had Gawaining up with some vague guesses. ¡°Oh, oh, didn¡¯t you say that you wanted a switch for magic circles that even cksmiths who areymen would be able to control? So I designed this structure.¡± Reba exined with a beam. ¡°Although the modern furnace can be continuously operated, it has to be switched off sometimes. So look, this pedal can move this steel te. There is a rune on the steel te and another on the obsidian b on the furnace. This pair of runes is ineffective if separated, but when put together, they be a part of the entire magic circle¡­¡± Reba exined while demonstrating for Gawain. She stepped on the pedal with force. The connected steel te then turned and fitted into the indentation at the bottom of the furnace. Gawain then saw that it had a basic elemental rune carved on the flip side ¡ª which happened to be the missing part of the furnace¡¯s magic circle. This was a switch, a structure that was extremely simple but full of creativity. Before the appearance of this, mages essentially controlled the operation of magic circles directly using their own magical power. However, cksmiths did not know how to control magical power, so they clearly needed this. And as the steel te flipped out, the magic circuit throughout the entire furnace was connected. Gawain sensed a current briefly surge through the air. Following that, some glowing patterns emerged on the stone bs on the ground, and the magic circles on the side of the furnace were also activated. The runes on them lit up one by one. Firewood had long been ced in the chamber; at present, as the magic circles were activated, this firewood began to burn and instantly burst into raging mes, burning far stronger and hotter than usual mes from firewood. Reba had removed her foot, but the steel te was already set in the indentation of the furnace with the help of geartches. Despite the precision of this entire structure being no match for industrial products ¡ª as they just needed to push the crude rune up for it to take effect ¡ª its operating mode was already nearly perfect. ¡°Step again, and it goes back!¡± Reba pointed at thetches between those connecting rods with a rather pleased smile. ¡°I named this entire set ¡®rune trigger¡¯, a mechanism that can be toggled and operated by runes! Let me tell you. Don¡¯t assume that it was as simple as taking a few runes apart and reassembling them. I experimented for a long time before concluding that this pair of runes was the most stable, most universalbination¡­¡± Girl, you¡¯ve given this thing a super posh name! Catching Gawain¡¯s slightly disoriented gaze, Reba finally ended her ceaseless h h that stemmed from her being overly excited. She asked with some hope and nervousness, ¡°Um¡­ Lord Ancestor, what do you think of this? Oh yes, other than this rune trigger, everything else about this furnace was reformed by Hummel.¡± ¡°Very good, very good. Both of you have done well!¡± Gawainmended sincerely; then he noticed that the old cksmith wasn¡¯t present. Thus, he asked curiously, ¡°Where did Hummel go?¡± Reba scratched her hair. ¡°Because we need even more ck stones and red y to build more new furnaces, he brought a few apprentices and people from the search party to look for materials in the mountains. The search party mentioned that they¡¯d seen ck stones in the mountains when they returned yesterday.¡± Gawain let out an ¡°oh¡± in response before it suddenly struck him that he was here for proper business. Therefore, he tapped his head and said, ¡°Ah yes, I have something for you. Look at this. Do you have any impression?¡± He brought out a darkish-gray and ugly hardened substance. This was thest piece of ¡®waste residue¡¯ he had left after giving all the rest to Heidi. Reba recognized it instantly. ¡°Ah, isn¡¯t this the waste from my failed baking previously?¡± ¡°Look carefully in here.¡± Gawain could tell that even Reba hadn¡¯t really noticed there was something else mixed in the ¡®waste residue¡¯ she¡¯d created. ¡°See these grains of crystalline solids? Do you still remember how you baked these?¡± Reba only noticed those bits of crumbs then. Honestly speaking, as the wastes all looked about the same, she wasn¡¯t able to differentiate the products by batches just by looking. Fortunately, she¡¯d strictly followed Gawain¡¯s ¡®operating rules¡¯ and conscientiously recorded the ratio of materials, duration, temperature, and kiln serial number of every batch that she¡¯d baked. They just needed to verify that this was one of the first few batches and then redo them following the records for that day. They would then be able to easily confirm how these things came by. Hearing that Reba had diligently made records and that they could easily recreate the operating details from the records, Gawain really heaved a sigh of relief. In this ¡®medieval¡¯ background, ¡®detailed notes¡¯ almost did not exist in the average person¡¯s mind; only mages devoted to various magic research would have a shallow concept of this. However, Reba was not a mage who could do research; this was reflected in her simplistic fireballs that had always been either big, super big, ultra big, or many, many levels bigger. Hence, this girlcked the proper habits that one should have when doing experiments. Thankfully, she was very obedient and was thorough with all that Gawain tasked her with. While Gawain was studying how to introduce ¡®the art of explosion¡¯1 as soon as possible into this era, a certain half-elf bandit who was idle after eating and drinking to her heart¡¯s content was strolling in the dense woods of the Dark Range. Of course, a more creative way of putting it would be ¡ª patrolling the borders of the territory or, even, searching for potential danger and wealth in the Dark Range¡­ They had almost the same meaning anyway! ¡­ Anyone who knew this person would know that she was merely cking. Carrying her two treasured little daggers and humming an untuned song, Amber leaped between rocks and branches as if she was walking on t ground. With the help of the pervasive shadows in the woods, her form would disappear into the air from time to time and then suddenly appear tens of meters away, even up to a hundred meters. Sometimes, as her figure flickered, a wild fruit from an unknown source would be on her little dagger. Then, she would take one or two bites out of it before casually tossing it away. To Amber who was an elf and also a master of the shadows, these dark woods were like a paradise tailor-made for her. ¡°Ha¡­ this is a really lovely ce¡­¡± Standing on the branch of a big tree, Amberfortably stretched as she let out a rxed sigh. Despite being intimidated by the notorious reputation of the Dark Range when she had first arrived (she even had thoughts of whether to escape or not), but after staying here for a period of time, she realized that this ce was really as that 700-year-old dumpling had said ¡ª not that scary at all. It made sense too. Several hundred years had passed since the Dark Wave. Those monsters were doubly sealed by the Great Barrier and by the Dark Range in the Gondor wastnds. This northern side of the range also hadyers of protection. How could there exist anymore danger? These fellows from the north had really scared themselves: they were scared out of their wits! Amber subconsciously mocked these ¡®northerners¡¯ who didn¡¯t dare toe here as they¡¯d believed the ferocious reputation of the Dark Range yet forgot entirely that not too long ago, she had been one of them. She stayed on the branch for a while. When she had enough of the cool breeze, she spread her arms and fell backwards from the tree. Midway through the fall, she entered the shadow state. The power of the shadows wrapped her up and instantly brought her into a world parallel to the real world, where almost no one could step into. The sounds of the wind, insects, and birds chirping in the forest were left behind. Ambernded gently and stood in this tranquil and dull world. The dense forest was gone. There were only overgrowths of grotesque-looking rocks and rugged mountain paths. A few withered tree trunksid among the mountain. Like jagged teeth, their hideous branches pointed toward the shadow realm¡¯s overcast and gloomy skies. This ck and white world was disconcerting, like the kingdom of the dead in the legends, but to Amber, this was a ce that brought her a lot of peace. When she stood here, she would feel like she was home. Yet the past Amber wasn¡¯t able toe here often. Despite possessing exceptional talent with the shadows, previously, Amber hadn¡¯t been able to enter the shadow realm anytime and anywhere she wished. She could only get a vague sense of the ¡®border¡¯ of this world and could arrive in this world more easily than the average rogue, but it had been especially tough topletely cross over the border. Often, it would either require an extended period of mediation or the help of some magical articles and potions. However, ever since she left the Cecil territory, this process seemed to have be much easier. As long as she focused, she would be able to sense the presence of the border, and as long as she mustered the forces of the shadows, she would be able to cross the border with ease. Through a period of familiarizing and adapting, she could now even dive fancily into the shadow realm like she was doing now. Although she was neither a schr who specially researched the shadows nor was she some mage with an ¡®acute sense of the supernatural¡¯, Amber was no fool herself. She¡¯d vaguely guessed that the shadow realm had be easier to enter ¡ª not because her shadow affinity had advanced by leaps and bounds (though there was definite improvement) ¡ª but probably because this world was seeing changes. Some force had caused the walls of the shadow realm and the real world to weaken. However, the weakening was extremely slight; only she, the ¡®freak¡¯, had been able to sense the changes. If she treated the changes of the shadow realm as some huge discovery and approached those lofty mages, schrs, and lords with it, ten to one, she¡¯d be driven away as a madwoman or worse; to them, her extraordinary talent with the shadows (and terriblebat ability) would be considered a gift that fell from the skies. She might not even get to walk out of those people¡¯s mage towers alive. Amber wandered about the shadow realm, enjoying this world¡¯s tranquility and safety, while those little thoughts of hers floated in her mind. So what had any changes to the world got to do with her¡­? But perhaps she could tell the fellow who crawled out of a coffin about it? That fellow seemed like the type who would be very interested in these odd happenings, and he definitely wouldn¡¯t hold her down on theboratory bench and slice her up¡­ All sorts of thoughts spun around in Amber¡¯s mind, and she subconsciously smiled. Chapter 79 - Rebecca’s Success and Doubts About Magical Power Chapter 79: Reba¡¯s Sess and Doubts About Magical Power Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios ¡°So these are the ¡®Reba Crystals¡¯ that you sessfully produced¡­ Mm, that¡¯s right. They look like the same thing.¡± Seated in his own tent and looking at the big basket of things that Reba had excitedly brought over, Gawain nodded lightly. It was a basket of dark-grayish, grotesquely strange substance. Some were loose like sand, while some were packed together, but regardless of their form, they were all almost evenly filled with countless tiny particles. Andpared to the ¡®waste residue¡¯ that Reba had unintentionally produced, the products in this basket evidently contained more crystals. The average diameter of these crystals also seemed to have increased significantly. This meant that Reba had not only found the form, but she¡¯d even figured out the way to improve the method of production. Upon hearing Gawain¡¯s words, even the iron-headed, straightforward Reba with low EQ instantly became embarrassed. The viscountess scratched her face, now ck from the smoke and heat. When she smiled, she looked like a doofus who¡¯d just turned seventeen and had set off explosives in a kiln. ¡°Hehe¡­ Lord Ancestor, do you really think this thing can be named as such? Isn¡¯t it only really great people who get things named after them¡­¡± ¡°You invented these crystals. Isn¡¯t that impressive enough?¡± Gawain looked at this nth+1 great-granddaughter whocked confidence. ¡°Mm, although there¡¯s still a lot of room for improvement, this is indeed a ¡®product¡¯ that can be repeatedly produced. The name ¡®Reba Crystals¡¯ is well deserved.¡± Reba entered a state of silly happiness. ¡°Hehe, heheheh¡­¡± ¡°Stop your silly giggles for now. Tell me how exactly this was produced.¡± Gawain was at a loss of whether tough or to cry as he nced at this iron-headed girl. ¡°Although luck has a part to y in the emergence of any new material, I still want to know how such amazing luck befell us.¡± ¡°Oh, oh, as a matter of fact, it¡¯s totally a coincidence.¡± Reba scratched her face. ¡°They had actually been baked ording to the primitive form that you gave me. But I failed several times when I attempted to recreate the baking process. None of the mixture ratios worked. Subsequently, I suspected a problem with the furnaces, so I ordered people to check on their condition. In the end, it was found that a big piece had fallen off from the inner walls of one of the furnaces¡­¡± ¡°A big piece fell off?¡± Gawain frowned. He realized that the key to producing these ¡®Reba Crystals¡¯ was probably in those fallen pieces of the furnace wall. ¡°So the materials used to build the furnace were also involved in the reaction?¡± ¡°That is one of the reasons. Because those furnaces were also heated using runes, there was quartz sand mixed in when they were being built. And other than quartz sand, another important factor is the rocks from the Dark Range.¡± ¡°Rocks from the Dark Range?¡± Gawain repeated. ¡°Yes, Ipared quite a few records and found that there were two obvious differences between the products from that furnace and the other furnaces. One, quartz sand from the building of the furnace was mixed into the raw materials; two, the limestone in the raw materials was dug up from the Dark Range. The limestone from the other furnaces was from the banks of the White River; also, it was transported from the logging shed at the western side. When those are used as raw materials, even adding quartz sand is useless¡­¡± Two conditions, quartz sand and limestone from the Dark Range is it¡­ Gawain pondered for a while. These two conditions were the urate conclusion that Reba came to after multipleparisons; there was no need to suspect their validity. Then exactly what role did these two materials y in this process? The effect of quartz sand was usible as it was a weak magic-conducting material. Though extremely cheap, it was still a genuine magic material. Besides, it was one of the raw materials to produce man-made crystals in itself. But what was with the limestone from the Dark Range? Why couldn¡¯t limestone extracted from other ces work? He threw these questions to the floor, leaving Reba stupefied. The young viscountess had never considered these details. She scratched the back of her head as she mumbled, ¡°I was too wrapped up in feeling happy. I¡¯ve yet to think¡­¡± ¡°The Dark Range had once been enveloped by the Dark Wave,¡± Gawain said as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ¡°Till today, the mark of being corroded by the elemental tide still remains in many areas in the mountains. Perhaps it is this process that altered the properties of some minerals¡­ that provided them with the attribute of being responsive to magic?¡± In the situation where there was ack of more experimental data and theoretical guidance, Gawain could only make such a bold guess. But regardless of the reason, Gawain was now sure of one thing ¡ª ¡®Reba Crystals¡¯ were absolutely unique in this world; at least in the Anzu Kingdom, it was. In usual times, who would be so idle as to go dig up the Dark Range and bake rocks¡­ ¡°After confirming that the key was with quartz sand and limestone from the Dark Range, I tried out several methods to increase the proportion of crystals and their quality.¡± Reba went on, ¡°I found that increasing the proportion of quartz sand can increase the yield of crystals, but many crystals would shatter out of the furnace. Upping the proportion of limestone would enhance the product¡¯s capacity to store magical power, but past a certain amount, there would instead be no crystals formed. And I also realized that the effects of temperature and baking duration are especially notable¡­ There were too many variations that could be tested. I couldn¡¯t finish them at the same time, so I baked one batch using the best method we have now. Na, they are the ones before you.¡± Gawain asked bluntly, ¡°Couldymenplete this process?¡± ¡°Yes, but the majority would not understand what the ¡®cross-referencing¡¯ and ¡®observation group¡¯ that you taught me means, so they can only produce ording to the method taught to them,¡± Reba answered. ¡°Moreover, they¡¯re really careless. Even if they¡¯ve been told how to do it, they would often get thepounding ratio wrong or remember the incorrect baking duration. The time control that is needed for producing crystals is much stricter than that for baking bricks!¡± Improving the average quality of thebor force was imperative. Yet he couldn¡¯t even find a few cultural teachers that were up to standard¡­ Everyone literate in words and numbers was already overworking; where would he find people to create an education system? Hire them from Tanzan Town? There weren¡¯t many who were literate in Tanzan Town either! People who could read and write were either merchants or had already joined aristocrat residences to take on ¡®respectable roles¡¯ like butlers and clerks. How could those people be willing toe to the middle of nowhere and join them in developing the wilderness? They weren¡¯t impoverished serfs or peasants¡­ Gawain touched his head again. Each time a new problem emerged, he would subconsciously do this action, as if he was checking on his own hairline¡­ ¡°Lord Ancestor?¡± Reba spoke up cautiously. ¡°No, its fine, all these are issues that need to be settled in the long term.¡± Gawain waved his hand. ¡°Continue with production ording to this ¡®optimal case¡¯ for now. Then try toe up with even better ratios of materials when you have the time. In short, the more crystal bits there are, the better. It¡¯s even as important as the output of steel. Oh yes, we also need toe up with a way to extract these crystals mixed in them. This ck waste residue is quite useless. You can try crushing them and then use water to sift through it. Crystals are much harder than the waste residue and also heavier. It should be easy to separate them after crushing and rinsing with water.¡± Reba nodded as she listened. When Gawain finished, she then leaned over with a gleeful smile and asked like a cat that ate the canary, ¡°Um¡­ Lord Ancestor, I heard from Aunt Heidi, you¡¯re nning to make such crystals into magic articles that can explode?¡± ¡°Something like that.¡± Gawain looked at this girl who always had funny ideas. ¡°What opinions do you have?¡± ¡°You¡¯re nning to use the explosive magic circles in the Gondor manufactured crystals on these crystals, aren¡¯t you?¡± Reba¡¯s eyes were bright. ¡°But have you thought of how to do the detonation?¡± Gawain frowned; this was precisely the question he was deliberating over. The explosive magic circles in those ancient Gondor crystals were the same asmonly seen small-scale arrays; they belonged under ¡®magic circles that could not recharge themselves¡¯. In other words, they need an external magical power source to be the ¡®starting source of energy¡¯ to continue proceeding with the subsequent detonation. In those Gondor crystals, this portion of energy was provided by the crystal itself; in the ¡®Art 1¡¯ that he conceptualized, there did not exist this portion of energy. Other than being an explosive substance and being directly blown up, the magical power stored in Reba Crystals could not be extracted to be used in other magical reactions at all. As such, the explosive magical circles attached to the Reba Crystals would require another magical power to be the ¡®starting catalyst power¡¯, then where would this portion of magical powere from? Use another piece of storage crystal to be the ¡®explosive battery¡¯? Then it would have lost the significance of being ¡®inexpensive¡¯. Use mages¡¯ magical power to stimte the magic circles? Then it would lose the design objective of ¡®having the average person be able to use it¡¯. ¡°Speak your mind. Just looking at that gaze of yours, I know you have an idea.¡± Gawain scanned Reba. This youngdy before him really wasn¡¯t someone who could hide things; even if he didn¡¯t ask, she would probably still spill her thoughts. ¡°It¡¯s like this¡­¡± Reba, as expected, didn¡¯t keep him guessing. ¡°I studied that explosive magic circle for a bit and found that the magical power required to activate it¡­ is actually pretty little.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°That¡¯s of course. It¡¯s a magic circle used for spontaneous explosion when the crystal ceases to be effective, after all. Its activation-energy demand would definitely have been optimized countless times.¡± ¡°Then I realized one thing,¡± Reba went on. ¡°The ¡®rune trigger¡¯ that I invented, it produces an extra ¡®spark¡¯ of magical power. Very weak, but it really exists¡­¡± ¡°Wait a minute!¡± Gawain interrupted Reba instantly. He realized that he had caught a key problem which had been neglected for a long time. ¡°You said that the rune-trigger construct produces magical power at the moment it closes? Are you sure that it isn¡¯t magical power dissipated from the magic web buried underground?¡± ¡°I checked several times because I¡¯ve been able to sense magical power very well from a young age. I can see it very clearly.¡± Reba nodded hard in emphasis. ¡°There is an extra portion of magical power when the rune trigger shuts, and I even found that it¡¯s not restricted to the rune trigger. As long as a pair of originally intact runes is taken apart and put back together, an ¡®instantaneous spark of magical power¡¯ would be produced. This bit of magical poweres and goes in a sh, just in the blink of an eye. But if one wants to ignite something, just this blink of an eye would be enough.¡± Gawain immediately sank into deep thought, onlying back to his senses when he saw he¡¯d left Reba utterly nervous. ¡°Ah¡­ Very good, very good. Then, you can test out your rune trigger together with the explosive magic circle ording to your ideas. You can get Heidi to help. Just tell her the orderes from me.¡± Reba presently beamed with a smile. However, before she left, she suddenly remembered something. ¡°Ah yes, Lord Ancestor, have you thought of what to name such explosive articles in the future?¡± Gawain thought for a moment and replied solemnly, ¡°Art.¡± ¡°Eh? Does this have any rtion to art?¡± Gawain¡¯s expression was serious. ¡°We¡¯re naming it Art!¡± Reba¡¯s eyes rolled up as she gave it some thought, thinking that Ancestor might have some significance in that, so she nodded along happily. ¡°Mm! Art!¡± Reba left joyfully, but Gawain couldn¡¯t find peace for a long time as he sat in his tent. He fiddled with a pen, spinning it around subconsciously. When he recovered from his daze, he realized he had scribbled a line of words on the rough paper: ¡°Magical power. What exactly is magical power?¡± Chapter 80 - The Essence of Magic and the Sound of Art Chapter 80: The Essence of Magic and the Sound of Art Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios To the majority of the people in this world, ¡°What is magical power?¡± wasn¡¯t a question at all. They thought the answer was obvious and not worth getting to the bottom of. Magical power was magical power; it was one of the ubiquitous energies of this world, the most precious wealth that the gods had bestowed upon humankind, and also the standard with which humans were divided into various grades and sses. Some of the priests would tell you, magical power was the power that the gods scattered in the world after they fell; it was the aftermath from the battle of the gods that was recorded on the ¡®eternal stone tablet¡¯. The defeated gods broke into pieces during the battle and fell towards the earth; their bodies burned in midair, and the mes and smoke became the first magical power, whereas the residue left after the burning became the first demonic beings. On the other hand, some schrs amongst the mages would say ¡ª magical power was the bridge between the elemental world and the real world. It was a kind of ¡®hypermatter¡¯; it could be felt, could be used, but could not be seen. It came from the turbulence of the Sea of Ether and would present an irregr rise and fall following the changes in rtive distance between the real world and the elemental world, which was also the phenomenon of magic upsurges¡­ However, Gawain could not ept either one of these ims. He came from a modern world that advocated science and reason, advocated clear and definite interpretations of all profound mysteries. He believed there ought to be an even clearer, moreprehensible exnation for magical power that could even be quantified in data and specified using models. Perhaps this could not be done in areas involving the gods, but since the mages could use specific methods to utilize magical power and even use forms to simplify the procedures of spellcasting, then magical power could definitely be analyzed like that. ording to the information that he¡¯d currently grasped, magical power was indeed ¡®ubiquitous¡¯; every corner of the entire world was filled with this invisible power, and the people of this world mainly had two ways of utilizing magical power. The first was by directly casting spells. Mages would use mental focus to construct the model of the spell, then use the spell temte to utilize the magical power already present in the atmosphere, and finally, form the spell effect. The second way involved using facilities simr to self-powered arrays or magic wells to first extract magical power and then use this magical power in the spell rituals. Regardless of methods, magical power was ¡®drawn¡¯ from nature and wasn¡¯t something that humankind could create out of thin air. Hence, Gawain believed at one time that magical power was possibly a kind of special ¡®matter¡¯ or a certain thing that used matter as its carrier. However, the instant magical power that Reba¡¯s ¡®rune trigger¡¯ produced at the moment it was connected now gave him a different idea. This seemed to be a phenomenon that would emerge in a certain energy field ¡ª he boldly assumed. What if magical power was a kind of ¡®energy field¡¯, and the various performance effects of magical power could be viewed as a type of special fluctuation? The rune trigger was like an iplete circuit in the energy field. In the instant that it was connected, the circuit becameplete; hence, a part of this energy field entered the circuit, and in this process, the flow of energy produced this observable ¡®fluctuation of magical power¡¯. However, as the circuit of the rune trigger was a closed one, this process could not proceed continuously; thus, the magical power was instantaneous¡­ In this case, he thought the initial source of magical power was still nature. The instant magical power in the rune trigger was ¡®created¡¯ with humans as a factor, so there was no process of ¡®derivation¡¯. This was also why the rune trigger had no structure for collecting and charging, so a minute amount of magical power was produced. Gawain frowned. He took a piece of ck stone that served as a paperweight from the side. His fingers forcefully wiped across the surface, and with the power of a professional, he drew lines winding like a whirlpool on it with ease. Following that, he forcefully pressed a dot in the middle of the lines, forming the wind elemental symbol ¡ª fair wind. An extremely slight wind current appeared around the ck stone. This inexpensive magic-conducting material that was only slightly more expensive than quartz sand began to work. Gawain felt a cool breeze lightly caressing his wrist. With a casual wipe, the rune was destroyed, and the wind immediately stopped. This was the most inconceivable part of this world. With such a simple rune carved on a specific material, it could actually create such palpable effects¡­ Why?! If he really were to use the ¡®energy-field theory¡¯ that he¡¯d put forward earlier to exin it, things seemed to make sense. Magical power was already plentiful and had a ceaseless interaction with these natural magic-conducting materials. Originally, this process would be calm with no special effects. However, as specified patterns were carved on the surface of these materials, change was brought to the bnce between the ¡®energy field¡¯ and the ¡®nature of the effects¡¯. The frequency of the fluctuation of magical power was therefore altered, and the phenomenon consequently urred. But if the energy-field theory was true, it could not exin the principle of the various storage crystals. How did they store the magical power? If the essence of magical power was a ¡®field¡¯ that enclosed thes, and magic was merely a ¡®fluctuation¡¯ at a specific frequency, what form did the magical power stored in storage crystals have? As Gawain¡¯s thoughts raveled out, he suddenly recalled the history concerning the origin of magic. Putting aside the ¡®everything is conferred by the gods¡¯ and ¡®dragonnguage¡¯ theories (the origin of magic propagated by certain groups), in actuality, there still existed another im in the academic world. This version believed that humankind¡¯s very first magic originated from the imitation of certain monsters. Those monsters possessed special cuticleyers or exoskeleton structures. And these parts just happened to form natural magical runes. They were due to unbelievable coincidences in the process of biological evolution. Animals that evolved to possess such structures then owned certain miraculous powers and became monsters. Humankind in the primitive period copied the runes that appeared on these monsters and carved the runes on various kinds of stoneware; thus, the earliest magic was born. Whereas grasping mental powers and converting substantial runes into spell molds in the inner world came afterward. This legend was the kind that Gawain really liked. Although there were lots of assumptions in it, it¡¯d abandoned thepletely unreasonable exnation involving gods and gigantic dragons and, in turn, used a logical way to pursue the origin of magic. However, regrettably, many mages didn¡¯t seem to like this theory; of course, the priests hated it even more. It painted humankind, the wisest of all creatures, as stealers who had to follow behind uncivilized monsters at every step. This had those big figures who bragged and boasted themselves to be outstanding feeling extremely displeased. An aura with the scent of fresh mud and green grass suddenly came from the side and roused Gawain from his state of raveled thoughts. Gawain didn¡¯t need to turn back to know who was here. He casually tapped the side. ¡°Don¡¯t touch my stamp. This is the only thing on the entire table that is still worth some money.¡± A hand that appeared in midair was firmly hit by Gawain and pulled back with a swoosh. Following that, Amber leaped out of her shadow state. ¡°Oh damn, it hurts¡­ Are you still human?! How can your senses be this good?!¡± Gawain rolled his eyes irritably. ¡°In any case, I used to be a legend back then. Even if I have declined now, I¡¯m still morepetent than you, this rascal whosebat ability is worse than a goose¡¯s. Besides, did you think I didn¡¯t know you¡¯ve been having designs on this silver stamp of mine for quite a few days? Ever since the day the craftsmen carved it, you¡¯ve had your eye on it.¡± Amber wore an embarrassed smile. ¡°I just had some bold thoughts. It¡¯s not like I put it into practice¡­¡± ¡°You practiced twelve times. Only, I countered back each time, okay?¡± Gawain red at this half-elf with absolutely no morals. ¡°Speak! Why did you want to see me? There¡¯s still more than an hour before mealtime. There must be something if you came back before mealtime.¡± Amber puffed up her cheeks at once. ¡°Am I someone who only knows about eating in your eyes?!¡± ¡°Duh, I use you as the rm for all three meals these days. Seeing you is equivalent to seeing food soon,¡± Gawain said in distress. ¡°Say, what exactly do you want?¡± ¡°Psh, this old man is indeed no fun¡­ Alright, I just wanted to inform you of a matter. I¡¯ve been wanting to tell you two days back, but I forgot. ¡ª¡ª I realized that entering the shadow realm these days has be much easier than before.¡± Gawain had initially thought that this half-elf was merely feeling bored after cking outside for too long and was here to look for some fun. He didn¡¯t expect it to really be proper business once this rascal spoke up, and he instantly faltered. Amber became slightly displeased. ¡°Hey, at least have some reaction. I¡¯m reporting the situation to you very seriously. What do you mean by bing dumbfounded?¡± Gawain coughed dryly ¡ª swiftly suppressing the ¡®I just didn¡¯t expect you to have something important¡¯ gaze ¡ª and instead looked at her solemnly. ¡°I remember what you said the first time you brought me into the shadow realm ¡ª that it was also your ¡®first time entering such a deep ce¡¯¡­¡± ¡°Actually, I told a little lie then¡­ I was afraid it¡¯d be too shocking, so I was a bit more humble.¡± Amber stuck out her tongue. ¡°As a matter of fact, I¡¯vepletely entered the shadow realm more than once, but really, it wasn¡¯t that easy to enter the shadow realm in the past. It required an extended period of meditation or the help of rituals and incense. At the worst, I would have to chug half a bottle of shadow potion before I was able to enter¡­¡± Gawain lifted a brow. Chug half a bottle?! You¡¯d f*cking drank yourself to death and then crossed over, didn¡¯t you? Apart from marveling, he also realized one thing: what Amber said was probably true. Which meant that the barrier between the shadow realm and the real world was weakening? To be honest, forming such a guess about the world¡¯s forces just based on this unscrupulous half-elf¡¯s side of the story was really rather unreliable. In normal situations, such an issue would require assembling at least half a division of experts and schrs to research for a year or two beforeing to a conclusion. Then again¡­ Gawain really suspected that even with half a division of experts and schrs all together, they wouldn¡¯t be as useful as Amber¡¯s totally unreasonable talent. This was just like you finding 10,000 psychologists to study why your wife was angry when you took a nce at her shopping cart1. Various kinds of skills and studies had their own research direction¡­ He nodded solemnly. ¡°So you mean that the shadow realm is gradually ¡®drawing nearer¡¯ to the real world? Other than you being able to sense this, do you think those schrs who research the shadow realm will discover this?¡± ¡°Honestly, I believe such ¡®drawing near¡¯ is still in quite an initial stage. Probably only people like me can urately sense it. As for those schrs¡­ Alright, they aren¡¯t total good-for-nothings. Those true masters should still be able to get the faintest sense, but I don¡¯t think they can see the changes as directly as I do.¡± Gawain¡¯s brows furrowed. He did not know whether this issue that Amber reported was good or bad because no one in history had ever determined the ¡®distance¡¯ or ¡®gap¡¯ between the shadow realm and the real world; neither did anyone know the specifics of how this natural barrier had changed. There was even the possibility that, perhaps, the shadow realm had more than once, moved closer to the real world; only there was no one who sensed it then, and this process simply would not result in anything of consequence. He kneaded the space between his brows and looked at Amber. ¡°What do you think will happen if the shadow realmes into contact with the real world?¡± ¡°How would I know¡­ but it most likely wouldn¡¯t be anything good.¡± Amber rolled her eyes. ¡°Anyways, the majority of shadow-rted magic is destructive. The shadow itself is a rather negative power. Normal people are absolutely not fit to engage with it.¡± Gawain Cecil let out a sigh. ¡°Alright, that didn¡¯t help at all. Say, why did you speciallye to me about this? I¡¯m not a schr. Neither am I a warlock or mage who specializes in studying shadow-rted magic. Moreover, I reckon, even if I were to write to those schrs in the Association of Mystics in the name of Gawain Cecil, they wouldn¡¯t take it too seriously¡­¡± ¡°Then I shan¡¯t care anymore.¡± Amber pursed her lips. ¡°I just wanted to find someone and tell them. After sharing it with you, I feel much jollier. As for how you want to handle this, that¡¯s your business.¡± The veins on Gawain¡¯s forehead seemed ready to pop. However, just as he was hesitating over whether to give this person a beating, a sudden explosion startled the two people in the tent. ¡°Boom!¡± Amber scrambled under the desk then and there. ¡°Whoa! What¡¯s happening, what¡¯s happening?!¡± Whereas Gawain ignored this cowardly rascal and, instead, dashed out of the tent on wide steps and looked towards the direction of the sound. He saw many rmed soldiers running towards the southeastern corner of the camp. That was where Heidi¡¯s magicboratory was located! Damn! Art exploded! Reba was a truly driven person. Gawain immediately ran over there. Though there were the protective magic circles of the magicboratory itself and Heidi¡¯s protective spells (Gawain had even mentioned to Heidi to take note of safety), the people should be fine. But listening to the roar of the explosion, it was uncertain how much of the equipment in theboratory still remained intact. He had to rush to go save her before Reba was hung up and beaten up by Heidi¡­ Chapter 81 - Monsters, Monsters Chapter 81: Monsters, Monsters Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios When Gawain arrived in a rush at the southeastern corner, a group of soldiers was already gathered. Knight Byron, who had been patrolling nearby, had promptlye over with men to maintain order and break up the bolder civilians. However, to be honest, even without the soldiers going forth to drive them away, there was merely a handful of civilians gathered. Not only did they fear the authority of the aristocrats, they feared the power of magic even more. Heidi¡¯s magicboratory was undoubtedly a strange, terrifying ce in the eyes of thoseymen who could not use supernatural powers. Moreover, the explosion that came from theboratory had struck terror into their hearts. Although watching on in curiosity was humanity¡¯s natural instinct, some scenes were such that even the boldest person wouldn¡¯t dare to go look. Gawain saw a big hole blown open in a wall of the magicboratory. Thick smoke was billowing out of it, coupled with a pungent burning smell. There was even some magic that had yet to dissipate, shimmering in the smoke. Meanwhile, Heidi and Reba had dashed out of the room, both of them dusty and dirty from the smoke. Currently, Heidi was flustered as she summoned a stream of water to rinse off the ashes on her hair and face, while Reba rushed forwardly excitedly once she spotted Gawain. ¡°Lord Ancestor! The power of Art is indeed really impressive!¡± Gawain held down Reba who was evidently a little too keyed up. He focused on these two, the culprit and victim of the experiment ident who looked as if they¡¯d just been rescued from a ck coal pit. ¡°Are you two alright? How did a wall even get destroyed¡­¡± The might of the explosion was slightly more formidable than he had expected. Initially, he had thought that with the existence of protective magic ¡ª along with the fact that the ignition would only be of a few crystals that hadn¡¯t even been packed ¡ª it wouldn¡¯t be too dangerous. However, he had neglected one thing. This explosion was not of a gunpowder weapon from Earth, but a kind of magic effect. Regarding explosive magic, whether it was packed in a solid airtight container or not actually had a limited influence on its might¡­ ¡°The result of igniting arge amount of crystals simultaneously was slightly beyond expectations.¡± Heidi looked more like a human after finally managing to summon a stream of water and cleaning herself up. Upon hearing Gawain¡¯s question, she went forward with a reply. At the same, she snappily swung a water ball onto Reba¡¯s face. ¡°Of course, more importantly was that she ced two sets of samples too close to each other! Double the amount of crystals had been ignited at the same time!¡± Gawain quietly darted a look at Reba. He believed that this doofus wouldn¡¯t be able to escape this beating today¡­ After making sure that both of them were fine, Gawain felt relieved to a certain extent. Only after that was it time to care about their properties. ¡°Are the losses great?¡± Heidi revealed an agonized expression. ¡°The magic circles I use for experiments were destroyed. Fortunately, the moment the explosion urred, I¡¯d diverted most of the energy in the direction of the vacant wall. That outrageously expensive crystal resonator was unaffected. In recement of that is half a wall that needs to be repaired.¡± Gawain silently took another nce at Reba. Since the most valuable crystal resonator was fine, this doofus was unlikely to be beaten to death¡­ Reba waspletely oblivious, of course; it was also possible that she had yet to recover from the shock of the explosion. Noticing that her Ancestor¡¯s eyes had drifted to her several times, she even asked nkly, ¡°Lord Ancestor, why are you looking at me?¡± Gawain thought for a moment. ¡°Can you stand beatings?¡± Reba scratched her hair. ¡°I¡¯m quite alright¡­ I used to fight wolves often when I was young.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine then.¡± Gawain waved his hand. ¡°How many samples were used this time? How¡¯s the work with the rune trigger?¡± ¡°Just¡­ two small piles.¡± Reba gestured with her hands. At the mention of the rune trigger, she even broke into an especially proud look. ¡°Let me tell you, the rune trigger really works! Connecting it to the explosive magic circle to serve as the activation energy is totally enough. Once the magic circle has this initial energy, the subsequent exploding process can be totally supported by those crystals. I n on testing whether the bit of magical power from the rune trigger is able to activate other pairs of runes of another kind¡­ Ah, ah, if only magical power could have more precise figures. I would know how much magical power is produced when the rune trigger shuts and even calcte how much magical power is consumed when an initial rune group is operated¡­¡± Reba¡¯s thoughts unraveled as she spoke, and midway through, she jolted and pulled back her thoughts that had drifted far away and began tattling to Gawain. ¡°Lord Ancestor, let me tell you, Aunt Heidi didn¡¯t believe what I said at the start. She refused to believe that the rune trigger would produce a one-time magical power spark when it closes. She said that it did not have a structure to collect energy¡­¡± At the mention of the rune trigger, Heidi reallymended Reba. ¡°That item is indeed a good invention. Although there were also mages who previously attempted to dissect aplete magic circle and control the magic mechanisms through the reassembly of these parts, no one had thought of turning such dissection and reassembly into a fixed model. The rune trigger that Reba created sets fixed runes as the ¡®connecting keys¡¯. Such a structure fits the ¡®universality¡¯ and ¡®standardization¡¯ which you often tell us about.¡± That was because Reba had positioned the rune trigger to be a product that ¡®evenymen could use¡¯ from the very beginning. She¡¯d even thought to the extent where, if the rune trigger was damaged, the cksmiths and apprentices in the steelworks could even repair it themselves. Consequently, she simplified this structure to the utmost limit, even to the point where there was only one pair of runes. Of the mainstream mages in this world, who would think of that? As for the magical-power standardization that Reba casually mentioned earlier, Gawain also put it in his heart. Although the standard of skills in the current era (for humans, at least) totally did not include the ability to carry out urate calctions of magical power and normalize operations, there had been developments in this aspect back in the Gondor period, 700 years ago. Some of the mages had once considered, in the presence of almost inexhaustible magical power provided by the Well of Deep Blue, how to utilize this immense energy even more urately and precisely. Regrettably, the Well of Deep Blue exploded before they could arrive at actual results. Since he wanted to develop things with this world¡¯s ¡®magical power¡¯ as the basis, quantifiability was something that woulde sooner orter. ¡°Let¡¯s repair the magicboratory first. Then the explosive experiments involving those crystals still have to be continued.¡± Gawain returned from his brief ponder and said while looking at Heidi and Reba, ¡°But those experiment methods have to be adjusted¡­ The might of those crystals are beyond expectations. It¡¯s too dangerous to continue holding the experiments indoors. I will set aside the gentle slope on the eastern side of camp to be the experiment grounds for you two. The terrain there is broad, suited for testing out such items. In addition, do think of how to build a corresponding vessel to serve as the outer shell of ¡®Reba Crystals¡¯, so that they can be turned into truly usable weapons.¡± Reba and Heidi nodded in session and took down these orders. Meanwhile, Gawain was reminded of another rather important matter after some thought. ¡°Hold on. Also ¡ª have you two thought of how to dy the magic-circle explosions?¡± ¡°Dy the exploding time?¡± Heidi was stupefied at first; then she quickly realized that not everyone could use the Sculpture Hand to press down on the rune trigger from a far distance. Given the current operating mechanism of the rune trigger and explosive magic circle, it was something that would explode once the trigger was pressed down. This meant that it was essentially an artifact of instantaneous explosion. Once the switch was pressed down, one wouldn¡¯t know whether the enemy would die, but in any case, one¡¯s own death was a certainty¡­ In this aspect, the ancient Gondor crystals relied on the ¡®friend-or-foe identification¡¯ function that was this close to ck technology to guarantee safety. And there was almost aplete set of extremelyplicated detonation mechanisms in the crystal which would automatically trigger upon leaving the control of the owner. However, this part of the runes might as well be the creation of aliens in the eyes of today¡¯s mages. It would be difficult to draw out on paper, not to mention recreating it. Lots of runes and magic circles appeared in Heidi¡¯s mind, and she attempted to use these to satisfy her Ancestor¡¯s demand for a ¡®dyed explosion¡¯. She thought of adding a structure to slow down the charging in the rune group. When the rune trigger was pressed down, it would slowly begin to charge, and after the energy was fully charged, it would trigger the explosive magic circle at the next level. But clearly, the instant magical power provided by the rune trigger was entirely unable to fulfill this point. Reba¡¯s mind was thinking fast too. However, other than runes and magic circles, there were also a bunch of springs and connecting rods which appeared in her mind¡­ She was attempting to use avenues other than magic to satisfy her Ancestor¡¯s demand. This would be the difference in the manner of thinking between a mage who¡¯d mastered lots of spells and a mage who only mastered one fireball spell. The two great-great-great-great¡­ -great-granddaughters had their heads full of ideas from the task Gawain handed them, while Gawain remained standing in the same spot. He watched the magicboratory where smoke was still curling up from and sighed with emotion. A world¡­ with magic? As expected, even the first sound of Art was entirely different than that of Earth¡¯s. As an explosive that required a specific magic circle to ignite, the might and security of ¡®Reba Crystals¡¯ weren¡¯t a problem. Instead, they¡¯d encountered a hugeplication in the aspect of dying the explosion. If it had been gunpowder on Earth, all that was needed would simply be a fuse. In the twinkling of an eye, it¡¯d been a month since the Cecil pioneering camp took root on these grounds. The people and supplies promised by King Francis II had yet to arrive, but there was definite news that they were on the way. The flood season of the Duoergong River this year hade two weekster than in previous years; the supporting from the heart of the Kingdom was dyed as a result. With regards to these dys, it could be said that Gawain had long been mentally prepared. In this world where everything was slow andgging, he could not look to others to work ording to the kind of precise and efficient social background that they had on Earth. Hence, his camp building n remained unaffected, still proceeding ording to the established pace. The majority of the tents in the camp had been changed to sturdy wooden houses that could be used for the long term. At the present stage where cement was temporarily hopeless, Gawain nned to have the craftsmen open up a new area at the western side next for the building of brick kilns to bake mud bricks. Although the production of cement in this world had failed, baking bricks was still possible. This was a technique that already existed here. Only, traditional brick baking depended on manualbor. The efficiency was extremely low; thus, the corresponding price of the product was high. In areas like Tanzan Town, only residents could afford to live in brick houses. However, before his n could be put into action, a sudden unforeseen event disrupted the pace of the camp¡¯s construction. Several serfs who had gone into the mountains in search of quartz sand had run back in terror. Two of them suffered significant injuries, and one other had been left in the mountains forever. They had been attacked by ¡®aberrations¡¯. Chapter 82 - Response Chapter 82: Response Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios A few soldiers were strictly guarding the main tent. Those serfs that were fortunate enough to escape had been brought to that tent. Apart from Knight Philip who was required to maintain order on the outside, the rest of the leaders of the camp were gathered here. The two injured serfs were ced on a soft cushion because their arms and backs had suffered w injuries of differing severities. Furthermore, the injuries were corroded by some decaying power; thus, these new injuries had already started to severely fester. It was fortunate that the camp had a druid. Pittman was using abination of his concocted medicines and druidic magic to cure the wounded. These two unlucky serfs had therefore managed to preserve their lives. The other two serfs who weren¡¯t injured stood in front of Gawain while trembling. Fear had entrenched in their hearts, and even after they escaped back to the safety of the camp, they were still unable to keep their bodies from shivering¡­ In any case, they were people who had survived a disaster just a few months ago. They were still able to preserve enough courage to finish speaking. ¡°After¡ªAfter entering the mountain and walking west¡­ At the intersection. Monsters. Those blood-red demons, there were several of them. We merely faced them, and they rushed at us!¡± One of the serfs trembled as he spoke, ¡°We ran desperately but Tocque was caught by the monster¡­ and stopped moving in just a few moments.¡± Knight Byron who stood beside Gawain was obviously very unhappy with such a disorderly report. He frowned and asked, ¡°What is the exact number of ¡®several¡¯? Where exactly is the intersection after walking west? If those monsters were so agile, how were you able to escape?¡± When the two serfs were questioned by the ¡®lord knight¡¯ in such a stern tone, they got a fright and started panicking. Gawain immediately interrupted, ¡°Don¡¯t ask in that tone. If they get nervous, they won¡¯t be able to speak clearly¡­ The two of you, rx a little and tell me how you escaped?¡± The two serfs took a nce at one another before one of them swallowed his saliva and replied, ¡°In the beginning, those monsters didn¡¯t seem to notice us. They were just¡ªjust wandering on the mountain path. When we started running, they suddenly chased us. The mountain path is narrow, and those monsters had been jammed up by the rocks, allowing us to escape¡­¡± ¡°How many monsters did you encounter? Try to be exact.¡± Heidi followed up with another question. ¡°Three¡ª no, four.¡± The other serf put out his fingers. ¡°We only saw three, but when they chased us, there were four.¡± ¡°It also means that you only saw a part of the group.¡± Heidi analyzed while looking at Gawain with a worried expression. ¡°The actual numbers might be more.¡± ¡°Wandering¡­¡± Gawain pinched his chin while his brows were locked tightly. His heart was viewing the Anomaly Reading¡¯ that was collected by the satellite vision over two days. There wasn¡¯t any increase in alerts on the Anomaly Reading, nor was there any emerging magic phenomenon. Why did those monsters appear? Where did theye from? At this moment, the little old man Pittman had just finished the spell to heal the injured. He stood up and let out a long breath. ¡°These two individuals are fine now¡­ After drinking my concocted medicine and using the druid¡¯s Purify spell, what¡¯s left is just self-recuperation. As long as they don¡¯t get infected again, they will be fine after a few days.¡± This fellow might normally be freeloading in the camp, tricking people with fortune-telling, and selling a bunch of useless medicines, but his druid skills were genuine. Especially at such a time, Gawain was d that this fellow was around, so he gave a sincere nod and said, ¡°Thank you for the trouble.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say that. We have a friendship of wages. Saying that it is trouble will be hurtful to the money.¡± Pittman waved his hand and added, ¡°But I need to inform you that I can cure these two individuals¡¯ injuries, but I cannot do anything about the panicking hearts of the eight hundred individuals on the outside. These four had cried out for their fathers and mothers when they were running back. These two injured individuals shouted even louder. Right now, the entire camp might already know of this matter¡­¡± Gawain took a deep nce at this seemingly unreliable old man and couldn¡¯t help but thank him again. Pittman didn¡¯t need to remind him of this matter. ¡°Heidi, go and make arrangements. All scouting and harvesting work outside the camp will be suspended. Those operations within the camp will continue as normal. Food will also be distributed as normal. Maintaining order is the first priority. Knight Byron, lead your men and strengthen the patrols¡­ Polish the armors and weapons brighter, and also inform Knight Philip to equip the newly recruited militia too.¡± After giving the instructions to the camp, Gawain turned to look at Amber. ¡°You¡­¡± Amber didn¡¯t wait for Gawain to speak and already made a ruckus. ¡°If I said I wasn¡¯t going, would you use yourrge sword and m me to the wall?¡± ¡°Yes, and I will do it to the extent that you will never fall off the wall.¡± Amber curled her lips and said, ¡°Alright, then I shall go.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not finished yet.¡± Gawain then stood up and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡± Amber widened her eyes in surprise, while Heidi quickly said, ¡°Ancestor, you should be staying in the camp¡­ If you hastily go and investigate those monsters, wouldn¡¯t it be it too¡ª¡± ¡°Too what?¡± Gawain turned to look at Heidi andmented, ¡°Is it because I have been drawing diagrams here for too long that all of you forgot what I did seven hundred years ago?¡± Everyone in the tent winced before they suddenly recalled this ancestor¡¯sbat strength¡­ During this period of time, Gawain had been sheltered in the tent, drawing designs and ns, and researching the strange ¡®alchemy form¡¯. They had almost forgotten this ferocious person¡¯s profession back then¡­ He was a professional at fighting monsters at the kingdom¡¯s borders! It was fortunate that Gawain didn¡¯t tell anyone the truth about his ¡®decline¡¯. Right now, it had an effect¡­ as long as Gawain stood up, the people by the side would somehow be filled with a kind of confidence¡­ ¡°If there are only three or four roaming aberrations in the mountains, I will be able to take them out without trouble. If it is arge group, then I and Amber will still be able to escape unscathed. We will then be in time to arrange the defenses¡­ or retreat with everyone.¡± Gawain revealed an expression that stated: Don¡¯t panic, everything is a technical adjustment. Believe me, I am correct. At the worst, this Ancestor will just open my max-level ount and carry all of you. While Gawain was exining, he looked at the two standing serfs and said to them, ¡°As for the two of you¡­ I will need you to lead the way.¡± When the two serfs heard the request, they nearly copsed from fright. They even started to cry bitterly, ¡°My lord, my lord, please don¡¯t! We don¡¯t wish to die! Those monsters will eat us!¡± Those who personally experienced the disaster in the Cecilnds would be more fearful to face those monsters than those who only heard the rumors. Furthermore, they had just escaped death today. But Gawain had to make them face those monsters again¡­ In fact, if it was necessary, he wanted to let the whole camp face those monsters again. ¡°Stand up. You have to lead the way. This is an order from your lord.¡± Gawain used an unquestionable tone and said, ¡°Furthermore, you don¡¯t need to worry about your safety. I will fulfill my duty as a noble and protect you until you return safely.¡± The two serfs looked at one another. They naturally knew what Gawain said when he mentioned ¡®duty as a noble¡¯. It was something those noble lords would brag about every day. They might unt it, but did any of them truly meant it? When it was at the crucial moment of life or death, how could the cheap lives ofmoners be more precious than the noble lord¡¯s life?! But even if that was the case¡­ defying the orders of a lord seemed like a path towards death too. Seeing their hesitation, Gawain said starkly, ¡°I am Gawain Cecil, the legend that slew hundreds of thousands of monsters from the Dark Wave over seven hundred years ago. Do you think there are hundreds of thousands of monsters in the mountains to im your lives? You should know that if the monsters are really here, you will be safest with me.¡± Gawain had a rather simple thought: Since no one can beat me here, I can boast however much I wish to. These uneducated serfs found themselves believing Gawain¡¯s boastful words. After all, the legendary story of Gawain Cecil was known throughout the kingdom. After hearing the living legend (that just revived) guaranteeing their lives in such firm words, they instantly realized that even if they really encountered monsters, this lord in front of them wouldn¡¯t have any trouble protecting them. Since there was no trouble, then it should be fine. As such, they finally nodded in agreement. Heidi called two soldiers to enter and bring the four serfs to have a rest and eat some food. She then said to Gawain, ¡°Ancestor, you don¡¯t actually need to say so much to those serfs. To them, obeying orders is only natural.¡± ¡°But making them obey of their own initiative is better than unterally forcing them.¡± Gawain waved his hand and looked at Reba. ¡°How¡¯s progress going on the ¡®art¡¯?¡± To Gawain, this was the current matter of utmost importance. Reba hesitated before reporting factually, ¡°The crystals are still in production, and the quantity is increasing. Right now, there is already a huge pile umted. The explosion magic circle and the corresponding rune triggers have also been done a little. But the dyed explosion¡­ is still not making progress, and there isn¡¯t a finished product yet.¡± Heidi knew what Gawain was thinking, so she spoke with concern on her face, ¡°If those monsters really head this way, I¡¯m afraid we wouldn¡¯t have the chance to use those ¡®arts¡¯.¡± ¡°No¡­ dyed explosion is just one of the uses, but not all,¡± Gawain muttered for a short while before shaking his head. ¡°Reba, go and find some craftsmen who know how to create hunting traps. I will then tell you what to do.¡± Reba didn¡¯t hesitate and nodded. ¡°Yes!¡± It was at this moment that Knight Byron couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Is my lord nning to let the camp fight those monsters?¡± ¡°It is just an alternative. As for the exact n, it will need to wait until Amber and I find out the real situation with those monsters,¡± Gawain replied while thinking of what to do now. ¡°That¡¯s right! Byron, write a notice¡­ Mm, just mention that aberrations were discovered in the mountain, and we already know their whereabouts. Due to Duke Gawain Cecil¡¯s ample experiences in dealing with aberrations, such monsters are nothing to worry about. Ask everyone to work at ease. Be it to stay or to retreat, they just need to wait for new orders. Also, find two literate soldiers to announce the notice.¡± Byron acknowledged the orders, while Heidi looked at Gawain with surprised eyes. ¡°Ancestor, you¡¯re just going to tell themoners ¡ª let them know that aberrations truly exist?!¡± ¡°They already know.¡± Gawain took a nce at Heidi and said, ¡°When those four serfs came back shouting everything, there was no keeping it a secret anymore¡­ But they¡¯re still uncertain and don¡¯t know the full facts.¡± Heidi was a little hesitant. ¡°Then, if you give them all the facts¡­¡± ¡°They wouldn¡¯t have to continue guessing, and they wouldn¡¯t start to guess towards the worst and gravest direction,¡± Gawain said. ¡°The clearer and firmer we are, the sooner they stop panicking or guessing. It would actually be worse to conceal it now.¡± Heidi nodded helplessly. ¡°Yes, Ancestor is right.¡± ¡°Amber, go and prepare.¡± Gawain took a deep breath. ¡°Later on, we will take a look together to see where those monsterse from.¡± Chapter 83 - Source of the Monsters Chapter 83: Source of the Monsters Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios In the depths of the Dark Range. The pioneers had been operating in this ce for a month. After the initial establishment, Gawain would send out various scouting teams on a daily basis. He would send them to the southern mountains, the western forest, the eastern mines, or the opposite, wilderness side of the White River to search for resources and to survey the terrain. The serfs¡¯ route to enter the mountain was one of the natural mountain paths that were discovered a few days ago. It might have been newly discovered, but the scouting and patrol teams had already used that path several times and never noticed any monster tracks. These aberrations had definitely appeared recently. The route to enter the mountain wasn¡¯t easy to walk on. Gawain and Amber might have astounding leg strengths, but the two ordinary serfs weren¡¯t able to walk as quickly. It took almost an hour to finally get near the intersection where the monster attack happened. As they were getting closer to the location of the attacks, Amber, who was normally carefree and lively, couldn¡¯t help but tense up. She gripped her dagger tightly and lowered her voice. ¡°It has already been such a long time. Those monsters should have wandered off, right¡­?¡± ¡°It is hard to say. You do not understand the aberrations¡¯ habits.¡± Gawain looked at the strange rocky path and the nts growing on the sides. His vision stayed for a very long while on a precipitous mountain cliff that seemed ready to copse at any moment before he suppressed his voice and spoke, ¡°They are not normal lifeforms and don¡¯t need to feed in a magic environment. Apart from attacking intelligent living beings and having the instincts to go towards magical sources, they do not have a specific objective. If they sense a human or magical response in the vicinity, they will aggressively rush over. If there isn¡¯t any, they¡¯ll just wander aimlessly or remain still in ce. Of course, if their numbers reach a certain extent, their movements will be hard to predict.¡± ¡°So what exactly are these aberration things¡­,¡± Amber mumbled while her eyes constantly surveyed the trees and shadows. She wasn¡¯t being vignt of enemies lying in ambush; she was actually constantly searching for escape routes. Gawain shook his head and repeated, ¡°It is truly hard to say. One of the guesses is that when humans experience an invasion of chaotic magic, they will turn into an aberration. There is also another exnation saying that aberrationse from other worlds when paths are opened up during magical waves. Truthfully, none of the conjectures were ever proven.¡± Amber¡¯s mouth twitched while thinking: if Gawain ¡ª who had fought with these monsters for two decades in his previous life ¡ª wasn¡¯t sure where these monsters came from, it would seem like the kingdom¡¯s so-called schrs would be even less reliable on this matter. Just as she scanned her eyes across the surroundings, she suddenly noticed a trace on the ground. ¡°Hey, it seems like there is something over there!¡± On a stone wall not far away, there were rocks that were cracked, seemingly from a w. In the crevices of the rocks, there were traces of blood that were already dry. The two serfs that were responsible for leading the way immediately shivered after seeing those traces. ¡°It seems like it is near this ce.¡± Gawain gripped his Sword of Pioneers tightly and concentrated his senses to detect any slight changes in the surroundings before saying, ¡°Be on the alert.¡± Amber swallowed her saliva before she carefully followed behind Gawain as they turned to the other side of the fork. It felt as though they were about to encounter a great enemy. Suddenly, Gawain stopped. An instinctive vignce emitted from his body, and he swiftly hid behind a giant rock solely based on his instincts. He then extended his head and looked at the other side of the mountain path. There were four giants that looked like they were made of bloody flesh and bones in Gawain¡¯s vision. They were swaying as they moved back and forth on the mountain path. The face, which was flowing with red mud, didn¡¯t have any facial features, while the chest and abdomen were constantly emitting chaotic, fiendish, and indescribable, soft sounds. They were like soft murmurs. ¡°One, two, three¡­ four.¡± There were warm breathsing from the side of Gawain¡¯s ears. Amber¡¯s whispers could be heard from behind him. ¡°It seems like these are the ones the serfs encountered. Looks like they have yet to notice us. You can go first. I will wait until you cannot see me before I run away.¡± Gawain ignored this disgraceful elf¡¯s daily provocative words. His eyes were staring at one of the aberrations¡¯ abdomen as he could see a ck object that was already distorted and utterly deteriorated. Others might not be able to distinguish what that object was, but Gawain knew after observing it intently: That was a weapon produced by the Gondor Empire! He withdrew his vision and concentrated his senses on the surroundings. After confirming there were no more monsters in the vicinity, he responded to Amber, ¡°I will charge from the frontter. You will sneak over and assassinate thest one at the back and stall the one at the side. I will neutralize the other two before we join hands and settle the fight.¡± Amber blinked her eyes and nodded in a straightforward manner. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll wait for you to make a move first.¡± She might like to joke around at inappropriate times, but it was obvious that when it was time for serious work, she wasn¡¯t going to be negligent. The two serfs that guided them had already been immobilized by their fear, but they were able to gather their final courage enough to cover their own mouths. They didn¡¯t shout out in panic or break into a run; that was already considered a great performance from them. Gawain nodded to the two serfs as an indication for them to remain calm and wait here. He then raised his Sword of Pioneers. Magic was poured into the de while zing radiance surged out from the sharp edge. Gawain¡¯s armor was then covered in ayer of pale white glimmer. Immediately after, he leaped and crossed over a few dozen meters before he cleaved down from above at the monster that had just reacted. At the same moment he leaped out, a hazy shadow shed past in the air. Immediately after, thest of the four monsters shivered greatly. Its attention had been attracted by Gawain, and just as it was about to release a primal roar, it suffered severe damage to the anus and fell over. Amber appeared from the shadows and started to circle around another monster that had noticed them. When her small dagger struck at the weak spot of the monster¡­ it was totally ineffective. There was only a tiny burst of red mud and some sparks; therefore, she immediately yelled out when the fight had just started, ¡°Boss, help!¡± Gawain¡¯s longsword had already shed down and staggered the first aberration. He didn¡¯t follow up with an attack but turned and lunged at the other monster that had the ancient sword stuck in its abdomen. It was just as he expected: stabbing a sword in the abdomen of these monsters might not be fatal, but it would affect their mobility. Facing Gawain¡¯s aggressive attacks, the monster was only able to withstand two more before getting split in half. If one had the strength to split an enemy in two, then it didn¡¯t matter if the weak point was struck or not. The aberration released a primal yell. It seemed like its dying yell was mixed with the power to disrupt a person¡¯s mind. But Gawain¡¯s mind didn¡¯t seem to be affected for even a split second as he used his body¡¯s twisting force to cleave at the first enemy he had injured earlier. Afterward, while Amber was letting out embarrassing screams, the final enemy was also sessfully killed. As the giant formed with flesh and mud fell, the chaotic elements in the air rapidly dispersed. Amber then sat her butt on the ground. ¡°Aiyaya¡­ I¡¯m going to die from exhaustion¡­ It seems like I need to enhance my fleeing ability¡­¡± Gawain inspected the monsters¡¯ remains while replying without lifting his head, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the normal train of thought at this moment be to increase one¡¯s own closebat strength?¡± ¡°Let me tell you, my current closebat strength is already my personal best. I am a person who knows my own limits¡ª Hey, what are you looking at?¡± When Amber spoke halfway, she realized that Gawain was crouching at one of the aberration¡¯s remains. His head was lowered as though he was inspecting something, so Amber asked curiously. Gawain beckoned. ¡°Come over and look.¡± Amber walked over and saw that most of the flesh and mud from the fallen aberration had already ¡®evaporated¡¯. There was only a set of blood-red bones left behind (the bones wouldpletely dissipate after a few days). On these fearsome bones, a distorted and deteriorated piece of metal was stuck inside. Amber blinked her eyes and asked, ¡°What is this thing?¡± ¡°A standard soldier sword from the Gondor Empire,¡± Gawain spoke with a stern tone. ¡°It was definitely used by the Empire¡¯s northern sentinels back then.¡± Amber might have a carefree attitude, but she wasn¡¯t a fool and had instantly reacted. ¡°Wait up! If this thing is on this monster¡­ then it must havee from the Gondor Wastnd?!!¡± Gawain nodded silently. ¡°How¡ªhow is this possible!¡± Amber felt cold sweat instantly extending from the back of her head to her feet. She then said, ¡°The Gondor Wastnd has been encircled by the elves¡¯ Great Barrier. Those sentinel towers aren¡¯t just decorations¡­ How could these monsters escape?!¡± Gawain stayed silent for a moment before speaking faintly, ¡°The Great Barrier was erected seven hundred years ago.¡± Amber¡¯s face throbbed as she let out a wryugh. ¡°He¡ªHehe, don¡¯t you scare me. These monsters might have been outside the walls from the beginning and had been wandering between the Dark Range and the sentinel towers all this time. They then finally wandered here this year.¡± ¡°That isn¡¯t possible. Once aberrations are away from a magic-wave environment, it would gradually disintegrate. Unless their numbers are so many that they can form a new primal magic environment.¡± Gawain then dismissed Amber¡¯s final hopes. ¡°It isn¡¯t possible for these monsters to survive outside the walls for seven hundred years. So¡­ they must have escaped from inside the walls.¡± Amber thought for a moment and shivered. ¡°¡­My god!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t disclose this yet.¡± Gawain looked at Amber¡¯s eyes. ¡°The situation might not be that bad¡­ When the sentinel towers were constructed, I was present, and I know that those things have a self-repair and load-bncing function. Therefore, it is utterly impossible for it to havepletely stopped. Most likely, one of the sentinel towers had a temporary decrease in power due to the long years. But the barrier should self-repair within a short period of time¡­¡± Amber swallowed her saliva and said, ¡°Can you use humannguage and trante what that means?¡± Gawain was speechless for a moment. ¡°¡­It means that the barrier probably had a hole for a short moment, but it will patch itself up.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t you have just said that earlier.¡± Amber patted her non-existent chest and added, ¡°What a scare.¡± Gawain was still frowning as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t be in a hurry to rx. The problem with the Great Barrier is still there. Even if the hole will be patched up, it still proves that it¡¯s declining in power, and the small hole will turn into a big hole sooner orter.¡± ¡°Then what should we do!?¡± ¡°There is no choice. I need to go and take a look. As long as I can still see the barrier from afar, it will be fine.¡± Gawain quickly stood up. ¡°Trying to make blind guesses in this ce does not make one¡¯s heart be at ease.¡± ¡°Then I¡­¡± Amber stood up as well, and her heart wavered violently between terror and recklessness, but she was ultimately influenced by Gawain¡¯s attitude and clenched her teeth before saying, ¡°I¡¯ll go with you!¡± Chapter 84 - Even More... Chapter 84: Even More¡­ Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios When Gawain said he wanted to take a look at the Great Barrier, it was obvious that he didn¡¯t mean to see from the sentinel tower at the borders of the Gondor Wastnds. The nearest sentinel tower was located at the end of the ins by the southern foot of the Dark Range. In order to get there, he would have to cross this mountain range and traverse dozens of miles of wastnd. It was something that shouldn¡¯t be considered right now. However, if it was only taking a look from afar, that would be much simpler. The Great Barrier was just as its name stated. It was a giant barrier that could be described as a ¡®miracle¡¯. Those sentinel towers, which were nearly a thousand meters tall, were just the ¡®anchor points¡¯ of the barrier. The barrier itself was ayer of magic that reached the clouds. As long as one stood in a rather high terrain in the Dark Range, one would be able to clearly see the top part of the barrier. Gawain merely wanted to check out the uncertain conditions of the sentinel towers. With Amber¡¯s and his leg strength, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to reach the nearest tall terrain within a short period of time. But if they had to bring along two ordinary serfs, it wouldn¡¯t be easy. Hence, they had to escort them back to the camps first. Furthermore, they needed to make a trip back and ease everyone¡¯s heart. Gawain lowered his head and looked at the aberrations¡¯ remains that were fuming with ck smoke. The flesh and mud on the remains had already disintegrated, but the lingering blood-red bones dissipated at a much slower rate. It would need around two to three days before theypletely ¡®evaporated¡¯. Before these bones vanishedpletely, they could still be of use. Gawain raised the Sword of Pioneers and hacked down forcefully at the bones that were tougher than steel. Soon enough, he chopped off their hideous skulls, while the scared-witless Amber spoke, ¡°Oh my¡­ Why are you still tormenting the corpse¡­ My god, you are so twisted¡­¡± ¡°This thing will have a great effect for calming people back at the camp.¡± Gawain looked up at Amber and conveniently tossed the skull to her before he bent over to chop off another one. ¡°Hold it¡­ I will get another one.¡± ¡°Blech. Ahh. Blech!¡± Amber cried out in rm when Gawain suddenly tossed the monster¡¯s head to her. She flusteredly caught it and yelled out, ¡°Are you sick!? Are you sure this thing can calm the hearts of people and not frighten them to death?!¡± ¡°To the Cecil n that had just been ruined by the aberrations, seeing these monsters¡¯ corpses tormented and torn would be the fastest method to help them gain confidence and fighting spirit. It might be a little stimtive, but it is the most effective.¡± Gawain replied while chopping off another skull. He ignored the two other monsters that were slightly farther. He used one hand to carry the skull, while the other hand was wielding the longsword as he walked towards the hidden niche. Those serfs that led the way had followed the orders to hide in there obediently. In fact, from start to finish, they didn¡¯t even dare to look outside of the hiding ce to see what happened. They could only hear a short and intense battle, and even though it sounded as though their lord had obtained victory, the duo still didn¡¯t have the courage to emerge and see the result. When Gawain appeared while carrying the blood-red giant skull, they finally reacted. But when they saw the sinister and terrifying skull, they gasped together before yelling, ¡°God!¡± ¡°Heavens!¡± ¡°God will not help you to eliminate these monsters,¡± Gawain said casually. ¡°All the aberrations have been eliminated. We are heading back to camp.¡± He intentionally presented himself with a rxed manner before he casually added another statement, ¡°But then again, these things are still as weak as seven hundred years ago. A simple sword strike is able to take down one of them. Are these things even able to threaten the camp¡¯s safety?¡± The two serfs looked at each other with shock before one of them reacted and nodded repeatedly. ¡°Yes, yes! My lord is so powerful. These monsters are extremely weak when facing you!¡± The other serf was startled as he muttered, ¡°But earlier on, I heard Young Lady Amber shouting for help¡ª¡± Gawain coughed forcefully to interrupt and looked at Amber calmly while saying, ¡°That was her warcry!¡± Amber had also reacted timely and spoke with a stern expression, ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s my warcry! Other than that, no matter what you think you heard, you have heard them wrongly!¡± ¡°Understand? These monsters aren¡¯t as powerful as you think.¡± Gawain then looked at the two serfs. ¡°Remember this point and return to camp.¡± The two serfs nodded repeatedly. As long as they could rush back to the camp, there were no problems. Furthermore, they had clearly seen that the monsters¡¯ heads were chopped off by their lord! While carrying two aberrations¡¯ skulls still fuming with ck smoke, Gawain and the group returned from the mountain and back to the camp. When they were approaching the camp, Gawain purposely handed the two skulls to the serfs and asked them to raise the skulls while swaggering at the front. In the beginning, the serfs were nearly scared out of their wits, but after their lord made it an order, they could only tremble in fear as they received the skulls. But they quickly realized that the skulls were dead objects and that they were constantly dissipating. They finally gathered their courage, and immediately after, the hatred for the monsters that destroyed their homnd finally permeated out of their dead hearts. They raised the skulls high up, like they were g bearers, and walked at the front. They deliberately disyed the spoils of war to the people in the camp that were trembling with fear and extending their heads to catch a glimpse. Even though they were not the ones to eliminate the monsters, they seemed to be sharing in the glory. The panicky and tense atmosphere was still lingering in the camp, but Gawain could imagine that with these two skulls brought back, there would be greater stability after the panicky and tense feelings¡­ To this world that was filled with demonic creatures and ferocious beasts and had experienced the Dark Wave, it wasn¡¯t the monsters people feared the most but, rather, the inability to resist when they attacked. As long as they saw there was hope to defeat the monsters, they would be able to gather some courage. Even if the courage was only enough to keep them from fleeing elsewhere, it was already sufficient. Amber was quick-witted enough to understand Gawain¡¯s intention. After they returned to the camp, the first thing she did was to follow those two serfs and bragged about how easy it was to defeat these monsters. She had especially mentioned how much of a critical role she yed in the entire process¡­ In any case, she didn¡¯t mention about her screaming for help. For Gawain, who was finally back in camp, there were still plenty of things that had to be done. He called Heidi over. ¡°Heidi, do you know concealment-type support spells?¡± ¡°I know and I am very proficient,¡± Heidi answered with confidence. ¡°Because I am unable to break through the intermediate level, I have learned all of the spells that I can that are below the intermediate level.¡± Apart from aiming huh¡­ ¡°Very good.¡± Gawain suppressed his desire to tease and said, ¡°You¡¯ll be following me into the mountain. I will need your spells.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t the monsters already eliminated?¡± Heidi was a little puzzled. ¡°I saw the spoils of war that you brought back and thought the rm could be dismissed¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s just to calm the hearts of people for the moment.¡± Gawain shook his head and added, ¡°Those aberrations wandered here from the Gondor Wastnd. They traveled across the southern ns and the entire mountain range to reach here. I suspect there is something wrong with the Great Barrier¡­ Furthermore, I suspect that those are not the only aberrations that have wandered out.¡± Heidi didn¡¯t continue to ask and returned to arrange the matter of her departure before bringing along her magic staff. She then wore a shorter magic robe for easier travel in the wilderness. She was ready to depart. Gawain then looked for Amber, who was still going around boasting in the camp. He then brought along the half-elf who wanted to use the excuse of ¡®busy helping with the dissemination of information¡¯. The trio then headed into the mountain again and quickly arrived at the location where they had fought with the monsters earlier. The giant blood-colored bones were still on the mountain path and were in a state of constant disintegration. Amber frowned and looked at these hideous remains. ¡°How do you know there are even more monsters? Did you see them?¡± ¡°You do not understand aberrations.¡± Gawain spoke of his judgment, ¡°You already know that aberrations are harder to defeat with more numbers. The fewer the number, the weaker they are. In fact, when they are too little in number, they would even destroy themselves.¡± Let alone Amber, not even Heidi knew this information. ¡°They¡¯ll destroy themselves when their numbers are too little? What is going on?¡± ¡°The aberrations and the Dark Waveplement one another. Actually it is possible that they are the same phenomenon but with two kinds of presentation,¡± Gawain exined. ¡°The number of aberrations had a threshold. When it exceeded the threshold, such as having more numbers, the Dark Wave¡¯s pollution would be stronger, and the pollution would be more concentrated. It would then produce more and stronger aberrations. In nature, the omnipresent magic allows this process to constantly develop. As such, if a group of aberrations gathers enough numbers, it would form a new Dark Wave pollution point, and they would rapidly extend out. On the other side, if they are way below the threshold, the pollution generated by the aberrations wouldn¡¯t be enough for them to multiply, and they wouldn¡¯t even be able to maintain their own bodies. They would constantly weaken and gradually disintegrate¡­ The entire process would happen quickly too. Aberrations that separated themselves from the main group would copse within three days.¡± Amber looked at the remains on the ground. ¡°I remember you mentioning that if aberrations don¡¯t sense a target, they will wander around blindly or stay in ce. Such a situation will make their movement speed very, very slow¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. If it is just four monsters, it¡¯s impossible for them to wander from the Gondor Wastnd to this ce. With their speed, they would have disintegrated midway.¡± Gawain didn¡¯t conceal his worry and said, ¡°Therefore, these four monsters must have separated from the main group¡­ They might have lost their way, or the group¡¯s formation was too loose. But the main group certainly exists.¡± Heidi couldn¡¯t help but grip her magic staff tightly. Gawain focused his mind on observing the mountain path that those monsters had wandered through. Aberrations were products of the Dark Wave; their chaotic and disorderly magic was like rotten sludge in this world. It was pungent and striking. This chaotic magic dispersed quickly, but these monsters had just appeared; hence, traces of magic should probably be lingering around. As expected, after concentrating his spirit and seriously discerning, Gawain sensed something slightly unnatural in a certain direction. That direction just happened to be one of the paths towards the southern foot of the Dark Range. Chapter 85 - The Great Barrier Chapter 85: The Great Barrier Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The aberrations had indeed left behind considerable traces of pollution in their process of roaming. Although those chaotic magic auras were dissipating very quickly, as it had been a timely discovery, there was still substantial proof remaining. Following those pollution auras which would appear from time to time, Gawain andpany advanced unceasingly in the Dark Range and gradually moved closer to the gap in the mountains that was located in the southwestern direction of the camp. And this gap put Gawain on the alert. This was a part of the Dark Range with lower relief and also the juncture easiest to cross over. If those monsters had entered through this gap¡­ they would be able to sense the auras of the humans at the pioneering camp soon and charge down from the mountains to drive straight in and attack the camp. The trio climbed up a huge boulder and surveyed the gap in the mountains from afar. There wasn¡¯t much vegetation covering the rocks there; the exposed grayish-white rocks were lifeless like fractured skeletons. The entire terrain looked as if it had been hacked apart by a sharp ax, and at the bottom of the gap, they could clearly see an unsettling dark mist curling upward. Gawain immediately had Heidi use spells to hide the various auras on the three of them, including magical power. The capabilities of a level-three mage in this aspect were naturally limited. Such concealment would not work on any professional at the intermediate level and above. However, Gawain was very clear about the aberrations¡¯ weaknesses. After breaking out of the Dark Wave¡¯s environment, their senses would be very obtuse, and their thinking ability would lower. As long as they did not clearly sense magical power or the aura of intelligent beings, they would not react. Afterpleting the concealment work, the three people cautiously found their way forward. Before they were even halfway there, a putrid odor could be smelting from ahead. ¡°Bleuurp¡­¡± Heidi dry-heaved quietly while her fingers tightened around her magic staff. She knew this smell too well. Such an odor had appeared in her nightmares more than once and roused her from her dreams. ¡ª A few months ago, the entire old Cecil territory had been ruined amidst this stench. Knowing that those monsters could sense the fluctuations of magic and that the effect of her concealment spell was limited, Heidi suppressed the urge to release Wind Shield. She carefully treaded behind Gawain to round past the rocks and old trees that were blocking their path ahead. Gawain, who led them from the front, suddenly made a gesture. ¡°Hide¡ª they¡¯re in front.¡± The three hid between the jagged rocks in a single file. Amber boldly poked her head out under Gawain¡¯s shoulder. In the next second, goosebumps flooded her skin. The mountainous path below was shrouded in ayer of dark mist. The vegetation there was withered and mutated; pricks and feelers crept out from the soil and gaps between the rocks; countless lumped masses resembling a certain type of mollusk squirmed and rolled between those rocks and soil. The sight made one sick to the stomach. And the gory titans were lumbering forward on this path which seemed like the road to hell. Flesh and blood slurries ran down their muddled faces as profane yet low murmurs sounded from their thoracic cavities, forming a buzzing resonance in the air. What made one shudder even more was that many of these gory titans had decayed and ragged ancient weapons stuck in their bodies. Amber even caught sight of a hollow human skeleton lodged in the abdomen of one of the titans. Such sickening evidence confirmed Gawain¡¯s judgment: This was a contingent of demon troops that had wandered from the Gondor wastnds and originated from hell. Amber immediately grabbed Gawain¡¯s arm and uttered her clearest thought at this moment in the softest, faintest voice she¡¯d ever had in this life, ¡°Boss, I don¡¯t want my pay any more. Just let me go¡­¡± ¡°Shh¡ª¡± Gawain held down Amber¡¯s head, but his eyes were scanning through those monsters. He checked again and again and finally lightly heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°Thankfully, this is not the worst situation.¡± ¡°This still isn¡¯t terrible?!¡± Amber felt as if she was staring at a madman when she fixed her gaze on Gawain. ¡°Such a big group is enough to tear down the entire camp three times over!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be scared by appearances. Actually, their numbers aren¡¯t as many as you imagined.¡± Gawain knew the kind of wrong perception average people would have when they saw the aberration army for the first time. Hence, he exined patiently, ¡°Those mist and paraphytes surging on the ground would give you the illusion that there are lots of them. But count carefully, the actual figure is probably less than a thousand¡­¡± Amber faltered for a moment but then seriously estimated the number of gory titans swaying in sight. ¡°It really seems like there are only a few hundred¡­¡± However, she quickly reacted. ¡°But our entire camp consists of only eight hundred people ¡ª and seven hundred of them can¡¯t fight!¡± ¡°But this is already much better than my worst expectation,¡± Gawain replied under his breath. ¡°Initially, I was most worried that their numbers had exceeded the threshold ¡®line¡¯ by too much. That way, their numbers would increase rapidly, like they were growing out of the air. Back then, we had a considerably hard time in this. The two thousand enemies in the reports would have multiplied to three or even four thousand by the time we met¡­ However, look at these. There aren¡¯t any new aberrations growing out of the air. This means that their numbers happen to not have exceeded the line, or have exceeded it just slightly but have yet to reach the extent where they would naturally increase¡­¡± ¡°Still, even if there¡¯s only this amount of them, it¡¯s not something that the camp can handle at this point.¡± Heidi pointed out worriedly in a low voice. ¡°Ancestor, their direction of movement is towards the north of the mountains. They will arrive near the camp sooner orter. Once the camp is exposed within the range of their senses¡­¡± Amber¡¯s pair of pointed ears ceaselessly shivered in the air. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that those aberrations would randomly roam or stop where they were when they no longer sensed magical power or humans? Who knows, they might halt after walking another stretch and remain there for eight hundred or a thousand years¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t put your hopes on that. Although their numbers would not increase, it has exceeded the critical point of natural extinction. Counting on these close-to-a-thousand monsters remaining in the mountains forever and be our neighbors? Dream on.¡± Gawain frowned. ¡°We have to find a way to get rid of them¡­¡± Amber silently nced at Gawain. ¡°Then I have a n¡­¡± Gawain was slightly surprised. ¡°You have a n?¡± ¡°It goes like this. I will first sneak over and finish off one. Then you, the legendary knight, will leap in like a god descending on the mortal world. At the end of the battle, you would have gotten rid of the remaining nine hundred and ny-something of them. Then this gorgeous great-granddaughter of yours will set off some arcane magic fireworks to add to the fun. And when we¡¯ve returned, we will im that these one thousand monsters have been defeated with the joint effort of both of us. You can then continue to be the Lord that you are and farm with peace of mind, while I¡¯ll go brag in the taverns¡­ Hey! Don¡¯t go. I¡¯m not done¡­¡± Gawain knew midway through her speech that she¡¯d actually fallen into the state of feeling severely nervous with her careless analysis. Hence, he did not even pay attention to the remaining half. Instead, he lifted his head and focused on the surrounding terrain. At this point, he finally found a route that could bypass those monsters. Thus, he tugged on Heidi¡¯s magic robe and then cautiously started on the detour. Amber was stumped for a moment. Ending her mindless analysis, she obediently disappeared into the shadows and followed Gawain¡¯s steps. The trio skirted around the route of those slow-moving aberrations and found a trail between the rocks. Moving along the direction where that decayed path pointed to, they trudged closer to the gap in the mountains of the Dark Range and finally found a hignd that was enough for their line of sight to go beyond the rocks and look out to the northern side of the Dark Range. Gawain climbed up the rocks and gazed into the distance. That side of the mountains¡­ That was close, it reminded him of The Smurfs by ident. There wasn¡¯t a group of adorable smurfs on that side of the mountain. There were only the ruins of civilization, only the wreckage of world order, only the Gondor wastnds shrouded in chaos and darkness. Despite the actual Gondor wastnds being somewhere even farther, the aura of that polluted ground was being presented in the skies on the far side of the Dark Range. After crossing a certain boundary, the skies on that side exhibited a state of dimness and chaos like an eternal sunset. Swarms of foul, dense clouds hung from the skyline, creating an oppressive sensation, as if it was about to swallow the world. And under the cast of such a peculiar sky, the world disyed a strange bearing, like a twisted otherworld. Starting from the ins by the southern foot of the Dark Range, a boundless dark forest covered the entire mountain and a small half of the banded nds. Though he was very far away, Gawain could still spot ¡ª in that warped forest known as the ¡®ck Forest¡¯ ¡ª many mutated giantwood that grew right up into the horizon, slowly swaying and spreading toxic feeler-like branches towards the sky. Whereas at the banded nds even farther out, there was dense mist rising up. The mist constantly disyed the past city, forts, pces, and simr figments. Looking past those visions, one would be able to see an aurora-like barrier. That aurora-like barrier seemed to be the only thing in sight that could put people at ease and was also pleasant to the eyes. From this distance, it looked like a hazy shimmering ribbon, but in reality, it was extremely tall and grand. Thatyer of ¡®glimmer¡¯ connected to the sky and ground; though it looked to be a sheet of weak fluorescence, it was even thicker and sturdier than mountains. And at the base of that fluorescent screen, a neatly arranged row of towers could be seen. The fluorescent screen was sustained by the powerful energy released from those towers. That screen was the Great Barrier, and the towers beneath the fluorescent screen were the sentinel towers. This setup sealed up the entire Gondor wastnds and prevented the deaths of all living creatures on the whole continent. Everyone knew that this barrier was built by the elves¡¯ Silver Empire, but in reality, it had been so utterly beyond imagination, such that the skills and resources required to build it had exceeded the limit that any intelligent species could shoulder alone. Even the powerful and prosperous elvish Silver Empire was unable to independently undertake it. In actual fact, the elves back then had taken the lead to provide half of the resources and all of the skills, and then all the other forces on the continent ¡ª including the Dwarf Kingdom and the survivors of Gondor ¡ª jointly took responsibility for the other half of goods and materials before they managed to build this barrier. That was truly a heart-stirring era. ¡­But also an era where terror enveloped the continent, and no one could sleep peacefully. Amber¡¯s head swung here and there under Gawain¡¯s shoulder. She looked nervously at the polluted grounds on the northern side yet marveled at the barrier that was even farther out. Even with the obstruction of the Great Barrier, the aura of the Dark Wave had still polluted a considerably vast area outside of it. Butpared to the inside of the barrier, even the ck Forest was a total paradise. Gawain shifted his gaze away from the fluorescent screen. He exhaled lightly. ¡°The barrier is still there.¡± Chapter 86 - Bold Plan Chapter 86: Bold n Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios To Gawain, the scariest situation would be to stand on the Dark Range and look to the south, only to see that the glimmering barrier wasn¡¯t there. For this continent¡¯s kingdoms in this era, it would mean the end of civilization. The barrier at the end of the horizon was still there. At the backdrop of the chaotic and rottingnd, it was a wall of light that had stood for ages in this world. Because it had been standing there for 700 years, most of the functions had probably deteriorated, but as long as the radiance was still there, this world would still be safe. ¡°So that is the Great Barrier¡­¡± Heidimented with an inconceivable tone. ¡°I have only read about it in books¡­¡± ¡°A few hundred years ago, the people at the borders were very familiar with that barrier. But during these hundreds of years, civilization¡¯s territories had been constantly withdrawing. It had already withdrawn to the northern side of the White River.¡± Gawain sighed with regret and shook his head while saying, ¡°The Dark Wave has withdrawn and shrunk, but you people continued to withdraw instead of expanding. It is truly ironic.¡± Heidi¡¯s expression turned rather ashamed, but what could she have done? One hundred years ago, after an ancestor with great potential died with bravery, he was seeded by her great-grandfather, who was exceptional at rebelling and was just too damn crazy. He had single-handedly destroyed all their foundations in the south. Who was going to bear the me for this¡­? ¡°Alright, alright. The barrier is still there, so it means that the so-called sentinel tower has ¡®self-healed¡¯, right?¡± Amber was also amazed by the Great Barrier, but after seeing the rotten piece ofnd in the south, she didn¡¯t wish to even stay here one minute longer. ¡°It means that those aberrations won¡¯t have any more reinforcements¡­ Then let¡¯s quickly return to think of a method to deal with those monsters!¡± Gawain nodded before jumping off the giant boulder. ¡°I already have a rough n.¡± Amber followed behind closely before bbing, ¡°What n, what n? Do you really n to eliminate over nine hundred of them in a single assault? I¡¯m just joking with you, okay? ¡ª Could it be that you really are that incredible?!¡± Gawain was thinking that the Gawain Cecil from 700 years ago might have really been able to wipe out those monsters in a single assault. But if he was to try it today, then it would be the same as dying again and spiraling into heaven. His n wasn¡¯t to rush in alone and start a musou 1. ¡°I have roughly calcted the path in the mountain and the movement speed of those monsters¡­ They have yet to discover the presence of the camp, and they¡¯re moving at a rather slow speed. ording to their current speed, if they continued moving north, they would need at least two days before they would be a threat to the camp. Therefore, we have two days to make arrangements.¡± Amber scratched her head. ¡°Arrange what?¡± ¡°We will make the steep cliff at the western side of the camp copse,¡± Gawain said while his mind rapidly turned to his ¡®map¡¯. ¡°That rock stratum isn¡¯t firm, and there are parts that have already started to crack. The path below the cliff¡­ is the direction those aberrations are advancing towards.¡± Amber was stunned. Gawain¡¯s bold and near-insane (in her opinion) n was entirely out of her expectations. Inside her mind, she had constructed the scenes of countless kinds of defense lines outside the camp, dauntlessbat, and torturous resistance. In fact, she was nearly moved herself¡­ But she never expected Gawain to suggest such an unorthodox n! Immediately after, she was doubtful of the n¡¯s feasibility. ¡°Are you truly able to do it? Copsing a mountain! How is that possible!?¡± Gawain looked at Amber. ¡°We¡¯re not sting a mountain, only a portion of the rock strata. Trust me, I have observed the terrain there, and it will be very easy. Furthermore, we have enough things to st it open.¡± Amber blinked her eyes and suddenly reacted to what Gawain was referring to. ¡°Are you referring to¡­ those fake crystals that your dum-dum granddaughter has been working on?¡± This fellow was truly getting increasingly proficient at giving nicknames to someone or something. ¡°It is exactly those crystals. They¡¯re called ¡®Reba Crystals¡¯. They have a name.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°Because the raw materials are from the rocks in the mountain, it will be easy to make. Furthermore, after giving them instructions, even the serfs will be able toplete the smelting process. Therefore, a huge pile of them has already been produced, and they¡¯re just in time too.¡± Amber still wanted to mutter, but Gawain had already walked in front. ¡°We will discuss the details once we return to camp. Those monsters are not going to stop and wait for us.¡± Amber looked up and saw that Gawain and Heidi were already moving away swiftly on the rugged mountain path. She anxiously started running after them, shouting, ¡°Hey! Hey! Wait for me! Hey¡­ It¡¯s fine for Gawain to have good stamina because he¡¯s a knight, but how can Heidi the mage also run so quickly in the mountain!?¡± When Heidi heard Amber¡¯s voice, she only smiled and shook her head without replying. How would outsiders know about the ancient rule that had been passed down the Cecil n: after reaching adulthood, the heirs of the n (be it male or female, be it talented or not) would have to enter the forest to kill a wolf with their bare hands¡­ Back then, Reba lost thrice to the wolf before she passed the test. But Heidi took only one attempt to pass! After returning to the camp, Gawain immediately summoned Reba, Byron, and Philip to his tent. After hearing the news, Pittman had alsoe over uninvited. After considering that there were many things that couldn¡¯t be concealed and the possibility that they might have to confront those monsters, this half-baked druid¡¯s healing spells might be an indispensable help. Hence, Gawain didn¡¯t chase this little old man away. ¡°There are even more aberrations. The number is close to a thousand. They are in the mountains,¡± Gawain spoke bluntly when everyone was gathered. ¡°They are moving in this direction.¡± Everyone was shocked by the news, and Pittman was the first to react. He swung his old druid robes and dered righteously, ¡°I don¡¯t need this month¡¯s wages¡­¡± ¡°Stop! And why do you have the same reaction as Amber?¡± Gawain stared at the little old man and continued, ¡°Wait for me to finish speaking. It will not be toote to express your opinion after you hear my arrangements.¡± ¡°Lord Duke,¡± Knight Byron said, ¡°thebatants in the camp are less than a hundred¡­ This includes the militia that we¡¯ve just trained. After equipping them with the magic armors and weapons, the official soldiers and militias might be able to confront the aberrations, but for them to fight an aberration individually, it is a little¡­¡± ¡°I know.¡± Gawain raised his hand to interrupt Byron before saying, ¡°Therefore, I am not nning to confront those monsters head-on.¡± Reba stared with wide eyes. ¡°Are we¡­ going to give up the camp?¡± She made a sad face and obviously didn¡¯t wish to hear that answer. Even though this might be a barren wilderness, this was already the Cecil n¡¯s final establishment, and it was also her new home. Be it the furnace that smelted the crystals or using Magic Web 1 to supply energy to the steelworks, it was all her hard work. This was the first time in her life that she was doing something that she liked, and no matter what, she didn¡¯t want to give up on this ce. But if Gawain was really deciding to withdraw¡­ she was already prepared toply. ¡°No, we don¡¯t need to withdraw. At least, we don¡¯t need to be in a hurry to make the decision.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°Those monsters will need two days to move close enough to sense the presence of the camp. Afterward, they will need at least another day to charge over, so we have at most three days to make preparations. I have a n, but it will requirerge quantities of ¡®Reba Crystals¡¯¡­¡± Gawain spoke of his bold idea and emphasized the feasibility of his n. Knight Byron and Knight Philip looked at each other in dismay. As two traditional military professionals, they didn¡¯t pay too much attention to those ¡®inventions and innovations¡¯ that Gawain and Reba had been working on. Furthermore, they weren¡¯t able to imagine the firepower of those exploding crystals. Pittman was even more confused. All these days, he would either be concocting medicine in his dwelling, moving around to provide exorcisms or blessings, or selling his useless ointments. He didn¡¯t even know what the ¡®Reba Crystals¡¯ were. Reba¡¯s eyes immediately brightened up and she eximed, ¡°That¡¯s right! Those crystals will work!¡± The Reba Crystals were her proud invention. Recently, whenever she had spare time, she would test the characteristics of the crystals and also the power of the explosion. It could be said that she had a full grasp of the crystals¡¯ abilities. Gawain¡¯s n was seemingly opening the door to a new world for her. This youngdy was extremely excited as she said, ¡°All of you have to listen to me. Lord Ancestor¡¯s n is totally feasible! I know how incredible the explosive power of the crystals is¡­ With greater quantities, the firepower will drastically increase! If we stuff them in the crevices and carve explosive magic circles on the rocks¡­ it wouldn¡¯t be a problem to st down an entire face of a cliff!¡± The two knights¡¯ eyes finally brightened up together. But Knight Byron was still a little worried. ¡°Will it really be able to kill those monsters? They have very tough vitality¡­¡± ¡°You have faced them inbat before and should know that those aberrations aren¡¯t invulnerable.¡± Gawain smiled and said, ¡°Furthermore, the aberrations in the range of the Dark Wave field and those that have wandered outside of it are twopletely different entities. After losing the supplement of primal magic, they aren¡¯t just slightly weakened. ording to my observations, this group of aberrations has a Dark Wave ¡®presence¡¯ that is far inferior to the pollution at the Cecil territories.¡± ¡°That will be wonderful.¡± Knight Byron nodded repeatedly. ¡°But what if the copse of the cliff isn¡¯t enough to kill them all?¡± ¡°I never expected all of them to be buried¡­ If even half of the group can be neutralized with the first copse, it will already be the best result.¡± Gawainughed and then said, ¡°For the rest, we will use traps. We will use ¡®arts¡¯ that will be buried in the ground to shave down their numbers. From the southwest corner of the mountain pass to our camp, we have a buffer zone to deal with them. The empty grounds and the fence in front of the camp will be our final defense line. But I am doubtful that those monsters will even make it to such a close distance.¡± While speaking, Gawain looked up at Reba. ¡°I have asked you tobine the rune triggers and the traps. It should already be done, right?¡± ¡°Of course, those things are simple. The easiest rune triggers are done by stacking bs together. We only need to make sure that the runes are pressed into the explosive magic circles.¡± Reba looked very happy as she continued, ¡°Furthermore, after you left earlier, I sent a few individuals to the furnace. There should be another batch of crystals that are newly smelted¡­ Now that Magic Web 1 has started operating and as long as the crystals are in the vicinity of the energy-supply point, arge pile can be fully energized quickly. I will send people to shift the stored-up crystals to the steelworks. At thetest, tonight, we will be able to energize all of them¡­¡± Seeing how Reba was bbing non-stop with excitement, Gawain felt from the bottom of his heart that he truly picked up a treasure. This youngdy¡­ was truly a talent. Chapter 87 - Miracles That Mortals Can Also Participate In Chapter 87: Miracles That Mortals Can Also Participate In Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Under themand and guide from the two knights, the pioneering warriors andmoners of the Cecil n had finally mobilized. The news of theing aberration attack had been disseminated to the entire camp. But under Gawain¡¯s intentional guidance and firm words, the panic and tension caused by this matter had been suppressed¡­ or perhaps, it should be said that they had been shifted away. The spoils of war that were brought back previously and the good reputation of Gawain Cecil in such situations had a decisive effect. As for this matter, Gawain was most pleased that there were no runaways in this camp as of now. The serfs andmoners might be ignorant, but they weren¡¯t foolish. They knew that this barrennd was far away from civilization and that there was nothing but towering mountains and primitive forests. Furthermore, there were monsters roaming in the mountains, and in order for them to escape to the rtively safe Tanzan Town, they would need to travel at least three to four days. Now that the aberrations were already rather close, running away would only lead to a faster death¡­ As such, those that wanted to flee would naturally be able to weigh the pros and cons of their choices. On this point, Gawain had asked Heidi to specially emphasize it to the members here. Thus, even though they had a little fear and even though the zing mes of the Cecil territories and the innumerable monsters were still lingering in their minds, they still worked hard to gather their courage. When they heard that the hero leader that came from 700 years ago had a specialized method to deal with the aberrations and when they saw how confidently Heidi and Rebamanded the soldiers to prepare for battle, it allowed them to have some confidence too. The tasks that were distributed to them were also one of the factors that boosted their confidence. The steelworks was said to be producing ¡®furnace gs¡¯ that could be used as weapons. Tasks like the production of pedal traps, carving, and touching up of runes were all suitable for themoners even if they were illiterate. Furthermore, when they were working, the soldiers would constantly emphasize that these things could be used to deal with those monsters. As such, the workers started to feel that the ¡®ancient duke¡¯ was rather capable, spurring them to work extra hard. But in fact, the soldiers responsible for the ¡®announcements¡¯ weren¡¯t very sure what those things were used for. They were only following orders and rying the words that they heard from Gawain to the workingmoners. ¡°Put the crystal fragments at the lowestyer then ce them on the bs that are carved with magic circles! If the bs are damaged then change to a new one here!¡± ¡°Put thepleted things over here!¡± ¡°Remember to inspect if the crystals are glowing. Those crystals that are not glowing will not be able to be used. Change them here!¡± ¡°The things you¡¯re working on are weapons that are specialized to deal with the monsters¡­ These are Duke Gawain¡¯s instructions! He is the monsters¡¯ nemesis!¡± Gawain led Reba and Heidi to traverse across the northeast side¡¯s empty field. This spaciousnd was specially used to create ¡®art¡¯. Originally, Gawain nned to name this ce the Louvre and to set this ce as the art vault. But no one understood the concept; hence, it was dropped. He bent over and inspected the items that were stacked neatly and tidily. They were wooden containers that were half-feet squares with a height under two inches. The wooden boxes were filled with Reba Crystals, and above the crystals were ck stone bs that were carved with explosive magic circles. But just this arrangement was unable to detonate the magical version of a ndmine¡¯. It still required a rune trigger to be able to detonate. The final step could not be handed to themoners or serfs toplete. After considering the risk of idental explosions, the rune trigger¡¯s instation was left as the final step. These wooden boxes would be installed underground in the mountain pass at the southwest side of the camp. Only after they were installed underground would the soldiers and the craftsmen who were specialized in traps be able to assemble the rune triggers on the magic circles. The rune triggers were rtively simple structures. The ¡®trigger mechanism¡¯ and the rune were isted by a thin b; on top, it was ayer of wooden board. After stepping down on the wooden board, the b would be shattered, and the two runes would be connected. It would form aplete rune circuit that would activate the explosive magic circle and finally initiate the explosion. This was the otherworld version ofndmines. Even though the technical details of thendmine were entirely different from the Earth¡¯sndmine, the train of thoughts were simr. It obviously didn¡¯t conform with the chivalry of this era¡¯s knights, but Heidi and Reba¡¯s evaluation of thisndmine was: ¡°Don¡¯t bother about what knight¡¯s chivalry is. This thing looks so cool!¡± In this world where extraordinary powers existed, there was a particrly convenient thing when using ndmines¡¯. There wasn¡¯t a need to worry about a ndmine clearance mishap¡¯ when disarming them. Heidi would leave her magic imprint on each of the explosive magic circles. This was a ¡®minesweeper game¡¯ that couldn¡¯t even be considered when a simple level-one spell could guarantee the rapid detection of eachndmine¡¯s position. After the battle, thendmines that didn¡¯t explode could be easily removed. Of course, there was a limit on the number of magic imprints Heidi could maintain. But in this battle, the number of magic imprints she could maintain would be more than enough. After the inspection work was done, Gawain handed the defense of the camp to the two n knights and Reba. Gawain then headed to the Dark Range with Heidi. On a cliff at the north of the mountain, they installed even more Reba Crystals. In fact, most of the crystals umted in the camp had been transported to this ce. It was to ensure that the explosion would be powerful enough to cause the cliff¡¯s copse. Gawain didn¡¯t dare to be stingy on the ¡®quantity¡¯. Previously, with the help of Heidi¡¯s Sculpture Hand, Weight-Reduction, and other spells, the workers and the materials were all transported to this ce. Using some simple rope and scaffolding, the stonemasons had already carved multiple craters into the cliff. They then poured inrge quantities of crystals into the man-made craters as well as the crevices that already existed. But the carving of the explosive magic circles could only bepleted by Heidi personally. Heidi, who was only level three, was still unable to use the Flight spell, like other middle-rank mages. She couldn¡¯t even maintain the low-rank Levitation spell for long periods of time. Hence, she could only stay on the ground and use the Sculpture Hand and Telekinesis spells to draw the explosive magic circles on the cliff. She then used the Eye of the Mage to observe before making adjustments. The precise control required exceeded most low-rank mages¡¯ capabilities, but it was fortunate that Heidi wasn¡¯t just a low-rank mage, but an official, converted believer of the ¡®Magic Goddess¡¯. She had prayed to the Magic Goddess before working and had obtained a short-term blessing, allowing this task to make progression. In order to ensure that this extremelyrge explosive magic circle would work, Gawain had invested a lot this time¡­ He took out arge quantity of powdered mithril and purple-crystal dust from the treasure vault in the mountain. Afterbining with Pittman¡¯s alchemy chemical, the history¡¯s most expensive ¡®paint¡¯ was produced. Heidi could use these magic-guiding materials to ¡®draw¡¯ on the cliff, and this would avoid the massive carving and tiling work, allowing the time required to be reduced. Right now, time was the most precious. When Heidi had drawn the giant lines and runes, Amber¡¯s figure emerged from the nearby forest shadows. She had a nervous expression and leaned towards Gawain and whispered, ¡°Those monsters are already very close. At most, half a day away.¡± ¡°I know. I reckon that it is almost time.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°Are they moving here using the predicted path?¡± ¡°Halfway here, they had nearly taken the other path.¡± When Amber spoke, her tone was obviously afraid, ¡°Right then, I boldly emerged from the shadow state for an instant and attracted them back on this path¡­ But in return, they are now more violent.¡± Gawain looked at Amber in astonishment. ¡°¡­Why are you so brave this time?¡± Amber curled her lips and said, ¡°Tsk, we are already at this stage. It is useless to be a coward at this point¡­ Why not just take a risk with you and possibly survive.¡± As she spoke, her vision couldn¡¯t help but look at the cliff in front of her. This tall cliff was above where they fought with the four aberrations. The path below the cliff was the path they had taken. After experiencing long years of wind and rain, the cliff was indeed rather fragile and could copse at any moment. Furthermore, there was only one path underneath it. If the aberrations passed through this path, they would definitely form a long and congested formation. When the cliff copsed, they wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge. This was indeed a very ideal ambush point. If there was a high-rank Master Mage here, he would certainly choose to blow up the cliff to kill those monsters. After all, an extreme me Burst spell or an earth element disintegration spell would be needed from a powerful Master Mage to make the cliff copse. But right now, the people that were about to do everything was a level-three, low-rank mage who couldn¡¯t even use the Ice Arrow urately and arge group of stonemasons,moners, and serfs. This had made Amber feel extremely strange. The translucent Sculpture Hand was moving on the cliff and smearing the paint that was mixed with mithril powder, purple-crystal dust, and an alchemy chemical on the surface of the cliff. Many runes had already taken shape, and the entire cliff looked like some strange religious totem. On the top of the cliff, one could also see the ropedders and the frames that were used by the stonemasons. Those were ¡®traces of construction¡¯ that they didn¡¯t have time nor intended to dismantle. This was the proof that ordinary people had participated in this unfathomable n. Not far away, the stonemasons and their apprentices were resting. They had used a lot of energy and bravery. It wasn¡¯t an easy task to bind themselves to a few ropes in order to dig holes in the cliff, especially under the pressure of time. Even Gawain felt it was rather incredible; he originally thought that this task would use up a lot of time and that it might be impossible for thepletion to catch up with his expected timeline. But Gawain quickly understood that this wasn¡¯t because the craftsmen and their apprentices were inspired by some honor, nor was it mainly due to the desire to survive. It was because this era¡¯s poor individuals always lived like this. Was it difficult to tie oneself up with a rope to carve craters in the cliff? It wasn¡¯t any more difficult than tying themselves up with a rope to repair the spire of the lord¡¯s castle. It wasn¡¯t any more difficult than picking medicinal herbs at overhanging cliffs for the lord either. It was said that 400 years ago, in the western mountainous parts of the kingdom, when serfs had to pick medicinal herbs, they didn¡¯t even have ropes. Because back then, ropes were even more expensive than serfs. But in this ce, they were at least able to tie their bodies with ropes. Everything they were doing wasn¡¯t just for the lord. Chapter 88 - The First Boom Chapter 88: The First Boom Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The stonemasons and their apprentices were resting on the ground and watching with eyes of admiration and reverence while the materials were lifted into the air with Heidi¡¯s magic guidance. It was then drawn on the surface of the cliff with precision while a giant translucent palm was assisting on the side. It would remove the vines that would affect the drawing of the magic circle or adjust the minute details of the runes¡¯ lines. It would also embed the crucial parts with enhancement materials like magical crystals. Furthermore, the various spaces of craters and pits that they had dug out were filled with sparkling crystal ¡®grits¡¯. In their eyes, those crystal fragments that were only the size of a rice grain were indeed like ¡®grit¡¯. Up till now, these exhausted people still weren¡¯t aware of the task they were involved in. They didn¡¯t even know that Gawain was going to st the cliff. They were merely following the orders of the lord, and when Amber saw these people, she had a spontaneous and strange feeling. Apart from the final drawing of the explosive magic circle, the entire process was mostlypleted by ordinary people. The steelworks¡¯ serfs had produced the crystals, while the Magic Web 1 that energized the crystals were also constructed by ordinary craftsmen. Reba might have been involved in the design of the magic web, but she didn¡¯t use any magical power during the entire process either. Afterward,moners transported the crystals to this ce, while stonemasons dug out craters on the cliff and stuffed them with the crystals¡­ In fact, had it not been the time constraint, even the drawing of the magic circle could have been done by ordinary people. As long as they could guarantee that all the runes were drawn at the correct positions and that all the crucial points were installed with the magic-guiding materials. Even though such things might require knowledge and skill, it didn¡¯t require any extraordinary power. Amber believed that as long as themoners received lessons and practiced, they would also be able to do all these things. As for how people without magic were going to activate this magic circle¡­ Reba had already developed the rune trigger, and it had been proven to be usable with the explosive magic circle. Even without the rune trigger, the territory¡¯s ¡®Magic Web 1¡¯ had already shown its ability to supply energy to the area around it. If Magic Web 1¡¯s supply line was extended here, even an ordinary person would be able to detonate this thing that Gawain addressed as rge-scale art¡¯. It was true that the entire process was much moreplicated and more difficult than a Master Mage¡¯s attack. But merely considering the feasibility of the entire process had made Amber tremble a little. A group of ordinary people without magic could actually use this ¡®magic equipment¡¯ to blow up an entire cliff¡­ While thinking, she couldn¡¯t help but look at Gawain with peculiar eyes: This strange man that didn¡¯t look like a noble¡­ Did he actually know what he was doing? But her mind shed with a slightly stern consideration for a short moment. Amber was only left with a little bit of her proper work before her job was done. She pped her hands and looked up at the sky and realized it wasn¡¯t time to eat yet. She then turned around and vanished in the shadows. She was going to continue monitoring the movements of the aberrations and report back when appropriate; it was a rather important task. On the other side, at the mountain pass southwest of the camp, Philip and Byron, the two knights, were apanying Reba and doing something they had never done before. They weremanding their subordinates to install underground traps ¡ª the type of traps that would explode. The soldiers and themoners were responsible for digging the pits. Reba would then bring the craftsmen to install the ndmines¡¯ in them. As she put the rune triggers on the magic circles, those seemingly harmless crystals would then be dangerous toys capable of sting holes in mountains. Thus, every rune trigger would be personally adjusted and ced in position by Reba. In order to prevent any dim-witted person from identally activating the mechanisms, Reba had ced a red stone as a marker at each of the traps. Yes, putting markers waspletely not conforming with the basic function ofndmines, but it was fine as they were bullying those brainless aberrations¡­ Sir Philip had a strange expression as he watched the soldiers scatter some dirt on an installed wooden box. He then looked at the others who were digging pits in a frenzy. He finally couldn¡¯t hold back and muttered to Byron, ¡°Isn¡¯t this a little¡­ contrary to a knight¡¯s chivalry?¡± ¡°Contrary to our chivalry? Are you talking about digging traps?¡± The grizzled-hair middle-aged knight looked at the talented and handsome youth before asking, ¡°Then what do you think a knight with chivalry should do?¡± Philip ced his hand sternly on his sword hilt and said, ¡°A knight shall fight against his foe in an upright manner, equip himself with bravery and righteousness, confront the strongest foe, and protect the citizens and thend. If a knight is victorious, then he can return with glory. If a knight fails, then he shall be buried in the battlefield¡­ But we shouldn¡¯t be digging traps like this¡ª¡± Byron didn¡¯t wait for Philip to finish before he quickly gestured him to stop. ¡°Stop, stop, stop¡­ Your shoring is truly unfixable. You are so young, yet you behave like an old believer. Don¡¯t forget that these traps are the instructions of our duke. He is a knight among knights, the hero among heroes. The current knight¡¯s rules are drawn up with him as the reference. Do you think the things that he arranged would be contrary to the knight¡¯s chivalry?¡± Philip was already in conflict with this matter, and after hearing the question, he was at a loss. ¡°Thus the reason I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°In my opinion, it conforms just fine to our knights¡¯ chivalry.¡± Byron rubbed his chin and started to use the eloquence nurtured during his mercenary days to speak some preposterous arguments. ¡°We are openly digging the pits in this ce in an upright manner. It is as upright as the cheval de frise 1 on the battlefield. It is the same as your armor that is an upright equipment. Afterward, we will be challenging the strongest enemies¡­ Take a look at this ground filled with pits. The monsters that are able to walk past them would definitely be the strongest, and only the strongest will be able to reach the final defense line and fight with us. The monsters that cannot even make it across these pits are all weaklings. Battling with weaklings is a true humiliation to the knight¡¯s chivalry¡­¡± [E/N: WTF¡­ This paragraph reminds me of the Chewba defense.] Philip thought carefully before looking at Byron with suspicion. ¡°ording to what you mean, these traps are to screen for the truly formidable enemies?¡± Byron nodded and said, ¡°That is roughly my meaning.¡± Philip thought carefully again and said, ¡°I still feel you are talking nonsense.¡± [E/N: Go with your feelings, Young Padawan.] Byronughed and turned around to instruct the craftsmen that were installing the ndmines¡¯. ¡°Pour a little more rocks or something over here. Just don¡¯t press on the mechanisms. I have seen these things explode. If there are rocks in the pits, the explosion will be even more incredible¡­¡± At the side, Reba¡¯s eyes instantly lit up. ¡°Oh? It can actually work like that?!¡± ¡°That is natural.¡± Byron smiled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate a mercenary¡¯s wisdom¡­ and a knight¡¯s righteousness.¡± ¡°Then wait for a moment, I will ask men to bring out the extremely dpidated scrap metals and bury them with the traps¡­¡± The knight who only obtained knighthood at an old age and the foolish young viscountess smiled at one another before reaching a mutual understanding. They acted in collusion and worked shamelessly¡­ Sir Philip, who witnessed everything from behind, let out a long sigh. A few hourster, all the preparations had been done, while the soldiers andmoners retreated back to the camp. Gawain had also returned. Those monsters were already very near, and ording to Amber¡¯s report, they were getting close to the first trap at the north of the mountain. Once the monsters started to sense the presence of living humans and active magical energy, they would switch from the slow, roaming state into a violent and aggressive state. They would rush towards the location where they could feel the highest concentration of humans. The front of the camp had alsopleted its preparations. From the western mountain pass to the camp, there was arge area that was an emptynd without any obstructions. After passing through the emptynd, there were wooden fences and spikes that had been constructed at thest moment. Of course, these things might be nearly negligible against the aberrations, and it could dy their movements slightly at best. Behind the fences were fully equipped knights and soldiers. They were the camp¡¯s final line of defense. Gawain stood together with the guardians of the camp. Beside him was the nervous Reba who was holding her magic staff tightly. Behind him were the two knights, Byron and Philip. Some other soldiers and militiamen, wielding des and shields, were guarding the south entrance of the camp¡­ Because those monsters didn¡¯t have any ability to think, they wouldn¡¯t know about strategies like nking. Hence, as long as they could defend this entrance facing the Dark Range, it would mean that they had safeguarded the defense line. This was probably the only advantage when battling against the aberrations. Gawain noticed that Reba had already taken her third deep breath; thus, he asked casually, ¡°Nervous?¡± ¡°A little.¡± Reba squeezed out a smile. ¡°Strange, I was obviously not nervous when I fought against them previously¡­¡± ¡°Because you didn¡¯t even have time to be nervous previously. But this time, you knew they wereing, three days in advance. Waiting is the most terrifying thing in this world.¡± Gawain smiled and shook his head. ¡°But don¡¯t be afraid, you have to believe in the power of those crystals¡­ they are your creations.¡± Reba nodded but then quickly shook her head. ¡°But I have never done anything reliable since young¡­¡± Gawain quickly coughed twice to conceal her voice. ¡°*Cough* *Cough* Don¡¯t say that here. It will demoralize the army.¡± Why was this child¡¯s shoring not fixable? Fortunately, it became obvious that the nearby soldiers weren¡¯t paying attention to the conversation between their lord and their previous leader. They were only paying attention to the mountain pass and waited for the moment of explosion that their lord had mentioned, the ¡®boom¡¯. In the Dark Range, that mountain pass¡¯s path was one that had to be taken. Heidi stood alone at the top of the cliff, on a giant rock that was jutting out. She quietly watched the meandering and natural mountain path. She could already smell those foul monsters. The air beside her distorted slightly, and Amber¡¯s figure emerged from the shadow. The half-elf had a stern expression that was unprecedented as she said, ¡°They¡¯re here.¡± Heidi nodded and looked at the end of the mountain path below. A foul mist was rising up, and the nts were withering due to the mist. Deformed creatures of blood and flesh ambling out from the mist like the giants they were. One, two, three¡­ the numbers kept increasing. Heidi released the Concealment spell that was cast on her, instantly revealing the presence of a living human as well as her magical energy. In the eyes of those monsters that originated from the Dark Wave, these two kinds of presences were as dazzling as a me in the darkness. The monsters that were originally roaming slowly had been ¡®awakened¡¯ and roared with primal insanity. Immediately after, they were like a pack of hyenas who had detected the reeking stench of blood and suddenly increased their speed. They started to charge in Heidi¡¯s direction. The giant figures started to sprint on the mountain path. Amber instantly felt ayer of goosebumps on her skin, while Heidi quickly surveyed the horde. She stood at the magic injection point of the giant explosive magic circle but didn¡¯t do anything yet. ¡°So¡ªso close!¡± Amber called out nervously in a soft voice. ¡°Not yet.¡± Heidi shook her head. ¡°We need to bury as many as possible in this ce so that we will face less pressure. So, we need to wait a little longer.¡± Amber grabbed Heidi¡¯s arm while she felt half her body starting to turn into nothingness. ¡°Okay, I will wait for your signal. Once you detonate it, I will immediately pull you in!¡± Heidi nodded and raised her hand before she released the most simple Illumination spell at those monsters. This most fundamental spell would cause even more obvious magic fluctuations. It had made those monsters flock over even more frantically. They were pushing and shoving, and had thronged together. They were like lumps of flesh and blood that formed a giant aberration as they rushed to the center of the mountain path. They even attempted to climb the cliff Heidi was standing on. Heidi didn¡¯t hesitate and activated the magic circle below her feet and tugged on Amber¡¯s arm while saying, ¡°Go!¡± The duo instantly vanished into the shadows. The cliff¡¯s magic circle released a blinding white light. One secondter, it detonated the countless ¡®magic crystals¡¯ that were buried in various spots on the cliff. It was truly just like the roar of thunder. Chapter 89 - Blown Up Chapter 89: Blown Up The explosion initiated by magical power crystals and the explosives on Earth were two totally different things. Even though the final oue for both would be magnificent fireworks, the process was vastly different. Thetter was a once-off swift and violent chemical reaction, while the former, by its very nature, was a magic process. As such, the detonation of magical power crystals did not have a strict demand on its packaging; neither was it particr about the container used. It also had no requirements to be loaded into a chamber. But in ce of that, it required all storage crystals to be ced within range of the explosive magic circle; it required precision in the explosive magic circle itself as well as the high quality andpatibility of the magic conducting materials; it also required the total amount of magical power stored in the crystals to be full. And in the situation where all these conditions were met, its might would please any person controlling the explosion. The entire cliff was cloaked in a blinding white light. Within the range of exposure of the explosive magic circles, every crack and opening packed with crystals began to produce a violent explosion of magical power. The aberrations who had crowded together and started climbing up the cliff wall fell into a momentary confusion due to their target¡¯s abrupt disappearance. Following that, ¡®the art of explosion¡¯, which suddenly befell them, tore into them¡­ Regrettably, Heidi, who had been pulled into the shadow realm by Amber, wasn¡¯t fated to witness this spectacr sight. The copse of the cliff set off a chain reaction. The boulders above the path that weren¡¯t stable enough also came loose in the violent quake. Rocks and masses of soil drenched down on them like a torrential downpour, and those gory titans were sessively buried under these falling soil and rocks. Amongst them, a good number were crushed then and there, snarling as they dissolved into elemental mist, which was continuously transpiring. By the time the crumbling ended, close to half of the monsters were still alive. Some of them were outside the range of thendslide, while others simply weren¡¯t killed by the impact. Those especially strong aberrations casually overturned the boulders and soil covering them and shakily crawled out of the rubble. The primal magic released by their surroundingpanions swiftly repaired their ragged limbs. In the brief moment of a few breaths, those monsters who had their limbs destroyed by the impact had resumed 70-80% of their mobility. Heidi and Amber¡¯s auras were gone. However, the monsters that had survived recovered from the chaos and turned their heads towards the north one by one. They had ¡®smelled¡¯ another aura, slightly farther, but in great numbers. Over there was arge number of living humans as well as active magic. Aberrations did not have anything like morale. The stimtion from the aura of their ¡®prey¡¯ pushed them into a primitive and manic excitement. The gory titans pushed forward, throwing thosepanions who had been reduced to torn meat and crushed bones behind, and charged towards the northern paths like hyenas that had smelled blood. Then they stepped right into the minefield array that was spread out everywhere over the hills and ins. The sound of the explosion and copse that urred at the Dark Range was like a burst of thunder. It could be clearly heard even at camp. A hint ofmotion could not help but emerge amongst the soldiers who were inbat readiness upon hearing those loud noises. But right after, they were suppressed by the snaps of Sir Philip and Sir Byron. Contrary to his soldiers¡¯ mood, Gawain sighed in relief when he heard the explosion. There was an explosion, which implied that at least the first step of the n had seeded. With Amber coordinating with her over there, Heidi¡¯s safety should be guaranteed. From hearing continuous rumbles mingled with the sounds of explosions, he could confirm that the copse of the cliff had also happened like he had nned. Then subsequently, he would wait for those brainless monsters to be blown up into the sky one by one. More than ten minutester, another explosion finally sounded from the mountains. Those were noisespletely different from the first explosion ¡ª they were slightly weaker, but continuous. One would sound almost every few seconds ¡ª as if there were two mages with only the fireball spell casting them at each other (sideward nce at Reba) ¡ª and those sounds were getting closer and closer. In the beginning, they had beening from deep in the mountains, but soon, they were heard near the mountain pass. Gawain could almost imagine the sight of those monsters rushing into the minefield array with their heads buried. How delightful would that scene be? The soldiers listened to the noise that was entirely unlike their previous battles. Apart from grasping their weapons tightly, they could only exchange nces with each other. They knew that there wasn¡¯t a single defending trooper in the mountains, but that stir was so loud that it was startling. Hundreds of gory titans were passing through those cramped and meandering mountainous paths, and what was stopping them weren¡¯t brave warriors but a cluster of exploding traps¡­ Was such also war? Themotion in the mountains naturally spread to where the civilians resided. At the very start, those tremblingymen only hid at the back, but the explosions that sounded ceaselessly made it difficult for them to contain their curiosity. That didn¡¯t sound like soldiers desperate at war; instead, it sounded like thunder rumbling. The vigers from the rural areas would never have the chance to see high-ranking mages in their entire life. Of course, they had also never heard the stir of archmages throwing big fireballs and me burst spells at each other¡­ Hence, they could only dream something up ¡ª even if there were scores of master mages warring outside, themotion would probably not be more than this. Finally, some of them who were especially bold and could not suppress their curiosity inched out of their tents and came to the southern side of camp; they were emboldened by it and looked far into the distance in the direction of the Dark Range. At this point, the explosions in the mountains had finally spread to the mountain pass ¡ª or rather, the aberrations that recklessly made their way here had finally set off thend mines along the mountain pass. A cloud of smoke dust and mist curled up from the foot of the mountain. In the dark-red dust cloud, the first gory titan charged forward with a growl. It ran across the minefield array that was everywhere and dashed for the human camp amidst blood and fire. Then, in the process of doing so, it was thrown into the air by an explosion andnded on the ground after being divided into more than twenty portions and subsequently trampled into minced flesh by those behind¡­ The soldiers guarding camp stood by and watched as the first monsterpleted the entire process of snarling appearance, fearless charging, exploding on-site, spinning ascension, demon disintegration, and then ¡®loving¡¯ thisnd very deeply (that is, being buried deeply into thend). They had instinctively tightened their grips on their swords and held their breath, but it still felt slightly awkward¡­ Other than those soldiers who¡¯d once helped Reba and Heidi test out those explosives, for 99% of theymen present, it was their first time realizing that the wooden boxes they¡¯d made and buried into the ground would actually have such might. However, this was only a start. Billows of dust clouds surged from the mountain pass; they were the crushed stones and dust that had been whipped up from the multiple explosions on the paths, and there was a chaotic demonic mist formed from the aberration blood and pieces mixed in it. Meanwhile, dashing out of the rolling dust clouds were countless gory titans battered from the explosions. Gawain very quickly realized that it indeed felt really satisfying to blow up people using minefield arrays, but since those being blown up were a bunch of boors, it would severely affect the operating experience. These aberrations without much intellect were like a swarm of insects that had lost their leader. They only knew to focus on the direction of food. Lowering their head and seeing only an ¡®A¡¯ in brackets. They charged forward into the minefield. One stepped in as another fell, then spun into the air in all sorts of poses, andnded in a random number of pieces and direction from the quaking chain explosions. Despite so, they remainedpletely fearless and still charged in the same direction. Moreover, there would constantly be new monsters running out from the mountain pass. Some monsters that had been destroyed waist down were still moving with an indomitable spirit; they were crawling in this direction using their remaining limbs. This wouldn¡¯t do; not only would it not bolster the troop¡¯s morale, many people might, instead, be jarred by this horrifying scene. People who have sunken into fear would even neglect the fact that the number of monsters had been drastically lowered. Gawain believed he ought to do something, but right before he took action, he suddenly heard Sir Byron beside him breaking out intoughter. This gray-haired Knight, who had switched profession midlife from mercenary to knight, used the sword in his hand to point at those deformed freaks being blown up, blown apart or crawling on the ground. Heughed till he was panting for breath. ¡°These¡ªThese things are really stupid and weak. Look at how they¡¯re still crawling here and there after being disorientated from the explosions¡­ Haha¡­ Better yet, a good half of them are being trampled into minced meat by their own before they¡¯d even covered half the distance! Why were we (hahaha) intimidated by such things back then?! Haha¡­¡± Sir Byron¡¯s tone was filled with sheer scorn. Apart fromughing, he even used his shoulder to nudge Sir Philip. ¡°Sir Philip, what do you think?¡± Then Byron quickly whispered, ¡°Damn it. Back me up. It¡¯s so awkward to do this alone.¡± Sir Philip straightened up at once and looked towards Byron with a straight face and a righteous look. ¡°Knights should not mock the weak. They are in such a state now only because we had the aid of our ancestor¡¯s wisdom¡­¡± The surrounding soldiers were already infected by Byron. At this point, Phillip¡¯s stern and just words built on it as they struck a responsive chord in their hearts. The slightmotion from earlier swiftly ended. They watched those monsters that continuously streamed out and were repeatedly blown up into the skies. The fear gradually faded away atst. Some poised individuals were even rather tempted tough. Meanwhile, Gawain looked at the two knights beside him, slightly dumbstruck. He suddenly felt that this territory really had hidden talents; these two knights were bothpetent people, especially that Phillip. He usually appeared to be such a serious and proper person. Who would¡¯ve known he was such a joker¡­? Yet Phillip himself waspletely oblivious to all these. He had gripped his knight¡¯s sword tightly and took half a step forward. ording to his memories of the ¡®minefield¡¯, he determined that not all of the monsters would be wiped out in the explosions. At least a few dozens should survive. They were really close now¡­ This could lead to real hand-to-handbat! Gawain had alsoe to the same conclusion. Lifting the longsword in his hand, hemanded the soldiers in a loud voice, ¡°We¡¯ll celebrate after we¡¯ve exterminated these freaks. ¡ª Everyone, attention. Raise your swords!¡± The cold light from a sea of steel lifted their spirits. Under the illumination of the huge sun that was starting to set in the west, a faintyer of luster surrounded the soldiers¡¯ armors and weapons. The enchanted weapons and armors became especially ¡®striking¡¯ in the eyes of those aberrations. The first monster to rush out of the minefield array came staggering before the troops. Its only (half-missing) arm waved towards the sky, while a muddled snarl echoed from its chest. Then it charged over. ¡°Fight!¡± Footnotes: In StarCraft, the letter ¡®A¡¯ is the hotkey for attack Chapter 90 - Scared Me to Death Chapter 90: Scared Me to Death Just as Gawain had anticipated previously, depending solely on the copse of the cliff andndmines everywhere would not be able to exterminate those monsterspletely. Of course, if he had greater depth, a bigger minefield, and explosive crystals with greater might, that wouldn¡¯t be impossible to achieve. After all, those monsters did not have brains. As long as there were enoughndmines, they were bound to straightforwardly step on all of them, and then fly into the skies together. However, since the conditions could not be fulfilled, then anything said was in vain. There were still monsters ¡ª who by luck or, rather, by force ¡ª pushed through all the explosives then flew at them howling. At this step, any hesitation and fear would have dissipated; the soldiers had long strained every nerve to the limit. The moment themand was given was when the glints and shes of cold steel arose, and the inevitable hand-to-handbat began. The shouts of humans and roars of monsters merged into one. This was their second time crossing swords. The previous time had been at the Cecil territory which had now been incinerated by a dragon. The soldiers back then were draped in simple and shoddy steel equipment, usingpletely non-enchanted weapons against the almost impregnable aberrations with exceptional regenerative abilities, but this time, they were dressed in super gears left behind from the ancient civilization. They had shields for protection along with enchanted longswords and spears. On the other side, the enemy before them had been partially blown into shreds and pieces. Although this was a simple and in camp, the actual situation was way better than the previous time. Once they were engaged with each other, some experienced veteran soldiers had realized this. The equipment on them was giving a good performance that went beyond imagination against the pressures caused by the aberrations. Humans were no longer inferior before the monsters and were instead able to fully fight them head-on. Therefore, after the lines swayed by that little bit, it instantly stabilized, and they even began to force those monsters that had run out of the minefield back in. Sir Byron was even forced to yell from the back, ¡°Do not go too forward! You must not cross the fence ¡ª beware of falling into the traps yourselves!¡± Gawain hacked down an aberration whose entire body was charred from the explosions. He noticed that there was no more suspense to this battle. Even without his help, the camp¡¯s soldiers under the lead of the two knights were enough to handle all the enemies. So he let out a sigh of relief and was about to turn back to check on Reba. But just then, he suddenly noticed that a dozen aberrations on the eastern side of the battlefield had stopped in their steps of charging at the defense line. Those faceless gory titans seemed to have ¡®smelled¡¯ some scent that they suddenly lifted their heads at the same time and ¡®looked¡¯ towards a certain direction. Following that, they actually dashed there,pletely ignoring the defense troops surrounded by magical power right under their noses! Gawain faltered for a moment before abruptly realizing what was in that direction ¡ª the tent housing the ¡®dragon-egg rock ball¡¯! Had they sensed the aura of that ¡®dragon egg¡¯? The attraction of the ¡®dragon egg¡¯ to them was even greater than both living humans and magical power?! These thoughts suddenly burst into Gawain¡¯s mind, and this unexpected situation had also left him in a cold sweat. He immediately shouted to Reba, ¡°Get your guards and follow!¡± Then, without waiting for Reba to respond, he had taken to his heels and ran to the tent where the rock ball was kept. There were, of course, soldiers keeping guard around the tent, but due to a shortage in manpower ¡ª coupled with the fact that aberrations should easily have been attracted to the collection of human and magical power auras ¡ª the majority of theirbat capacity were concentrated at the defense line at the southwestern side of camp. Those left behind at the dragon egg¡¯s tent were merely a small squad of militiamen, and they were new soldiers who¡¯d justpleted training. Given theirbat ability, they definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to stop those monsters. Soon, those aberrations had cleared this not too long distance. The soldiers around the dragon egg¡¯s tent had caught sight of this from afar and were in a fluster, attempting to form a battle line to face the enemies but appeared utterly disorderly. A militiaman¡¯s limbs trembled as he held his spear level, working hard to recall the few simple moves that he¡¯d finallymitted to memory with great effort in thest two days. Just then, a sound resembling fabric being ripped came from behind him. This militiaman initially didn¡¯t dare to shift his gaze away from those aberrations, but he could not help but feel tempted to look back. Ultimately, he wasn¡¯t able to contain his curiosity about the sound behind him and swiftly nced behind. The moment he turned back, his eyes were wide. He saw that at ten-odd meters away, the tent¡¯s portiere that was originally tied up had been torn open, and that huge rock ball with a diameter of about 1.5 meters was probing out from between the two portieres. In the next second, he then noticed that this ball was actually floating in the air. Associating that as part of this rock ball¡¯s strange characteristics, the militiaman instinctively gripped his weapon tighter at once. However, the rock ball had no intention of attracting the surrounding metals this time. It swayed side to side for a moment after squirming out of the tent, and then let out a scream with a metallic trill, ¡°Damn, what is this?!¡± It seemed to have ¡®seen¡¯ those aberrations that were currently hurtling towards itself. The militiamen responsible for guarding the tent immediately noticed the activity of the rock ball then. The monsters that were rushing over from afar and this rock ball that was making weird noises behind them had these newly trained soldiers, who had just been armed recently, in a mess. Even their squad leader didn¡¯t know how to cope with the current situation. Yet just then, they caught sight of a tall and big figure wrapped in a faint white glow speedily approaching from another direction. That was Gawain who had activated his Knight Charge, and following behind Gawain was Reba and a small squad of n soldiers. Gawain had spotted the rock ball floating at the entrance of the tent from a distance. This bizarre scene almost made him stagger and crash in the midst of charging. Right after, he heard that rock ball let out an ear-piercing noise. ¡°Help! Monsters! What¡¯s happening!!¡± So this thing could make sounds?! Gawain was simply too upied at this time to analyze what exactly that damned ¡®dragon egg¡¯ really was. He decided to give up on thinking in such an unduly strange situation. Following that, he suddenly put force in his legs. With a high jump, heunched one of the signature skills of a knight, Champion sh. His whole figure was bundled in a ball of blinding white in the air. Energy mes up to a thousand degree Celsius suddenly zed on his longsword. Then, hended like aet shooting across the sky, ruthlessly hacking at the head of a monster. This gory titan was fatally struck by the Champion sh. It was instantly sliced down the middle into two. The two halves of its body didn¡¯t even have time topletely separate before they were burned by the high temperature into scattered ashes. The remaining impact created by the sh continued to push forward, leaving a deep gully. The aberrations in the vicinity had their senses disturbed by Gawain¡¯s sudden and powerful energy. They hesitated for a while on the spot in slight confusion. Meanwhile, taking advantage of this opportunity, Gawain quickly yelled to the rock ball in the distance. ¡°Quickly hide! There are monsters out here!¡± ¡°Damn it!¡± The rock ball let out a scream. ¡°With just a tent that copses with a puff, what use would hiding do?!¡± Gawain suddenly dodged to the side, evading the sweeping sharp ws of an aberration, and then countered with a backhand thrust of his sword. At the same time, a fireball the size of a washbowl flew past less than half a meter from him andnded on another aberration who was attempting a sneak attack, causing half its body to lean back. Gawain pushed his advantage and finished off this monster that had lost its bnce. From the corner of his eyes, he saw that Reba had arrived at the border of the battlefield under the protection of the soldiers. She raised her left hand up high. Another huge fireball took shape in her hand. She then tossed this fireball up; with her two hands gripping her staff, she swung! With a thud, the fireball was sent flying. ¡°Lord Ancestor! I¡¯ll help you contain them!¡± Youngdy, there¡¯s clearly a problem with that use of your fireball spell! However, at the moment, Gawain had neither the time nor effort to ask Reba how exactly she had mastered her fireball spell because he noticed that the few aberrations running right in front were getting very close to the tent and the rock ball. A militiaman mustered up his courage and thrust his spear out in an attempt to stop the enemy but was struck by an arrow of chaotic energy released by another aberration far away. His entire person flew from the blow. However, there was still a faint glow remaining on his shield, so he was unlikely to be dead. That rock ball floating in the air less than half a meter from the ground made a fuss out of fright. It darted around rapidly, trying to avoid those aberrations rushing in from all directions. However, before enemies in numbers tenfold of the original, the avable space for it to dodge became less and less. Finally, when there was really nowhere to hide, this rock ball was forced to release a scream mixed with a metallic trill; it then raised the height it was floating at to ten-odd meters¡­ Gawain thought this rascal was about to fly away directly, but it lost its momentum after flying partway andnded like a falling meteorite. With a loud ¡®boom¡¯, a monster right beneath the rock ball was smashed just like that. This aberration who was more than unlucky didn¡¯t even have the time to make a sound before it was pounded into the ground. The newly made pit was even sunk in by at least a meter. Just like when it had attracted the three soldiers previously, even Gawain¡¯s push had not been able to make this rock ball budge by an inch. This was its true weight. Don¡¯t mention Gawain faltering, even the rock ball itself was stunned. But the monsters around were not about to go linger. They could only sense the prey right before their eyes. Therefore, once the rock ballnded, they lunged forward again. The rock ball let out a scream again and attempted to reunch itself into the sky, failing once more and smashing an enemy into the ground a second time. Gawain shook the Sword of Pioneers in his hand. He suddenly felt that there seemed to be no need for him to rush over so urgently to save the day. Even if it was really doomsday, this crazy egg might not even be in trouble¡­ The soldiers who¡¯d rushed over and militiamen who remained around the tent could only watch this amusing scene with odd looks. That rock ball (suspected dragon egg) shrieked in fear as it crushed each and every one of the invading monsters dead on the ground. Whereas the brainless aberrations lined up like cbash children saving grandpa, throwing themselves forward one after another. Until when there were only thest three monsters left, Gawain suddenly took note that the rock ball¡¯s ¡®take-off¡¯ height was less than two meters. He immediately unsheathed his sword and went forward, clearing off the final enemies. The rock ball that had killed a dozen aberrations then slowly floated out of the pile of monsters. It was only ten-odd centimeters above the ground now, evidently worn out. After confirming that there were no longer any enemies left, it finally heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°Damn, that scared me to death¡­¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± Footnotes: Reference to the plot of TV series Cbash Brothers where seven children went in session to save their grandfather but were all caught Chapter 91 - What Exactly Was Hatched Chapter 91: What Exactly Was Hatched Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The crisis ended just like that. As thest monster fell to the ground with a wail under Knight Philip¡¯s sword, living aberrations could no longer be seen on the battlefield. There were only skeletons that were continuously disintegrating covering the ground and a group of soldiers who were about to run out of strength. No more new monsters came rushing out of the mountains; neither could any more loud bangs resembling the roar of thunder be heard from the direction of the Dark Range. Thus, a good half-minute passed before Sir Byron began the first cheer. Following him were soldiers, militiamen, then the civilians and serfs at camp. The cheers resounded through the southern bank of the White River. Every person learned of this victory, and to those people who had lived through the old Cecil catastrophe, this victory carried an especially exceptional significance. The ones who worked out the n knew how much of this victory had been achieved with the help of favorable timing and geographical position; how much luck and risks it epassed and how many uncontrolled variables were present. However, the majority of theymen wouldn¡¯t know. They were only aware there were hundreds of monsters invading from the south; their numbers were 10 times that of the camp¡¯sbatants, yet in less than half a day, all these monsters were wiped out. Not even one made it inside the fence wall of the camp. The immense psychological stress flushed out into cheers of wild joy at present. Even Amber who¡¯d just returned to camp with Heidi could not help but be infected by the joyous atmosphere and joined in the celebration. Yet after cheering for some time, she noticed that Gawain wasn¡¯t with everyone. Thus, she caught the little maidservant, Betty, who was passing by. Thetter was carrying a whole lot of alchemical bottles, following behind the druid Pittman. ¡°Where¡¯s your Lord?¡± Betty shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± ¡°He¡¯s in the tent at the southern side.¡± Pittman stopped, turned his head, and informed rapidly. ¡°I think there¡¯s something wrong with the dragon egg again. Ah, I shall not speak to you any longer. I¡¯ll send the potions there first. We have a considerable number of wounded men!¡± The little old man dashed off swiftly with the little maidservant. Amber looked around. Finding that there was indeed nothing of her business here, she disappeared into the shadows with a sh. In the tent at the southern part of camp, Gawain and Reba had also heard the cheers that reverberated through the entire camp long ago. It was a foregone conclusion; they had safely pulled through this crisis. Earlier, Sir Byron had sent a man to ask about the follow-up arrangements. Gawain sent a message for the two knights to first proceed with the cleanup of the battlefield, while he and Reba would remain here for the time being, confronting this rock ball that was suspected to be a ¡®dragon egg¡¯. The monsters¡¯ skeletons outside the tent were rapidly disintegrating. The remaining carcasses were gathered and ced in one pile by the soldiers, left to await natural disintegration. Meanwhile, the rock ball that had put on a great disy of its invincible prowess earlier had now returned to the tent. It was quietly floating at a height of tens of centimeters from the ground, maintaining an awkward standoff with Gawain. ¡°To be honest, I was really scared to death earlier.¡± The rock ball swayed in its spot as a metallic trill-like voice sounded from inside it. ¡°Those aberrations¡­ What¡ªwhat are they? Why did they suddenly all juste charging towards me¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure if there was anything about you that attracted them, but you smashed a dozen monsters to death alone. You still have the cheek to say you were frightened now?¡± Gawain gave this odd big ball a sidelong nce. ¡°And after all that effort, not only can you move by yourself, you can even speak¡­ Does this mean you¡¯ve been putting on a pretense all this time?¡± The rock ball wasn¡¯t the least bit ashamed (of course, there was indeed no way of perceiving any expression from its appearance). ¡°So it¡¯s wrong to have a strong self-protection mentality? I had no idea about your intentions. Of course, I¡¯ll be more low-key first. I still nned on observing for two more days. In the end, I suddenly heard an uproar outside today, and the number of soldiers keeping guard had been greatly reduced. Therefore, I wanted toe out secretly to check out the situation¡­ How could I have expected that the moment I moved, those monsters woulde running!¡± Gawain nodded; he had figured out the entire course of things. This rock ball had clearly repressed a certain ¡®spirit¡¯ of its own on purpose previously; thus, its sense of presence was faint. Even Pittman only discovered signs of life by ident. However, the monsters invaded today, and this rock ball thought that this was perhaps a chance, so it ran out recklessly. In the end, once it moved, its aura leaked. This bit of leak might not mean anything to humans, but to those aberrations who preyed on signs of life and magical power, it was as obvious as a beacon in the night. And in the eyes of those monsters, the life and magical power of this rock ball were evidently more ¡®delicious¡¯. Thus, the subsequent, unexpected situation urred. Fortunately, everything ultimately ended as a near miss. After figuring out all that, Gawain could not help but examine this crazy egg who almost sessfully sought its own doom. ¡°So are you still intending on escaping now? Let me tell you, only a small group of those monsters came wandering over. If you were to bring yourself to right under their noses, then no one would be able to save you.¡± Reba knew that her Ancestor was intimidating the person¡­ egg once she heard his words. However, the rock ball was unaware of the true situation, so it was naturally startled. ¡°Ah¡ª I¡¯m not escaping anymore. This ce is too dangerous. Besides, about that¡­ I¡¯m now starting to believe what you said earlier on.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Gawain lifted a brow. ¡°What do you believe?¡± ¡°You all and those people who trapped me in theboratory those days¡­ probably¡­ really aren¡¯t from the same gang.¡± Gawain found it interesting; he was just about to ask how it had formed its judgment when he spotted, from the corner of his eye, Amber leaping out from the shadows in a corner of the tent. Miss Half-elf had clearly heard the earlier conversation. The moment she sprung out, she questioned noisily, ¡°So, how did you figure it out this time?¡± The rock ball floated up and down for a moment. ¡°You people are much shabbier than that bunch of people then. Such a big camp doesn¡¯t even have a magic cannon. You definitely cannot be the same people¡­¡± The veins in Gawain¡¯s forehead throbbed, but he heard Reba beside him agree as she nodded as if in thought. ¡°Oh, oh, that makes sense too¡­¡± Amber moved to Gawain with a Shadow Walk and in a lowered voice, said, ¡°Honestly, if I were you, the day after I crawled out of my coffin, I would have kicked this embarrassing descendant out of the family n¡­¡± An ultimate disgrace actually dared to call another embarrassing? Gawain red at Amber, then turned to look at the rock ball floating in mid-air. ¡°So, you¡¯re finally willing to believe what I told you that day?¡± ¡°Hold on. I only believe that you aren¡¯t aplices with that gang of people in those days. I didn¡¯t say that I believe everything you said, especially about a thousand years having gone by and whatnot¡­ I¡¯ve got to properly verify that.¡± The rock ball swayed its body especially airily. Then it went on slightly reluctantly, ¡°Of course, I now basically believe that you people mean no harm. Mm, I remember you specially ran over to save me just now.¡± Although this attitude was still kind of asking for a beating, it was much better than before. Gawain understood that he could not force this fascinating ball ¡ª which had been rough-handled by people of the Gondor Kingdom and then subsequently rescued from theboratory ¡ª to easily trust others. Thus, he nodded, ¡°Alright, trust can be slowly built. We¡¯ll¡ª Eh, wait a minute. Turn to the side and let me have a look¡ª¡ª to the left, turn to the left.¡± Reba and Amber also moved closer, curious after hearing Gawain, while that rock ball turned to puzzlement. ¡°Why? There¡¯s something on me?¡± The rock ball turned a little to the side. Amber finally knew what Gawain had found. On the lower half of the ball, a small piece of the originally impervious, rock-like yet metallic outer shell had fallen out, and there were several long cracks that extended out from the fallen spot, already reaching the ball¡¯s ¡®waistline¡¯. ¡°Your shell seems to have cracked,¡± Reba said, batting her eyes and cautiously pointing at the cracked spot using her staff. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel pain?¡± ¡°Ah?¡± The rock ball seemed to have noticed the crack on its outer shell only then. Its tone sounded slightly flustered. ¡°Ah! I must have broken it when I fell from the sky several times earlier on!¡± ¡°Is it okay that your shell is cracked?¡± Gawain was suddenly a little worried. ¡°Do you want me to get a mason or cksmith toe repair it for you?¡± ¡°¡­Tsk, forget it. It¡¯s time for me to break out of my shell anyway. You people aren¡¯t the enemy either.¡± The rock ball seemed to ponder for a moment, and then it shook its body. ¡°Move further away, I¡¯m going to leave my shell.¡± Amber¡¯s eyes instantly widened. ¡°Wait a minute! You said you¡¯re leaving your shell?! Then hold on! I¡¯ve got to go get people!¡± Miss Half-elf noisily left these words, and without waiting for anyone present to react, she shed back into the shadows, leaving the rock ball, Gawain, and the others in puzzlement. The rock ball only spoke up after keeping quiet for a few seconds. ¡°Then do I stille out?¡± ¡°Wait a moment. She¡¯ll definitely be back soon.¡± Gawain could not grasp the thinking of that half-elf either. He could onlyment, ¡°She always has her own viewpoint.¡± However, a short whileter, Amber ran back in haste, and she was also tugging on Heidi and Pittman. The two had evidently been pulled here while in a confusion. ¡°Ancestor, what has happened here?¡± Heidi saw the rock ball floating in mid-air the moment she stepped in; then she looked to Gawain. ¡°Earlier, Amber hastily said something about how the dragon egg was about to hatch. I didn¡¯t quite catch it¡­¡± Whereas, Pittman had noticed the fallen and cracked traces on the bottom half of the rock once he entered. The little old man immediately cried out, ¡°Gosh! This dragon egg is about to hatch!¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it, isn¡¯t it!¡± Amber was so excited as if the one about to break out of the shell was herself. ¡°That¡¯s why I notified you two! By the way, do you two know how to take care of a small dragonman?¡± The two people who were forcibly brought here instantly faltered, while Gawain considered whether or not to throw Amber out right now. However, the rock ball seemed as if it no longer had the patience to wait for these weird people to casually act as they pleased. An unusual low hum came from inside it as if it was being charged. The surface of the sphere began to vibrate violently, and those impervious yet rough materials of its outer shell continuously cracked through the vibrations. On the spot at the bottom half where a piece had already fallen off, pieces of ¡®shell¡¯ started to fall off its surface in session. Everyone no longer spoke; they watched this perplexing sphere with looks of surprise and anticipation while awaiting the moment the life inside it broke out of the shell. Finally, apanied by a string of bursting rattles, fine cracks swiftly spread over the sphere; then, all of the outer shell blew open at once! The rock ball¡¯s outer shell came off. It was a smooth metal ball inside. The metal ball swayed. ¡°How is it? Am I shiny?¡± Pittman realized that the entire hatching process had ended only then. He stared at the metal ball that was in mid-air with his mouth agape. ¡°Eh, no¡­ That¡¯s it? Are you sure you have already left the eggshell?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re still an egg!¡± The old druid sounded as if he was about to go nuts. ¡°You¡¯re still an egg! What happened to being a dragon egg?¡± Reba dazedly looked at the round silver ball floating before her eyes. She only blurted out after a long while, ¡°So this is actually an egg egg¡­¡± Chapter 92 - Nicholas Egg Chapter 92: Nichs Egg Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios To be honest, this metal egg that hatched from the rock egg was indeed rather shiny. It looked slightly smaller than before, but still had a diameter of about 1.3 meters. The surface was a pure silver color, extremely smooth like a mirror; the wless surface even gave a sense that it had been precisely polished in a machine. It floated in the air less than half a meter from the ground just like that while ranting with a metallic trill-like voiceing from inside it. ¡°I will not ept this name! Is Egg Egg a name?! Open your eyes and look clearly. Which part of me looks like an egg ¡ª and when did I im to be an egg?!¡± ¡°We¡¯d always thought you were a dragon egg¡­¡± Reba circled the metal ball here and there like a curious cat. She would even boldly poke it with her staff from time to time (the amazing thing was the ball had no reaction to this). ¡°Who would¡¯ve known you¡¯d still be an egg after hatching out of the egg¡­ Isn¡¯t an egg¡¯s egg called Egg Egg?¡± The metal ball vibrated with a buzz; its voice sounded exasperated. ¡°You¡¯re the one who hatched to be an egg! Your whole family is called Egg Egg! I¡¯ve always been like this. Our whole tribe looks like this after we grow up!¡± Gawain put in all his energy to suppress the twitching on his face. He forcibly used the countless years of cultivation of a satellite spirit to repress the inclination of his values copsing. It was difficult as he maintained his rationality andposure and attempted tomunicate with this metal egg before him. ¡°You mentioned your whole tribe? Are there many other¡­ living beings like you? What¡­ exactly are you? Why have I never seen odd lifeforms like you?¡± Regardless of what this egg was, it was quite unlikely to be a dragon. Old Gawain could confirm that he had never heard of such strange lifeforms in this world ¡ª assuming it was really a life form. The shape of this metal round ball was entirely different from all the lifeforms in this world. If it really had been something from natural evolution on thisnd, then it and its tribe could not have been concealed from Gawain¡¯s pair of eyes that had hung in the sky for uncountable years. Unless it had appeared in those periods of time where Gawain had ¡®cked out¡¯. The round ball heard Gawain¡¯s question but wasn¡¯t too cooperative. ¡°This involves my secret. I am still unsure whether I can trust you bunch of barbarians. Besides, we have to first get the name clear no matter what. I won¡¯t be called Egg Egg even if it kills me¡­¡± ¡°Do you have your own name?¡± Heidi curiously chimed in from the side. This question finally hit the nail on the head. ¡°Name¡­ huh, right. I should have a name.¡± The metal egg came to a standstill in midair as it worked hard to recall. ¡°Damn it¡­ I¡¯ve forgotten.¡± Everyone: ¡°¡­¡± Gawain eximed, ¡°You don¡¯t even remember your own name yourself. What¡¯s wrong with others giving you one?!¡± The metal ball¡¯s tone suddenly became especially deserving of a beating. ¡°Then, in any case, I don¡¯t want to be called Egg Egg.¡± The veins in Gawain¡¯s forehead could not help but bulge out again. ¡°Do I have to call you Saint Nichs Egg for you to be fine with it?¡± The metal ball faltered instantly; then it actually began to sway happily from side to side. ¡°Oh? This name is not bad¡­¡± Gawain felt that interacting with this ball was essentially wearing out his longevity at a speed three times faster. Moreover, he¡¯d recalled there was still a pile of troublesome matters outside that required him to handle. Hence, he shook his head. ¡°Alright, to sum up, stay here obediently for one more day. We¡¯ve just undergone an assault by monsters. There¡¯s a big heap of troublesome follow-up matters that I have to attend to. I do not wish for you to create even more messes for me in this period of time.¡± The metal eggnded leisurely, lying back into the pit where it had sat. ¡°Sure, sure, sure, go ahead with your stuff. I can¡¯t be bothered to run everywhere. Today¡¯s hassle almost had me dead from exhaustion¡­¡± Gawain nced at this silver ¡®giant egg¡¯ with slight suspicion. He highly suspected whether this fellow could really sit still and not create trouble. But considering the fact that it had just experienced a hair-raising and utterly unsessful ¡®escape¡¯. He reckoned that it wouldn¡¯t attempt it a second time anytime soon, so he would trust it for now. There was no way out even if it didn¡¯t trust him. There were still lots to be handled in the camp, and he could not waste all his time arguing with a ball. The group left the tent. Before leaving, Heidi could not help but look back at the portieres that had been re-tied up. ¡°Are we just going to leave the ball like that?¡± Although it sounded like she was worried the ball would cause trouble, what was twinkling in her eyes was the glow of sheer curiosity and outburst of exploration. As a mage, a researcher, Heidi had a boundless interest towards ¡®the unknown¡¯, and a metal round ball that could float and speak was more ¡®unknown¡¯ than any of the ¡®unknowns¡¯ she had encountered in her life. Honestly, if it wasn¡¯t because she shouldered responsibilities and that the ball would most likely be unwilling to cooperate, she would really want to transport that big ball to her ownboratory then and there. She could study it for a good half a month in one go. Let¡¯s not mention slicing it up; at the least, she had to drill a hole and see what its filling inside was¡­ At present, Gawain also knew Heidi quite well. Just by her expression, he knew what this granddaughter of his was thinking, but he didn¡¯t reveal it anyway. He only shook his head. ¡°It is no longer a rock ball that remains unmoving in the same spot. It is able to move, able to think, and its motility appears to be pretty good. It also has the talent to control metals and magical power. Nothing good mighte out of forcefully controlling it. ¡ª We might not even be able to control it. So, we¡¯d better have it take the initiative to cooperate.¡± With that, he nced at the soldiers standing guard not too far out. These soldiers were still keeping guard at the barrier line set at more than ten meters from the tent, ording to previous orders. Although they could not confirm whether this distance was outside of the metal control range of that Nichs Egg, it gave the soldiers a bit more peace of mind. ¡°Of course, we still have to strengthen the security,¡± Gawain said. ¡°Change the militiamen to n soldiers, but keep supervisory control from a distance as the principal thing. Tell those soldiers in advance that the sphere in the tent is a magical equipment that stores an ancient soul. Tell them not to have too much contact and interaction with the sphere. If the ball really does run free, have them report it immediately. Don¡¯t get into a conflict with it. Though that ball is rather cowardly, when it bounces up and smashes people, even the aberrations were killed instantly with one strike. Ordinary soldiers won¡¯t be able to stop it at all.¡± ¡°What exactly do you think the ball is?¡± Heidi asked with a frown. ¡°Could it¡­ really be a magic creation of the ancient Gondor Empire?¡± After the ¡®dragon egg hypothesis¡¯ was eliminated, Heidi couldn¡¯t help but think in this direction. In this world, the Gondor heritage shared many simrities with the legend of the gigantic dragons. For example, both were very suited to be used as an exnation for the inexplicable. Their role was very simr to ¡®metaphysics¡¯ on Earth¡­ ¡°The Gondor Empire isn¡¯t omnipotent either.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°Even if it¡¯s the arcanist and puppet mages from the Meteoric Era, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to create a magical creation of such a level, something that possessed intelligence.¡± Yet he had another half of his sentence that he hadn¡¯t vocalized: Don¡¯t mention the magic artificial intelligence experts of the Gondor Empire; even before the Gondor Empire, every kingdom, every civilization, every race that had lived on this continent had never seen intelligent creations of such level. Gawain still didn¡¯t dare topletely eliminate the possibility that the ball was a ¡®man-made object¡¯, but at the least, he could certainly confirm that the ball wasn¡¯t a creation of any race on this continent. In actuality, he was leaning more towards the belief that the ball really came from some strange intelligent race outside of human knowledge. The only unknown was how it had arrived at this continent¡­ Upon hearing Gawain¡¯s reply, Heidi¡¯s head bowed slightly as she sank into deep thought. Meanwhile, the druid Pittman beside them remained silent. In fact, he had already stopped talking all of a sudden earlier in the tent. Till now, he still looked extremely troubled and dejected. This had Gawain sparing him a few more nces. ¡°You¡¯ve got questions too?¡± ¡°Why is that egg still an egg after hatching¡­?¡± The old druid¡¯s eyebrows were about to be tangled together. ¡°Why is it not a dragon egg?¡± Even Amber couldn¡¯t watch on. ¡°Why are you still so attached to the ¡®dragon egg¡¯!¡± The little old man scratched his own neck. ¡°It¡¯s a dragon egg! When hatched, it¡¯d be a dragon! Even just a random scale or some blood¡ª Do you know how much money they could be exchanged for? Even if they can¡¯t be sold for money, if I directly carry a baby dragon to the Sacred Dragon Kingdom, I can at the very least exchange for an Earl position on the spot!¡± ¡°For just that thought of yours, you should, at the least, be hung more than forty times when you¡¯re thrown to Sacred Dragon Kingdom.¡± Gawain red at the little old man. ¡°If you have the time and effort to indulge in foolish ideas, tell me how the wounded are doing.¡± The little old man twiddled his own beard with force and then finally let go of that topic with a sigh. ¡°Alright, it¡¯s not a dragon egg if it says so. You don¡¯t have to worry about the wounded. I have already sent the best potions that I could produce. Those with more severe injuries have also had them tended to with magic. I can confirm there won¡¯t be any more cases of death from severe injuries. To be honest, this is a miracle. I initially thought that even if those bold ns of yours were sessful, we would still have a considerable number of dead soldiers. Unexpectedly ¡ª essentially ¡ª all are wounded. There actually wasn¡¯t one death at all.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve underestimated the equipment of the Gondor Empire.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°For soldiers in that era, it was very difficult to die.¡± The little old man nced at Gawain and thenmented tly, ¡°Then you¡¯d better have some sense of crisis. I overheard your two knights chatting. Most of the armors and battle crystals have been damaged, and it seems like there¡¯s still no way to repair and recharge those items. Though they¡¯ve preserved the soldiers¡¯ lives, the equipment themselves could not be preserved. Given this rate of consumption, you¡¯d be wearing even a mountain away in no time.¡± ¡°No need to worry. We already have even better weapons.¡± Gawain looked in the direction of camp with a smile. ¡°More importantly, we have even better ideas.¡± Amber was the one who spoke this time, ¡°Are you referring to those explosive crystals that you used to blow up the cliff and create traps?¡± Gawain nodded lightly. ¡°Alright, the might of those crystals are indeed rather substantial, but it¡¯s not quite realistic if you want to solve all your problems with just them.¡± Amber shook her head. ¡°The restrictions on their usage are too big, and theyck a safe way to detonate. Let me tell you, when Heidi detonated them at that point in time, I was almost scared out of my wits. I was already hiding in the Shadow Realm but still somersaulted several times from the force of the st. This I¡¯ve got toin about. That bimbo granddaughter of yours only created a shield for her-self¡­ Heidi who was following behind Gawain instantly glowered at Amber. Yet Gawain did not notice the small sparks between the half-elf and his great-great-great-great¡­ great granddaughter. He only smiled as he looked out into the distance. On the horizon, the massive sun was slowly setting. The rosy clouds at the skyline and the rays dispersed from around the sun added radiance and beauty to each other; the sight was exceptionally resplendent. Anything would be wed when it first emerged. Since the crisis of aberrations had subsided for now, they should focus their energy on resolving these ws. Chapter 93 - After the Victory Chapter 93: After the Victory The crisis had been averted, but there was more work to be done. The injured required recuperation; someone had to handle the reparations; the frightened residents of the territory had to be pacified; the production work at the camp had to be put back on track again. The first thing Gawain did was to gather all those blood-red skeletons that had umted outside the camp, the mountain pass, and the mountain path. He had used up nearly a third of the manpower to transport those remains back to the camp before they disintegrated. They then stacked the remains at the southern bank of the White River, stacking up a fearsome mountain of skeletons near the sawmill. The bodies of those monsters were massive and sinister. Even after they died and after their remains were ¡®disintegrating¡¯ for one day and one night, the remaining portions still had a terrifying appearance and volume. They were simply stacked up without any order, and there was a constant spiral of smoke and mist that were a mix of ck and red. It was just like a formless me that was burning. Inside the pile of skeletons, there were fewer than ten percent of the skeletons that wereplete. Theplete skeletons were mostly left behind from the battle with the defense team. Those monsters that were buried by the cliffs and sted to death by the ndmines¡¯ all had iplete corpses. Gawain picked out those skeletons that had aplete frame and supported them using wooden stands. He then ced them in order at the southern bank of the White River. From far away, it looked like the northern side of the camp had a new and dreadful perimeter wall. In front of the pile of bones within the wall, Gawain raised a tall wooden tform. Every individual in the camp could see the construction process of the pile of bones and the wooden tform. Most of themoners and serfs got a shock when they saw those horrifying blood-red skeletons. The fear they experienced when their homnd was destroyed back then had arisen involuntarily again, but the thunderous explosions during the defensive battle a day ago had dispelled a portion of their fear. Even those illiterate serfs understood something¡­ Since they were alive in this ce and those monsters were stacked up at the riverbank, it meant that their leader¡¯s army had obtainedplete victory, and it meant that those monsters weren¡¯t as terrifying. The soldiers rushed around the camp and announced the leader¡¯s order to gather: Duke Gawain Cecil had ordered everyone on thisnd to head toward the riverbank¡¯s tall tform to listen for new orders. The camp that had less than a thousand individuals was easy to move around. Soon enough, everyone had gathered at the za located beside the sawmill. Gawain stood at the wooden tform that was constructed at thest moment. He stood in front of the gathered residents while there was a pile of blood-red bones that were constantly disintegrating and fuming with elemental smog. Heidi released the sound amplification spell, allowing the voice on the tall tform to echo throughout the za¡­ ¡°Residents of the Cecil n! Today, I have three things to announce.¡± Gawain stabbed the Sword of Pioneers on the ground and took a nce at the residents below before he suddenly raised his sword and pointed it at the rows of skeletons that were arranged along the riverbank. ¡°First of all, I want to announce a celebration. For these monsters that once destroyed the Cecil territory, that once massacred your brothers, sisters, and friends, that threatened all of our lives not long ago, these monsters have been defeated! They met us head-on and suffered a crushing defeat! These monsters numbered nearly a thousand, a number that is nearly ten times the camp¡¯s defensive force. But they were ultimately unable to take half a step into our camp¡­ You should know how powerful and frightful these monsters are, but you should also know that these monsters are not undefeatable!¡± These words had made the residents below to raise a little uproar; it had made them realize that these were truly simple and honest words. Originally, the residents had guessed that their lord was going to announce the celebration for this unbelievable victory. Gawain¡¯s current words had simply knocked down the facts and started to brew a passionate and exciting atmosphere. Gawain¡¯s next words were about to turn this atmosphere into cheers. ¡°In order to celebrate, after we finish today¡¯s work, everyone in the camp will get to eat meat soup and white bread! And also the ale transported here from Tanzan Town!¡± Soon enough, there were cheers echoing in parts of the crowd¡­ The cheers became a starter that ultimately made everyone cheer along. Gawain waved his hand while the crowd started to turn quiet. Immediately after, Gawain continued, ¡°Secondly, I want to thank and express my gratitude to everyone for their contributions to the defense of the camp¡­ It includes my soldiers and all of you too.¡± Gawain had purposely paused, and as expected, the crowd below started to stir up. Because this was the first time they had heard such a strange speech. A noble was expressing gratitude to themoners and even the serfs¡­ Furthermore, it was such an official and solemn asion. This was definitely not a joke! Some of the people started to look at each other in dismay because they felt bewildered. Some of the serfs standing at the corners started to nce around because they didn¡¯t feel that this matter was rted to them. But they saw a few of the individuals being ¡®escorted¡¯ by the soldiers, and they walked to the tform and stood behind Gawain. ¡°This piece ofnd isn¡¯t just my territory. It is also your home. The people that defended this piece ofnd aren¡¯t just the lord and the lord¡¯s army. All this is also because of your contributions,¡± Gawain spoke seriously and was saying things that would be considered unorthodox and bizarre in this era. ¡°Each and every one of you has put in effort for the defense battle¡­ You smelted those ¡®furnace gs¡¯. You filtered out the crystals. You produced the wooden boxes. You carved the runes. You harvested the herbs. You washed and starched the soldiers¡¯ clothes. You cut holes on the Dark Range¡¯s cliff. You dug traps in the mountain path. All those things are the things that protected your homnd and your lives!¡± The crowd raised an even bigger uproar. At least half of the people didn¡¯t understand the logic and significance of Gawain¡¯s words, while the other half didn¡¯t believe what they were hearing. Mixed in the crowd was Amber, who was responsible for yelling out ¡®awesome¡¯ every so often, but she had also forgotten what she was supposed to be doing. She looked at Gawain and muttered, ¡°Is this fellow sick in the brain¡­ Isn¡¯t he admitting that themoners and nobles have the same value and purpose¡­¡± After Gawain spoke, he didn¡¯t bother about the reaction from below and gestured to those behind him toe up to the tform. Apart from this territory¡¯s soldiers, the others were themonerborers that had thick limbs and were wearing coarse and tattered clothes. These people had nervous expressions while they walked to the front of the tform and looked at a loss. They already knew what their lord was going to do, but they didn¡¯t know how they should react. They were like rusty puppets that were moving stiffly as they were afraid they might miss out on an instruction. Stonemason Gordon identally took half a step more than others and ended up in a position that was almost the same as Gawain. In the beginning, Gordon didn¡¯t notice this point as he only saw the densely packed crowd below. This was the first time he stood in front of so many people, and it was on a tform. This had made the old stonemason who had a body of firm muscles tremble. Subsequently, he noticed that he had ¡®exceeded¡¯ his position, and that caused his face to change greatly. But Gawain merelyughed and said to the others in a soft voice, ¡°Stand along with the stonemason. This position is meant for all of you.¡± At this moment, the people below had already recognized the one standing above¡­ This camp had a mere eight hundred individuals, and most of them were survivors of the disaster at the Cecil territory. Most of them were already very familiar with one another, and they were even able to call out the names of the serfs. ¡°That¡¯s the stonemason ¡ª old man Gordon!¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that Hunter by his side? The one who hunts?¡± ¡°Who is that skinny and small person?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t he a serf of the territory? Holme was it? He¡¯s the one smelting ¡®gs¡¯ at the furnace¡­¡± ¡°I recognize the soldier. It¡¯s Krim. I heard that he killed two of those monsters yesterday¡­ None of his brothers and sisters were able to escape from the territory unfortunately¡­¡± Right at this moment, Gawain¡¯s voice echoed and interrupted the soft discussions from below. ¡°These people are the ones that made the greatest contribution during the defense of the camp. They are the most outstanding individuals at their jobs, and they are the most hardworking craftsman and the bravest residents. Towards them, I will honor my promise in advance.¡± ¡°Holme, Terry, and Wacker, all of you are originally serfs and ve workers. Right now, you¡¯re free citizens! From now on, you can possess your own property and use your hands to strive for your ownnd and house. But remember, the freedom to work and live is also the freedom to starve and degrade. From today onwards, your lives are in your own hands. Do not let down this freedom you¡¯ve received.¡± ¡°Stonemason Gordon, Huntsman Hunter, Soldier Krim, all of you are already free citizens. Hence, you shall obtain a piece of newly plowednd and will also be the first batch of people to receive your residences after the construction of the houses. In addition, Krim, due to your outstanding bravery, Sir Byron has the intention to give you guidance. If you¡¯re willing, you can start as a knight¡¯s retainer.¡± The names of the people that were mentioned had puffed out their chests. Gawain then took the copper crests prepared in advance from Heidi and pinned them onto their clothes. The crest was truly simple and crude; it was actually a ttened piece of copper that was carved with the insignia of the Cecil n. On the back of the crest, it had the words ¡°New Cecil n¡¯s First Defensive Battle Commemoration¡±. Heidi, Reba, and the others didn¡¯t understand the significance of making these things¡­ because these ¡®copper pieces¡¯ weren¡¯t currency, and Gawain had also stated clearly that they must not be used for transactions. In other words, these were worthless things unless they were smelted and sold as copper. But Gawain insisted on making these things. After pinning these things on their clothes, Gawain whispered to them, ¡°This is the symbol of glory.¡± The symbols were indeed simple and crude. Due to the sudden request, he didn¡¯t have time to create the various ¡®bravebat awards¡¯, ¡®production excellence awards¡¯, or ¡®outstanding contribution awards¡¯ (though the people of the territory might not be able to understand them). But no matter what, such a merit system had to be established. This wasn¡¯t just an encouragement; it was also a symbol for others. The people below the stage might not be able to see those crests clearly, but they could obviously feel the honor of standing on the tform, causing them to look forward to standing on the tform as they looked on with envy. Immediately after, Gawain announced the third thing, ¡°Thirdly, it is regarding the territory¡¯s army.¡± Chapter 94 - Regarding the Army

Chapter 94: Regarding the Army

For now, this ¡®army¡¯ in this world could only be evaluated by Gawain as ¡ª oundish. At least within the borders of the Anzu Kingdom. Civilization had severely regressed; production capabilities were low; the aristocrats were divided; the higher-up military professions were only willing to work together with an unconditional regime due to various factors, causing the abnormality in the Anzu Kingdom¡¯s military system. Nominally, the kingdom was a united entity, but in fact, every noble n was upying their own independent kingdom. The so-called king was merely the most prominent feudal lord among the rest; furthermore, he might not even be the one with the most authority. This kingdom didn¡¯t have all their military personnel together; there were only soldiers of various noble ns and also the royal knights of St. Soniel City. As well, the various noble ns didn¡¯t have top-down sovereignty. They were simr to ancient Europe on Earth where they had a severe case of my vassals¡¯ vassals aren¡¯t my vassals. Even the purported king¡¯s vassals, the noble southern ns, were merely adhering to the royal n in the form of alliances. They were merely providing information about the ces that the kingdom was responsible for, sent troops during war, and had a few other obligations. However, they wouldn¡¯t listen to other requests from the king. The soldiers under them were naturally serving them only. Even the small number of soldiers under a viscount was also serving the viscount only. Then, what if a major noble n was going to conduct a war? How was he going to assemble an army? Simple. If the noble had enough prestige, had a good reason for the war, and was able to guarantee enough benefits after the war, then the various feudal lords under the noble¡¯s authority would have the obligation to lead their private troops to assist in the battle. These private troops would form their own groups and would be led by the feudal lords or the powerful military professionals sent by the feudal lords. It was normally thetter, as the nobles in this era¡¯s Anzu Kingdom had already degraded so much that they didn¡¯t know how to ride into war; hence, they could only use money to hire experts to oversee the n. During war, the formation would be filled with various gs and formed a ¡®mixed army¡¯ that would march in a grand manner. After weighing the strength of the enemy and their benefits, they would choose to either fight with little effort ory down and pretend to be dead. After the war was finished, the leaders of the groups would look for the chiefmander or the king to settle the distribution of the spoils of war. The result of such a military system was obvious: the kingdom overall didn¡¯t have a professional army, and there wasn¡¯t a unified military system or regtion for training soldiers. Each noble n would use their own individual methods to assemble their own private army. The weapons were different; the military systems were different; the logistics were different; even the army trained by the noble n¡¯s feudal lord and his son would be different¡­ if the father and son¡¯s rtionship wasn¡¯t good. Apart from the myriad of soldiers, such a disordered military system resulted in a series of severe consequences: it would be extremely slow for the army¡¯sbat strength to take form; there would be a low training efficiency; there were no standards in selecting soldiers; the number of army deserters would be terrifyingly high. Furthermore, once the expert leading the army perished, the entire group of soldiers would be done for¡­ because they didn¡¯t have discipline or the knowledge on how to proceed. They merely learned how to follow the leading knight and charge. The Cecil n was slightly superior in this aspect aspared to other noble ns. As the ¡®southern guardian n¡¯ that resisted the monsters¡¯ invasion at the borders ¡ª even if the Cecil n had regressed ¡ª they still retained the institution that had been passed down for generations: the fairly rational militia system. Apart from the official soldiers (who were also the n¡¯s warriors), the Cecil n¡¯s soldiers had another source, and they were the trained militias. The n¡¯s knights would train these free citizens who were enlisted and instructed using the standard method of training official soldiers. When they were free, they would be training. When they were busy, they would be farming. They would then serve as a supplement for the official soldiers when the numbers weren¡¯t enough. At the same time, by using such a method, the n could prepare arge number of reserve troops. Because there were a lot of individuals who had received basic military training, during emergencies, the Cecil n had a much easier time supplementing the official soldiers aspared to other noble ns. The criteria of militia enlistment and also for militiamen to be able to be soldiers had been erged by Reba from free citizens to serfs. This resulted in an advancement of the system. But Gawain decided to advance it further. When considering his future ns, he required a professional and specialized army with a stable source of troops. Hence, he was nning to dismiss the separated system between militias and n warriors. He was going to convert all the soldiers into a unified ¡®Combat Corps¡¯. He requested all of the soldiers to follow the new and unified method for training and would issue a sry to them. Before this, the noble ns¡¯ private soldiers didn¡¯t have any sry. Normally, the private soldiers would have to prepare their own weapons or have to purchase the weapons from the feudal lords. Before they went on a campaign, they had to prepare their own rations too. The soldiers were still willing to fight wars for the noble ns in such situations because they were allowed to ¡®plunder personally¡¯. The soldiers could plunder on the battlefield and also after the cities were seized. They would be able to keep half the spoils, and it would serve as their reward as soldiers. The situation of the Cecil n and the others were different. Generations of the Cecil n¡¯s feudal lords would use a rental method to supply the soldiers with weapons and equipment. They would also issue rations aspensation for any dy in farm work due to training or war. But apart from all these, the soldiers didn¡¯t have sries either, and the rations were only enough for them to barely get by. As it should be, Gawain decided to issue sries to professional soldiers and also announced that the Cecil n¡¯s military personnel would be forbidden from any personal plunder. If the soldiers wanted to be promoted or have additional rewards, it was simple. Gawain had also promised to implement a detailed reference for outstanding military service and various contributions to conduct promotions. Inparison to how they plundered chaotically and like savages in the past, there would be more wealth that could be obtained in exchange for killing enemies dauntlessly and for carrying out orders well. This matter wasn¡¯t a problem because the Cecil n had always been battling monsters; they had only fought the foreign barbarian tribes in the earlier days. Their soldiers didn¡¯t have any habit of plunder at all, and they had been maintaining their loyalty to the Cecil n all the time because of those supplementary rations and the various benevolent policies for those families that participated in the military. This time, Gawain was merely turning the ¡®prohibition on personal plunder¡¯ into an actualw. No one had any objection, and they even weed the idea. After all, Gawain had promised that even when serfs participated in the military, they could also rely on outstanding military service to get promotions. In the past, only the n¡¯s warriors had such a privilege. But the next matter might make some have differing opinions. In order to maintain and extend the original militia system, Gawain set thew that all adult males on the territory had the obligations to receive basic military training during the idle farming periods. It had changed from an enlistment into apulsory one, and it applied to all male citizens. This didn¡¯t mean that everyone would have to fight in the war. It was to guarantee that all the citizens had basic military skills, and it would allow them to be converted into professional soldiers more easily. If this matter was proposed at some other time, it would probably cause a lot of resentment. But right now, the assault of the monsters had just happened less than a day ago. Gawain Cecil¡¯s prestige was now unprecedentedly high. After personally protecting the camp and giving them inspiration, this new regtion was announced without any trouble. Moreover, everyone was lighthearted. Since they were already ¡®working¡¯ during their forcedbor under the feudal lord, they would also be ¡®working¡¯ when they participated in the military training. If thought like that, there weren¡¯t a whole of changes actually. It was fine as long as they could eat until they were full. Furthermore, if they had the chance to be selected as official soldiers, after putting on armor and wielding a sword, they would be considered ¡®half a respectable person¡¯. This was a rare opportunity for most of the people that had been living in poverty. The prerequisite for this opportunity was to use their idle farming period to train. It was totally worth it. The changes to the military system weren¡¯t going to bepleted in just a single day. The details involved were far beyond what a few words could exin. After considering the audience¡¯s ability to ept and the variousplexities, Gawain didn¡¯t exin all of his thoughts on the tform. He merely spoke roughly about the formation of the ¡®Combat Corps¡¯ and the basic military training before he left the tall tform. As for the details¡­ he would need to discuss them with Heidi and the two knights. Everything he had announced today was just a foundation. To be frank, with the current state of the territory, everything he had said was perhaps a little ahead of time¡­ In order to develop thisnd, they would have, at most, over eight hundred individuals. Among these people, there were a hundred that had been pulled out for military training as soldiers. These one hundred individuals could be considered the Cecil n¡¯s entire ¡®army¡¯. The scale and the concept in Gawain¡¯s imagination of the future were simply poles apart. But these one hundred individuals should not be underestimated. The ratio of militia had already reached a deranged extent¡­ The poption had been converted into professional soldiers at an 8:1 ratio. Just looking at the ratio, it was the same as writing the word militaristic on the face. In Gawain¡¯s imagination, when this world was at peace, the militia ratio of the kingdom would be within the range of 40:1 to 70:1, or even lower. Even during war, the ratio wouldn¡¯t exceed one tenth¡­ unless it was a great battle for survival or back when the northern barbarian tribes attacked with their entire poption in arms. But on Gawain¡¯s territory, one-eighth of the poption were soldiers! If these were all full-time soldiers, then it meant that nearly all of the camp¡¯s supplies would have to be supplied to thebat personnel at a ratio of 8:1 for the entire camp. It meant that development would stagnate and that the stability of the society would decline. As such, not all of the soldiers of this territory were full-time soldiers. Apart from their normal training and guard duties, soldiers would participate in the construction and development work of the camp. It was to ensure there was sufficientbor. This had made them close to a construction army. Gawain was d that none of the soldiers had anyints about this. One of the reasons was because almost half of the soldiers were militiamen, and they weren¡¯t full-time soldiers in the first ce. The rest of the soldiers were veterans who were extremely loyal. Furthermore, the Cecil n had always been strict in military management and had ensured that the warriors of the n didn¡¯t bezy soldiers who were all take and no give, resulting in the current advantageous situation. Even if this was the case, the soldier ratio of 8:1 wasn¡¯t a long term n. Gawain¡¯s next n was to think of a method to attract more people here, and it was the camp¡¯s greatest shoring. If the poption couldn¡¯t keep up, everything else would be a fantasy. If Gawain wanted to produce a professional and specialized modern army from just an eight-hundred poption with one hundred soldiers, even he wouldn¡¯t believe in such a fantastic dream even if he had opened the coffin¡¯s cover back then and got smashed on the head. But he had to set down the framework in advance even if it was just a framework¡­ Because once there was a huge import of poption, it would be toote to change a lot of things. By then, if they didn¡¯t have a firm and mature framework to support, all the hard work that Gawain did would be diluted by the neers, which might consist of crooks among honest folk. After dismissing the gathering, Gawain immediately called for the two knights and the rest of the supervisors. Furthermore, he had also called for the farmer Norris, who had been adapting to the position of ¡®Agricultural Manager¡¯ over the past 10 days, and also the cksmith Hummel, who had already started to be in charge of the steelworks¡¯ matters. Chapter 95 - Veronica Chapter 95: Veronica All the management personnel of the camp were gathered, and they discussed their future path in Gawain¡¯s tent. Amber was rather restless as she sat in the seat beside Reba. She would turn here and there to survey the surroundings from time to time as if searching for a chance to sneak out at any time. After noticing that Gawain had absolutely no intention of letting her go, she could not help but grumble, ¡°Say, just hold a meeting if you want to, why must you have me here¡­ It¡¯s not like I understand those things you¡¯re saying.¡± ¡°Keeping you within sight is mainly to prevent you from going out and being a nuisance to others,¡± Gawain responded casually; he ignored Amber¡¯s expression of baring and gnashing her teeth in the next second. He went directly to the subject. ¡°I gathered everyone because I wanted to first exin one thing ¡ª the crisis has yet to pass.¡± Reba¡¯s eyes instantly widened as she stared nkly at Gawain. ¡°Ah? Haven¡¯t we already repelled those monsters?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the key.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°We only repelled them once, but would they note anymore?¡± Everyone present gazed at one another, whereas the farmer Norris, who was at such an asion for the first time, instinctively shrunk his neck. He wasn¡¯t startled by what Gawain said; in fact, he hadn¡¯t even paid attention to Gawain¡¯s words. This down-to-earth farmer only felt especially awkward to be here, given his status. Every single person around him was someone he had to look up to in the former days, but they were now all seated with him. This made him exceptionally nervous. On the other hand, Hummel, who was seated beside him, was doing pretty well. Although this cksmith was also of humble birth, as he was responsible for smelting steel for lords year in and year out, he had lots of experience interacting with aristocrats. At present, he appeared to be perfectly calm and collected. Heidi noticed Norris¡¯s nervousness, but she did not say anything. Instead, she carried on with Gawain¡¯s subject. ¡°Ancestor, haven¡¯t you already verified the integrity of the Great Barrier? Its self-repairing capability¡­¡± ¡°It has indeed repaired itself, but I¡¯m not sure if it will bepromised again,¡± Gawain said. ¡°Everyone, we have to be clear on one thing ¡ª although we have just resolved a crisis, it is far from an absolute,plete victory. The Great Barrier isn¡¯t a creation of the gods. Even if it was a miracle, it was a miracle from seven hundred years ago. The monsters that wandered out from the Gondor Wastnd are enough to illustrate that this barrier isn¡¯t almighty. Now, this barrier is aging, so we have to be prepared for the possibility of it malfunctioning again.¡± Amber held her chin and muttered, ¡°Then we should simply just run¡­¡± ¡°Where to?¡± Gawain nced at the half-elf. ¡°Once the Great Barrier copses, the pollution will spread throughout the entire continent. Besides, do you think everyone is like you? Able to dart away several hundreds of kilometers at the first sign of trouble, and able to survive in some casual nook or cranny?¡± Following that, he waved his hand. ¡°I¡¯m reminding all of you only because I don¡¯t wish for you to let down your guard too much. I do not mean to say that the Great Barrier that has stood for seven centuries is about to copse anytime. I¡¯ve confirmed it thest time. Overall, it is still operating normally. The hole was probably just a ¡®small problem¡¯. ording to the blueprint from those days and the general endurance of the elves¡¯ creations, it is unlikely topletely copse in the next few decades, so no need to be too nervous.¡± The crowd present only heaved sighs of relief then, while Sir Philip went on solemnly, ¡°Even if that¡¯s the case, our victory has had a great deal of luck. If the enemy¡¯s numbers had been slightly higher, if the effect of those traps had been slightly lesser, if those monsters had been slightly luckier when they set off the traps, the oue of the battle would have been the total opposite. The constitution of aberrations is far beyond that of humans. Moreover, when their numbers are enough, just the auras they emit would be enough to kill all living beings within an extensive range. When their numbers increase by one, the pressures that the soldiers have to face is more than double. Our victory¡­ isn¡¯t thatforting.¡± This honest young knight had undisguisedly vocalized his inner thoughts, and it also happened to be what Gawain wanted to say. ¡°That¡¯s right. We cannot be hoodwinked by this victory. Our camp remains very vulnerable in all aspects. Now, we¡¯ve merely settled down here. We¡¯re still far from gaining a firm foothold. That is why I called all of you together, to speak about my subsequent ns.¡± Heidi spoke up curiously, ¡°Subsequent ns?¡± ¡°Build walls, store up grains, increase poption, increase production of steel,¡± Gawain said while tapping lightly on the surface of the desk. He then looked towards Reba, ¡°How is the progress with baking ¡®cement¡¯?¡± ¡°Um¡­ I¡¯ve yet to seed,¡± Reba said with slight dejection. ¡°Actually there has been some progress. A type of porous rock extracted near the iron minebined with y has produced something very simr. But many tests are still required to determine the optimal ratio, temperature, and baking duration. At this point in time, since the furnaces¡¯ have been putting almost all effort into producing crystals, the progress of ¡®cement¡¯ is very slow.¡± In other words, she had already seen the light? Gawain was rather pleased at heart. He looked at Reba who was a littlecking in confidence. ¡°Not bad, having found the direction is the greatest progress. Your most important task now is to make the best use of time ande up with a truly usable cement form, the faster, the better. In addition, the production of ¡®Reba Crystals¡¯ cannot stop. Retain at least a third of the furnaces to be baking crystals at all times, and set aside a group of people to specially handle the washing and selection. The newly built warehouse at the southwest of camp is yours. Use it to store those crystals.¡± With that, he turned to Norris. ¡°How about thend cultivation?¡± The old farmer stood up instinctively but sat down slightly embarrassedly again. He was only done organizing what he wanted to say a few secondster. ¡°One hectometer of cultivatednd has been opened at the eastern and western sides of camp respectively and nted with sweet-wood roots and fire-leaves. The magic of Lord Druid and the potions that he created were both especially effective. The speed at which the crops are growing is scarily fast. We might be able to harvest even before Frost Month arrives, and we would have a surplus after feeding everyone¡ª¡± Gawain cut Norris off. ¡°You are the Agricultural Manager. You do not have to address people of the same rank as Lord. In fact, you do not have to address me that way either. Call me by my official title or aristocratic rank.¡± Norris peeked a look at Gawain rather nervously and repeatedly agreed. ¡°Yes, yes, Duke¡­¡± Whereas Pittman who was beside him wore a glum face. ¡°It¡¯s so rare to have someone address me that way. Can¡¯t you let me enjoy it for a few more days¡­¡± ¡°Duke,¡± Norris continued at this point, ¡°there is one other issue that I hope you may permit.¡± ¡°Speak your mind.¡± ¡°Thend on the northern banks of the White River, I hope they can be cultivated too,¡± Norris said. ¡°I brought people to examine thend. The quality of the soil is great, and there are few pebbles as well. However, because there is a need to cross the river, it wasn¡¯t included in the cultivation n from the very start, but I believe it would be good to make use of that area. When the monsters attacked this time, a considerable number of people, the farmers especially, were worried about thend on the southern side of the White River. If we could cultivate another piece ofnd on the opposite bank¡­¡± Norris stopped there, seeming like he didn¡¯t know how to go on. A hint of restlessness and anticipation appeared on his dark and wrinkled face. Gawain responded to this very quickly, ¡°I approve. The cultivation of the northern bank will be listed under the second phase of the cultivation n. But before that, we have to build a bridge over the White River, relying on just a few logs won¡¯t do¡­ Heidi, note this down.¡± ¡°Next would be regarding poption,¡± Gawain said while looking at Heidi. ¡°What thoughts do you have about this?¡± Heidi put down the dip pen in her hand and pondered seriously for a while. ¡°Actually¡­ the simplest way would be to buy serfs. On the whole, their background would be clear and clean. There¡¯s not much need to worry about their loyalty, but this would require quite a sum of money, and we might not be able to buy enough to meet the numbers. Secondly, it would be good to take in refugees. As the harvests of the Southern Borders in recent years haven¡¯t been good and conflicts have erupted many times between a few aristocratic families with fiefs, till now, there have been a significant number of refugees without definite residence. To the majority of the aristocrats, the extra poption is a burden, and refugees from other territories are like livestock. Therefore, these people lead difficult lives between a rock and a hard ce. They¡¯re even ¡®cheaper¡¯ than serfs. Give them food, and they would follow¡­¡± Speaking of this, Heidi could not help but shake her head. ¡°But the problem is also very obvious. It¡¯s difficult to check the background of these people. In the process of wandering everywhere, they have also picked up many bad habits of pilfering. If we have them enter the territory inrge numbers, public security would be a big problem.¡± Amber¡¯s voice suddenly sounded pensively, ¡°If abiding by thew promises a good and prosperous life, a good half of the bards and hoodlums would all try to find a job. They did not choose to be rats because they like to live in the sewers. Do you think anyone would choose a life of starving daily and getting whipped because they like to steal?¡± Heidi watched Amber dazedly; this was the first time she did not retort this half-elf¡¯s words. And Gawainmented coolly a few secondster, ¡°You were still thinking of stealing my stamp the day before yesterday. In the end, you were thrown out of the tent by me. Although what you said made a lot of sense, do you really have the cheek to be saying that yourself?¡± ¡°I was just joking with you. Did you have to go so far?!¡± ¡°Stop!¡± Gawain immediately waved his hand and cut Amber off. He thought to himself: that was close; one really couldn¡¯t be unguarded at all whenmunicating with this disgrace to the elves; you¡¯d never know that if you responded to just onement of hers, you would involuntarily be a joker. ¡°The expansion of the poption still requires more nning. Hummel, share about the progress with steel¡­¡± ¡­ At the same time, upstream of the White River, a beautiful ship that had beenpletely painted white ¡ª with three sails open and the emblem of the Anzu royal family hanging from it ¡ª sailed steadily on the river. There were several smaller ships guarding its front and back. On a side of that white ship, a special faint gold symbol could be seen. It was a circr ring radiating gold light, with two intersecting rays of light. That was the symbol of the Church of the Holy Light. In the entire Anzu, situations where the royal emblem and the symbol of the Church were present together were rare. Thus, this scene naturally attracted the attention of residents of Tanzan Town who were on the riverbanks. The people of this ship had set off from the Anzu capital. After drifting for a month on the Duoergong River, then turning from the canal into White River, and sailing for another week, they finally arrived at this barrennd at the borders of the kingdom. This had truly been an arduous journey, but no one on the shipined because a person who, given her status and identity, absolutely didn¡¯t have to undergo this rocky journey was also on this ship. And this person had never made a singleint. On the upper deck of the ship White Oak, which belonged to the royal family, in a room specially meant for praying, the Saint Princess who had the title of dy favored by the light¡¯, Veronica, gradually opened her eyes. She had long pale-blond hair. Her looks slightly resembled her brother, Edmund Moen, but she was even softer and more attractive. Being immersed in the path of the holy light through the years had her possessing a remarkably holy, pure, and firm disposition. Even if she was merely dressed in a in white nun gown, an unapproachable aura lingered around her as if she was a deity that had descended from the sky. Until minutes after she had finished praying did the utterly aloof, inhuman aura gradually fade from her body. As if sensing the change in aura in the praying room, a timely knock sounded. A female voice with almost no changes in emotion sounded from outside. ¡°Your Highness, we have arrived at Tanzan Town. Do you want to pull to shore to meet with Viscount Andrew?¡± The faint glow in Veronica¡¯s eyes slowly faded. She replied gently, ¡°No, just send an envoy there. The Lord gave me a revtion. I cannot remain here. I have to hurry to the Cecil territory. There¡ªthere is something that The Lord has guided for me to see.¡± The aura outside the door left. Veronica narrowed her eyes slightly. Holy light floated in her eyes again as if it could not be controlled. She closed her eyes fully and entered meditation once more. Chapter 96 - The Hundred People Who Were Late Chapter 96: The Hundred People Who Were Late The aid that had the pioneering camp eagerly awaiting for more than a month was finally here. Early that day, a clipper had sped down from the upstream and stopped by the logging shed in the West. Then, the envoys who disembarked from the boatmunicated with the soldiers guarding the logging shed and informed them that the contingent from the capital was about to arrive. The soldiers took fast horses and sent this piece of news to camp at top speed. Gawain immediately halted his work on hand and headed to the camp¡¯s pier to prepare to receive them. The pier here had been reconstructed and built upon the foundations of the temporary pier. Although it had yet to achieve the standard for long-term use, it now had a broader jetty and sturdier structure. To the west of it was the timber mill whereas vast emptynd had been set aside in the east in preparation for future expansion. Now, there were already a considerable number of people standing on that emptynd. Everyone was curious as to what the contingent from the capital looked like. About half of the people in the entire camp had gathered here. Gawain did not stop all this. On the contrary, it was something he had specially permitted. The support contingent from the city of St. Soniel would significantly reassure the people of the territory. And in this ce thatcked all sorts of entertainment, monotonousbor itself would result in the umtion of pressure. Having some novel happenings in the territory was one of the most effective ways to raise the masses¡¯ spirit. Amber stood on the walkway of the pier, propped on her tiptoes as she looked toward the upstream of the White River. Her body shook and swayed here and there without rest. After waiting for a short while, she could no longer hold it in. ¡°Why aren¡¯t they here yet¡­ I feel like I¡¯m about to grow cobwebs soon.¡± ¡°How amazingly quick must that spider be.¡± Gawain gave this girl an eye-roll. ¡°You just arrived, and you¡¯ve been standing here for a total of less than fifteen minutes, alright?¡± ¡°Hey, hey, what do you think the people from the capital look like?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t impose a bumpkin manner on yourself. You haven¡¯t been to the capital or something?¡± ¡°Tch, it¡¯s no fun talking to you.¡± Amber pursed her lips, but she began chattering again within a few seconds. ¡°Hey, hey, have you heard? The figure leading the contingent seems to be very extraordinary¡­¡± ¡°Veronica, Francis the Second¡¯s only daughter. The ¡®Saint Princess¡¯ who devoted herself to the Holy Light two years ago.¡± Gawain¡¯s face was void of expression. ¡°Mm, it was indeed slightly contrary to my expectations. I didn¡¯t think that this princess ¡ª who allegedly stays in the Cathedral of the Holy Light all year round and never participates in any political agenda ¡ª would actuallye out and personally lead this contingent¡­ Tsk, pity I don¡¯t know her well. Neither can I infer anything from that.¡± Amber sneered through her nose with great disdain. ¡°Tch, you bunch of aristocrats just have so many unnecessary misgivings. You insist on analyzing and arriving at schemes and plots out of everything, wishing even a fart of hers has consequences and connections to the past.¡± Heidi who stood behind Gawain immediately frowned. ¡°Utterly coarse. No improvement at all.¡± Amber¡¯s eyes instantly widened; she was just about to argue with Heidi, but Gawain suddenly raised his hand. ¡°Save it, they¡¯re here.¡± On the riverbank shaded by the woods, the shadow of a sail crossed the trees and appeared on the water surface of the upstream of the White River. A big, graceful white ship and several small and medium-sized clippers that looked to be guards were floating down the river. There was a very clear emblem of the Anzu royal family on it; its outer appearance also fit that reported by the envoy. Without doubt, this was it. And at the same moment, the people on ¡®White Oak¡¯ also caught sight of the campsite by the riverbank in the distance. The craftsmen and apprentices had been pent up in their cabins for many days. Their endurance in all aspects had long reached their limit. It hadn¡¯t been a day or two since they looked forward to pulling in to shore. At present, hearing news that their destination was near, they were naturally especially excited. Many people streamed out from under and squeezed onto the deck to gaze into the distance. A vast, neat, brand-new campsite appeared in everyone¡¯s sight. The scale of that campsite was far bigger than they¡¯d imagined, and the orderliness of it was astonishing. The people on board could not help but begin buzzing in low voices. They were aware of what had happened in the Cecil territory. They also knew that the pioneering camp had only started building a few months ago, and the total number of people participating in its construction were merely 800 refugees. Given the construction speed that people were acquainted with, within such a short period of time and with so little manpower, being able to put up a messy tent and surround it with a fence was considered excellent progress. That campsite downstream¡­ ¡­Didn¡¯t look like it had been constructed in such a short time, no matter how they looked at it. They¡¯d even caught sight of a lovely wooden pier beside the campsite. There were even quite a few wooden houses in the campsite! Veronica was also standing on the deck. Only she was on the deck at the head of the boat. The craftsmen, apprentices, and coarse sailors did not dare toe close to this area. The people standing beside her were a short-haired woman with mediocre looks, dressed in white priest robes, and a middle-aged man donning a silk jacket, with the emblem of the Order of Knights before his chest. Unlike those who only knew to exim out loud in a mess, Veronica quietly surveyed the Cecil pioneering camp in the distance. Her eyes with a glow dancing in them could see more, farther, and clearer. She distinctly noticed that north of the campsite, on the northern banks of the White River, were countless daunting things arranged in a row. Veronica looked intently at them after using the Holy Light to strengthen her vision. Her heart instantly trembled; her calm mind, which was usually immersed in the Holy Light, stirred uncontrobly and even almost affected her expression. Those were actually blood-red skeletons that seemed like the remains of numerous titans. Theyid in a heap by the riverbank. These huge skeletons were lined up for at least a few hundred meters along the river. A hazy, dark-red mist drifted from those skeletons, and they seemed to be disintegrating every minute and every second. With just a sweeping nce, she¡¯d spotted several propped up skeletons that were already severely deformed and weathered, as if they would dissolve in fine sand anytime. Evidently, those skeletons had been intentionally disyed there, just like spoils of war to show off one¡¯s brilliant achievements in battle. Veronica controlled her emotions very well, but the middle-aged man beside her could not stifle his surprise. This guard who wore the emblem of the Order of Knights muttered several incantations softly after noticing the items beside the campsite. Following that, the glow of arcane energy emerged in his eyes. He looked in the direction of the camp using Eagle Vision and instantly could not help but exim, ¡°In the name of the king! What monster¡¯s bones are those?!¡± ¡°More than two months ago, Duke Gawain Cecil had warned my father of the aberrations from the Dark Wave reemerging in this world. However, the way I see it, this warning did not stir up enough attention.¡± Veronica spoke up indifferently; there was an ¡®almost estranged from the mortal world¡¯ and pure rhythm in her voice. ¡°Without a doubt, those monsters truly exist, and that ancient hero had defeated them once more.¡± The middle-aged man concluded in a solemn tone, ¡°This matter needs to be reported to His Majesty!¡± ¡°Yes, Vice Commander Cohen,¡± Veronica said quietly. ¡°But in doing so, the overall situation bes even tougher.¡± ¡°You¡¯re referring to the east¡­¡± The Vice Commander of the Order of Knights, Cohen, could only sigh. ¡°It¡¯s a natural cmity and a man-made disaster¡­¡± White Oak finally docked. Gawain watched as the winsome big white ship steadily reduced speed. Its sails had beenpletely retracted, and some unnatural waves with magical power surged by the two sides of the ship and precisely pushed the ship to the front of the pier. Many people stood on the deck, curiously looking in the direction of camp. Meanwhile, several sailors walked out from behind the crowd. They pushed the gangnk out and set it between the deck and the jetty. The crowd on the ship parted to two sides. A squad of soldiers ran down the gangnk to form two rows by the jetty. Following that, three people appeared on the deck. The first two were an expressionless woman dressed in priest robes and a middle-aged man wearing the uniform of the Order of Knights who looked refined and not unlike a general. Between these two people was a youngdy clothed in in white robes, with pale blond hair, soft and sweet looks, and an impressive aura. Gawain confirmed with one look that the person standing in the middle was the legendary Saint Princess Veronica ¡ª because he had seen portraits of her when he was in the capital. ¡°Damn, so beautiful.¡± Amber could not help but murmur. ¡°She looks even more beautiful in person than in the portraits¡­ What did she eat growing up¡­?¡± While mumbling softly, she nced at Gawain but saw that Gawain¡¯s gaze did not linger on that beautifully unreal Saint Princess at all. Instead, his eyes were fixed on the ordinary-looking woman beside the Princess. This had her puzzled. ¡°Hey, hey, hey¡ª what are you looking at? Could there¡­ be a problem with your aesthetic standards?¡± Gawain was jolted from his daze all at once. He looked at Amber confusedly. ¡°Aesthetic standards? What about aesthetic standards?¡± ¡°Why are you staring at the person beside her instead of looking at the beautifully unreal Princess there?¡± Gawain casually gave a perfunctory reply. ¡°Come on, she just looks like someone I knew during my old life, so I looked longer.¡± While they conversed, the three people who disembarked the ship had walked to the ground. Gawain decisively ended the chat with Amber and strode over. ¡°Wee, wee, your arrival has been the best news in recent days.¡± ¡°It is also my greatest honor to be able to meet the legendary hero from seven hundred years ago.¡± Veronica bowed slightly. Her unique ethereal and pure disposition and the inhuman-seeming rhythm mixed in her tone made Gawain falter slightly, but he promptly returned to normal. Then Veronica smiled. ¡°Should I converse with you in the manner of speaking to an elder?¡± With this question, the unique aura which she had revealed by ident was quickly restrained; her entire person also became more ¡®alive¡¯. ¡°No need to be a stickler for formalities. Conversing with an old fellow like me who crawled out of his grave, if we were to be truly particr about formalities, both of us would be extremely tired very quickly.¡± Now, Gawain was already very used to his identity of the ¡®old ancestor who arose from his coffin¡¯. With some briefments, he¡¯d turned the atmosphere into one familiar to him. ¡°Let¡¯s converse as equals. Have everyone aboard the shipe ashore and rest. Though we don¡¯t have anything too good here, standing on t ground will always be morefortable than standing on a ship. Afterward, I¡¯ll give you all a tour around this camp¡­¡± While he spoke, his eyes thoughtlessly swept past the ordinary-looking short-haired woman beside Veronica. Everything he had told Amber about her being an ¡®acquaintance¡¯ was naturally fake. Because he had no way of exining the real situation to anyone. In his eyes, the one standing beside Veronica wasn¡¯t any woman wearing priest robes. ¡ªInstead, it was a ball of translucent light with the facial features of a human! Chapter 97 - Those From the Royal Capital Are All Guests Chapter 97: Those From the Royal Capital Are All Guests Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios When the nameless woman appeared beside Veronica, Gawain realized that the situation wasn¡¯t right¡­ He had been living in this world as a human for a few months. He had also observed this continent as a satellite spirit for eons. He could say that he had seen all sorts of strange and bizarre races on this continent, but he had never seen someone who had such an appearance: she had the facial features of a human and was wearing human clothes, but her entire body was translucent and glowing. Instead of saying this creature was a human, it should more likely be viewed as a certain kind of elemental being¡­ But elemental beings weren¡¯t supposed to look like this either! Gawain¡¯s first reaction was that he had witnessed a rare being, and it might even be an SSR1. But he immediately realized that the surrounding people were all very calm. It was as if they didn¡¯t notice the short-haired woman¡¯s abnormal appearance. It was fine for Heidi to be calm because she had seen all sorts of strange and magical phenomena, but even Amber, who would be extremely excited to see a slightly bigger egg, was actuallyposed as well. She even had the time to analyze the esthetics of the person¡­ It would mean that this was a big problem. There was only one exnation for this. Apart from him, everyone thought that this short-haired woman was normal. As such Gawain decided to suppress the massive astonishment and curiosity in his heart for now and forcefully straightened his expression. He then shifted his attention to Veronica¡¯s face. He had to admit that apart from the glowing hologram with facial nerve paralysis, Veronica was indeed the next most dazzling existence here. She might not be overly outstanding aspared to Heidi in terms of looks, but she had an extraordinary aura that few possessed. It was rumored that the ¡®Saint Princess¡¯ had exhibited astounding talent since a young age. In terms of magic and martial skills, she was superior to normal people while also possessing unbelievable spiritual talent that was inclined towards the Holy Light. When she first walked into the Church of the Holy Light, even the main bell tower¡¯s bronze bell had sounded three times after getting struck by holy light. This was also why she had ultimately given up her royal inheritance and converted to the Church of the Holy Light. Although 90% of all these were rumors, Gawain believed that there must be a reason for such rumors to appear. Members from both sides were exchanging conventional greetings at the docks. The content of the conversation was basically ¡®Duke has worked hard on the development of thend¡¯, ¡®We will remember your heroic spirit¡¯, ¡®The King is healthy¡¯, ¡®It¡¯s an honor to meet you atst¡¯, ¡®When is it time to eat¡¯, and all sorts of useless talk (thest statement was made by Amber). During the conventional greetings, both sides had also made a brief introduction. Gawain found out from Veronica that the priestess beside her had a very simple name, Sandy, but she had an extraordinary status. She was the Church of the Holy Light¡¯s high-ranked priestess, and in terms of rank, she was on an even footing with Veronica. Because Sandy had yet to receive any position from the church and because she was promoted very quickly, she had been assigned to assist Veronica in her group, nominally. As for the man wearing civilian clothes with the emblem of the royal knights, he was Francis II¡¯s direct subordinate, the Vice Commander of the 1st Order of Knights. His name was Cohen Lnd, and he had the noble rank of Count. Just from his family name, one would be able to know that he was closely rted to the Duke of the East, Ss Lnd. In fact, this vicemander was indeed a member of the Lnd n. He was Ss Lnd¡¯s distant younger cousin, and many years back, he had voluntarily given up his status in the n. He had then epted the special title conferred by Francis II and became an inner royal-court noble of the royal n. On this trip, this vicemander of the knights had the responsibility to ensure Veronica¡¯s safety. After exchanging conventional greetings, Gawain asked Heidi to arrange for the 100 skilled workers to disembark the ship and to rest. He led Amber and Reba to apany Veronica and the others to the central main tent with two knights at the sides. The soldiers on the ship had also followed along, and Veronica quickly stopped before she instructed the middle-aged man beside her, ¡°Sir Cohen, please ask the soldiers to rest.¡± The middle-aged man hesitated while Veronica immediately shook her head lightly ¡°We are on the pioneering Duke¡¯s territory. I don¡¯t think I need to worry about my safety¡­ Furthermore, don¡¯t you think that it would also be very rude for so many soldiers to follow behind Duke Cecil?¡± The middle-aged man finally nodded and waved his hand to dismiss the soldiers, but he continued to follow the princess. Protection of Veronica was the mission that Francis II had given him before departure. Along the way, Gawain gave a simple exnation of the camp¡¯s situation. Subsequently, as expected, Veronica took the initiative and asked about the blood-colored skeletons at the southern bank of the White River. ¡°Those giant skeletons¡­ are the ones you mentioned? Those aberration monsters that would only appear during the Dark Wave?¡± Veronica looked at Gawain¡¯s eyes and asked in a serious tone. ¡°That¡¯s right. They are the products of the great disaster that happened seven hundred years ago. I already informed you at the royal capital a few months ago.¡± Gawain then said, ¡°They arrived a few days ago, but this time we managed to stop them. What I want to say is that this group of monsters wandered out from the Gondor Wastnd¡­ On these monsters, we found shards of weapons that belonged to the era of the Gondor Empire.¡± Veronica paused a little and asked with a slightly changed tone, ¡°Gondor Wastnd?! Are you sure?¡± ¡°Absolutely sure.¡± ¡°That is impossible!¡± The vicemander of the 1st Order of Knights, Cohen, immediately frowned and eximed, ¡°In order to reach this ce from the Gondor Wastnd, they would need to traverse across the ins and the Dark Range. Furthermore, before traveling across those ces, there was the Great Barrier. How were those monsters¡­ Could it be that there is a problem with the Great Barrier?!¡± While speaking, Cohen involuntarily looked toward the Dark Range¡¯s direction. It felt as though he was unable to hold back and wanted to go over to the mountain to verify the functioning of the Great Barrier. Gawain shook his head in response and said, ¡°The barrier is still intact, and you will be able to see it once you go over the mountain. But I am very certain that the barrier has started to deteriorate¡­ It is aging at a speed faster than we predicted back then.¡± Cohen¡¯s breaths got heavy as the severity of the situation had exceeded his imagination again. He took two deep breaths topose himself. ¡°The sentinel towers at the Great Barrier have always been monitored by the Silver Empire. The elves have never mentioned the problem of the barrier deteriorating for the past hundreds of years¡­¡± ¡°The elves¡­ are a race that can be trusted. At least, the same group that worked together with us back then could be,¡± Gawain spoke and swiftly took a nce at Amber who was daydreaming, quickly excluding this disgrace of the elves. ¡°It has been merely seven hundred years, and to the elves, it isn¡¯t even a generation. Therefore, I believe that there wouldn¡¯t be a problem with them deceiving the continent and the various nations. But there is something we have to know¡­ This is the extreme north of the continent, while the Silver Empire is at the extreme south of the continent. There is the vast Gondor Wastnd in between. Even with the power of the Silver Empire, if they¡¯re monitoring the sentinel towers over here, there should be a serious dy on information.¡± Cohen¡¯s brows locked tightly. He naturally knew this was a fact, and there was no other choice but to allow the Silver Empire¡¯s elves to have full authority on the monitoring of the entire Great Barrier. After the Gondor Empire copsed, only the elves¡¯ ancestral magic could construct this barrier that could be referred to as a miracle. The other nations and races had offered everything they could and were only able to supply some resources andbor. The Great Barrier¡¯s ¡®superior magic-technology portion¡¯ waspletely operated by the elves¡¯ ancient magic system. Furthermore, such magic technology¡­ could only be controlled by the elves. It wasn¡¯t because the Silver Empire had monopolized this technology. Apart from the elves, the other races¡¯ brainposition was unable to handle the elves¡¯ magic model. Those arrogant pointy-eared people were born with special awareness and thinking ability. Their spellcasting process wasplex yet precise, making it look as though human magic was a sham version of elven magic¡­ Of course, human magic had their own advantage too: abundance. The cost was low, and the power was massive. Apart from the asional appearance of people like Heidi who couldn¡¯t aim or Reba who could only use Fireball, the other aspects were fine. In short, due to the restrictions during the construction of the Great Barrier, the sentinel towers were all being monitored by the Silver Empire for thest 700 years. As Gawain had mentioned, the limitations were inevitable: it was hard for the elves, who were at the south side of the continent, to receive timely information about problems with the sentinel towers situated far to the north. ¡°I might have converted to the Holy Light and might never meddle in the nation¡¯s affairs, but the Church of the Holy Light taught us to have a merciful and benevolent heart,¡± said Veronica, suddenly breaking the silence. ¡°After I return, I will report on the situation in this ce to my father and suggest for him to send envoys to contact the elves.¡± Immediately after, she looked around with concern. ¡°If the Great Barrier is really going to fall, this ce will be the first to bear the brunt. How is it possible for these weak and frail people to survive¡­? Duke Cecil, I do not question your bravery, but for the sake of the citizens here, would you reconsider changing to another ce¡­¡± ¡°Many thanks for the concern, but I do not have such thoughts as of now.¡± Gawain smiled and looked at Veronica. ¡°I have already verified the situation of the Great Barrier, and there shouldn¡¯t be another mishap within a short period of time. The actual risk of the Great Barrier copsingpletely is close to zero. Besides, if the Great Barrier really copses¡­ is there any difference in hiding in other ces on the continent?¡± ¡°I am very curious. How did all of you manage to stop these monsters?¡± Cohen couldn¡¯t help but ask with curiosity. ¡°From the aura of these skeletons, I can feel how powerful they must have been when they were alive. But the military power of this territory¡­¡± Gawain chuckled before replying, ¡°It was mostly luck. The monsters were unfortunate enough to encounter a cliff¡¯s copse, and because we discovered them a few days before they approached the camp, we were able to make preparations. As for the rest¡­ just treat it as an old man¡¯s wisdom and strength.¡± Veronica and Cohen were speechless. Standing behind Gawain, Amber started to whisper something to Reba, ¡°See, I always said your ancestor had the ability to anger someone to death with his words.¡± Reba had a pure face as shemented, ¡°Is it wrong to speak the truth?¡± Amber: ¡°¡­This shameless style must be a n tradition.¡± Reba: ¡°You are rude!¡± Gawain was a little awkward as he listened to the minormotion behind him¡­ The two youngdies thought they had suppressed their voices properly, but in fact, everyone present could hear themotion clearly. It was fine for Reba as she was always an honest person with a low emotional quotient, but the shrewd Amber was obviously looking for a beating. But if Gawain was to do so on such an asion, it would be rather inappropriate¡­ It was fortunate that Veronica didn¡¯t really mind the chatter of the two young girls by the side. After she heard Gawain¡¯s decision to remain in this ce, she revealed an expression as though she had already expected it and responded, ¡°I respect your decision, but there is something I wish for you to know¡­ If the situation in the south worsens, I¡¯m afraid that the kingdom won¡¯t be able to offer additional assistance.¡± Gawain might have known from the start that he wouldn¡¯t be able to obtain anymore support from the royal n after seeing the Anzu Kingdom¡¯s current system, and this was rather fitting for his aspirations. However, he could also hear another hidden meaning behind Veronica¡¯s tone and couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± ¡°The eastern borders.¡± Cohen spoke with a grave tone, ¡°Our kingdom and the Typhon Empire¡­ There probably isn¡¯t any method to alleviate the tension between us.¡± Chapter 98 - The Conviction of the Holy Light Chapter 98: The Conviction of the Holy Light Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios If it was the genuine Gawain Cecil from 700 years ago, he would be feeling rather disappointed and sorrowful. Because 700 years ago, the various human nations didn¡¯t have such conflicts. Back then, everyone was a fellow countryman who had escaped from the Gondor Wastnds; they were merely separated by the disaster. Every nation worked together to build a defense line and shared resources. The honeymoon period between the Typhon Empire and the Anzu Kingdom had evensted for as long as 500 years. Back then, no one would imagine that there would be a day when they would face one another with weapons. However, the person standing here wasn¡¯t the genuine Gawain Cecil but a satellite spirit that had descended from above. Gawain knew that he had to ¡®sob¡¯ a little, but he knew he wasn¡¯t able to do it convincingly. As such, he could only work hard to make his expression a little stiff and stern, putting on a show as though there was nothing more wretched than apathy. ¡°Has war been dered?¡± ¡°It is merely a step away.¡± Count Cohen shook his head and said, ¡°All diplomatic channels have been severed. Both factions have stationed their troops. There is no more reasoning at this moment, and it is up to whoever makes the move first. We are guessing that the first war between human nations would ur within a year.¡± Reba who was by the side couldn¡¯t help butment, ¡°But we need to face the Dark Wave. If the Great Barrier really copses, is the Typhon Empire going to be unscathed? If the monsters really rush out from the Gondor Wastnd, will they ask which nation you¡¯re from?¡± ¡°In fact, before the diplomatic channels were severed, in thest message, my father already sent a warning to the empire,¡± Veronica said in a soft voice. ¡°He warned those arrogant imperial members that there are changes happening at the Gondor Wastnd and that we have discovered signs of aberration activities at the border of the Anzu Kingdom. He wished that the empire could put down all the foolish talk of vengeance in the face of such a crisis¡­¡± Amber then asked anxiously, ¡°Afterwards?¡± Veronica¡¯s eyelids dropped down as she replied, ¡°Afterwards, the Typhon Empire unterally severed the magical ry station at the borders and increased their stationed soldiers by thirty thousand.¡± ¡°That¡¯s unreasonable!¡± Reba then asked, ¡°How much hatred must the Typhon Empire have towards the Anzu Kingdom for things toe to this? Moreover, even if they didn¡¯t believe it, they should give a reply. What is the meaning of cutting off the ry station¡­¡± ¡°Because ¡ª humans are living beings that aren¡¯t very smart. Especially when it involved politics or aristocrats. Their brains are always muddled by profits, reputation, familiar ties, or the habitual wars.¡± Gawain shook his head and said, ¡°Even if the Anzu Kingdom said that the Dark Wave wasing, why should the Typhon Empire believe it? They would rather believe you are using an excuse to dy or prepare for battle. Even if they believed it¡­ they would probably hope that the Dark Wave would erupt in the center of the Anzu Kingdom.¡± Reba blinked her eyes as her brain that had been knocked out by wolves in the past was stuck at this juncture. ¡°Why?!¡± Gawain shrugged his shoulders and said, ¡°If it was true, the Anzu Kingdom would be finished, and they would be able to obtain the spoils easily.¡± Reba felt that she wasn¡¯t able to keep up with Gawain. ¡°Do they think it¡¯s possible? In the face of the Dark Wave¡­¡± ¡°Before personally witnessing the aberrations, have you ever imagined the power of those monsters? Before the old Cecil territory was corroded into wastnds by the elements, did you ever imagine the true power of primal magic? Furthermore, up until now, everything you have witnessed is not even close to the true Dark Wave.¡± Reba: ¡°¡­¡± Gawain sighed. He wasn¡¯t saying these words just for Reba; he was also saying it so that Veronica and the others could hear it. ¡°It is also because of this that even after seven hundred years, humans remain a short-lived racecking foresight. Right now, apart from the elves, everyone treats the Dark Wave as an ancient legend. The Anzu Kingdom¡¯s royal n had simply forsaken the entire southern region. Tell me, apart from this developingnd, is there any ce in the entire Anzu Kingdom that could directly overview the Great Barrier?¡± Count Cohen¡¯s expression changed while Veronica crossed her hands, cing them in front of her chest, and lowered her head while praying, ¡°Will the God of Holy Light please forgive us ignorant living beings¡­ Humans have been holed up in the peacefulnds while civilization has been regressing continuously. The barrier that involves everyone¡¯s life and death has already vanished from their vision¡­¡± ¡°Right now, the elves are probably the only ones that are still conscientiously looking after the Great Barrier, but the Anzu Kingdom and the Typhon Empire don¡¯t seem to be interested at all.¡± Gawain sighed before changing the topic. ¡°But then again, the Typhon Empire¡¯s reaction is indeed a little strange. Humans might be foolish at times, but their reaction¡­ is excessively aggressive.¡± Count Cohen widened his eyes slightly and said, ¡°You¡¯re saying they know that monsters have appeared at the Anzu Kingdom¡¯s border and also believe there is a threat from the Gondor Wastnd but still chose to conduct an internal war between humans?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything because I don¡¯t know what the current state of the Typhon Empire is. The old fellows that I knew back then have all perished.¡± Gawain spread out his hands and said, ¡°Let alone the Typhon Empire, I have been in the Anzu Kingdom for a few months and realized all of you have been growing in an uncivilized manner for hundreds of years. Had I not personally seen the portraits of the pioneers from back then, I wouldn¡¯t have dared to believe that this ce was really the same ce that we developed back then¡­¡± Veronica: ¡°¡­¡± After this, Gawain arranged a wee feast for these guests from the royal capital. The camp was still in a developing phase, and apart from the wild animals hunted in the nearby forest, the camp¡¯s food was mainly supplied by Tanzan Town using river transport. They might have brought some domestic animals and poultry when they initially moved here, but those animals were meant for reproduction, and they weren¡¯t willing to ughter and eat them at this moment. Due to the deficiency in ingredients, the feast wasn¡¯t really sumptuous, but it was obvious that Veronica wasn¡¯t one of those harsh nobles that would be picky about such things. The Priestess Sandy and Count Cohen were also very understanding as none of them believed there was any problem with the Cecil n¡¯s method of treating their guests. Of course, most importantly, no one would want to pick at the old ancestor as there were 700 years of seniority in between them. After handing over the manpower, Veronica and the others weren¡¯t going to stay in this ce. But before they left, Gawain brought them for a tour of the camp. He wasn¡¯t worried about revealing any of his secrets as many of the projects in this ce were still in the early phase. Even if professionals were here, they wouldn¡¯t be able to see anything significant, let alone two priestesses and abat mage who weren¡¯t specialized in such aspects¡­ They didn¡¯t even know what a primitive furnace looked like; therefore, it was impossible for them to understand the process of the production of Reba Crystals. Moreover, unting wealth andnd was the custom and norm for this world¡¯s nobles. If Gawain didn¡¯t bring them for a tour of the camp, it would be more suspicious instead. Of course, the tent that contained the sphere had been excluded from the tour as that sphere was truly hard to exin¡­ As expected, along the way, Gawain¡¯s attention was attracted towards Sandy who stood beside Veronica more than once. It was unavoidable as there was a living being that looked like a glowing hologram standing right next to him. Furthermore, he was the only person that could see her abnormality. Whoever was in his shoes would have the same behavior; hence, Gawain took a few nces at Sandy and was finally noticed by Veronica. ¡°Do you mind that Sandy is reticent?¡± Veronica asked the question tactfully and said, ¡°Please forgive her. She has always been like this.¡± ¡°No, it is because she resembles a person I knew back in the days.¡± Gawain¡¯s random nonsense had served as excuses in front of Amber more than once. He held onto the mentality that ¡®dead men would tell no tales¡¯ and was, therefore, very confident when using such random nonsense. ¡°Of course, she is definitely not the same person. I just couldn¡¯t help but take a few more nces. Please forgive me if I have been offensive.¡± ¡°Sandy wouldn¡¯t mind.¡± Veronica smiled while that woman named Sandy merely nodded, and it was considered as her response. Subsequently, Veronica continued to introduce Sandy. ¡°She has been my good friend for many years. Before I converted, she had already converted to the almighty God of Holy Light. Also, it is her who guided me on this proper path.¡± It was the tone of a mad believer. Gawain didn¡¯t reveal the feelings in his heart. After all, it was her problem on which religion she chose to believe in. Apart from conversations about her belief, this Saint Princess was rather amiable and approachable. But Veronica had yet to finish the topic. ¡°Her devotion truly deserves respect. She is reticent in front of you, but it is because she had offered most of her words to The Lord. ¡ª Back to the main topic, I noticed that yournd might be filled with vitality, but it seems this ce iscking some guidance in faith?¡± Gawain forced out a smile and replied, ¡°I respect devout believers, but as you can see, my territory only has slightly more than nine hundred individuals, after including the one hundred workers that you brought here. Just the construction of houses and agriculture has already taken up a lot of energy. The construction of the church and the supply of missionaries will be left for theter phases.¡± ¡°Conviction will not be the citizens¡¯ burden and will be their guidance and power.¡± Veronica smiled and said, ¡°At least, the God of Holy Light instructs us to treat people with a broad mind and use the Holy Light¡¯s power to guide and protect all living beings. If you are willing, I can help you to construct a church for the God of Holy Light in my name. I can guarantee you that apart from voluntary offerings, the church will not ask for any money from thisnd. All of the expenses will be provided by me, and at the same time, the church¡¯s clergy will provide treatment and enlightenment to your citizens without any cost.¡± Gawain maintained his smile and said, ¡°Is there such a good thing?¡± Veronica looked as though her body was brimming with ayer of faint and holy radiance. Her smile seemed like it was permeated with holy light as she said, ¡°Please do not be skeptical. This is my personal expression of goodwill and respect to a legendary hero like you. my younger brother and I have both grown up listening to stories about you.¡± Gawain¡¯s smile didn¡¯t change as he replied, ¡°The Cecil n is thankful for Your Highness¡¯s goodwill. I will consider this matter, but not now. Once the territory has stabilized and when my citizens require the guidance of conviction, I will very much wee your assistance.¡± ¡°That will be good.¡± The faint radiance gradually receded from Veronica¡¯s body as her smile became amiable and gentle. ¡°No matter when you need help, The Lord will show concern for anyone. There might be plenty of gods, but only the God of Holy Light will pardon everything. At the end of the Holy Light will be the final redemption for the foolish beings.¡± Chapter 99 - Regarding Religion Chapter 99: Regarding Religion Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios To be honest, if the final ¡®preaching¡¯ part had been excluded, Gawain had a rather good impression of Veronica. This Saint Princess indeed had attractive traits that would make someone praise her: she was humble, courteous, gentle, and amiable. All these were traits that could be considered a rarity when found in this era¡¯s nobility. In Gawain¡¯s opinion, her amiable personality wasn¡¯t a pretense, and she wasn¡¯t just using this attitude with him. When they walked past the chaotic construction sites and when they saw those busy and ¡®vulgar¡¯moners and serfs, she would still maintain her smile. Be it her words, actions, or the expressions in her eyes, there wasn¡¯t any disdain or estrangement. However, Count Cohen beside her had an utterly resentful and impatient expression. Even if Veronica had astounding acting skills and acted as if she was very close to themoners, Gawain felt that it wasn¡¯t easy either. After all, this era¡¯s nobles didn¡¯t need to consider being close to themoners; thus, they wouldn¡¯t even bother to pretend. But in the end, Veronica was a devotee that had converted to the God of Holy Light long ago. From the looks of it, it didn¡¯t seem like the rumors that said it was purely a political move. She hadmitted her heart and soul to this religion, and she was rather fanatical about it. Gawain never contradicted religion himself, especially when real power of conviction existed in this world. He had viewed religion as a kind of necessity and natural phenomenon. Since the gods would protect the mortals that prayed to them, he wouldn¡¯t have malice towards the gods for no reason. But he wasn¡¯t really able to ept Veronica¡¯s attitude when she preached¡­ In the end, he still maintained his previous life¡¯s attitude to ¡®remain at a respectful distance from gods and demons¡¯. Veronica was keen enough to notice the change in Gawain¡¯s attitude, but she didn¡¯t think too much about it. She had viewed this situation as a noble being vignt when an outside force was meddling with his regime. After all, her title as the ¡®Saint Princess¡¯ still consisted of the word princess, and she would still have the shadows of the royal n no matter what. Hence, on this topic, she would simply touch on it and leave it there. Finally, it was time for the guests from the royal capital to depart. The White Oak that was at the White River was already prepared to depart. Gawain followed with his eyes as he saw the Saint Princess and her two apanying members walking towards the gangnk that led to the deck. Before stepping onto the deck, Veronica suddenly stopped and turned around to ask, ¡°Duke Cecil, I have a rather presumptuous question that I have been wanting to ask you, but I didn¡¯t dare to ask until now. Are you able to satisfy this younger generation¡¯s curious little heart?¡± Gawain chuckled and nodded. He felt that his current expression could simply be described as benevolent. He had been putting on the airs of the old ancestor front of these ¡®juniors¡¯ for almost half a day, and it seemed like he had been overly involved in his role. ¡°If you have a question, you may just ask. As long as I know the answer and it doesn¡¯t involve any secrets.¡± ¡°I am not sure if it is considered a secret.¡± Veronica let out a faint smile while asking, ¡°During the¡­ years that you were a deceased individual, have you ever seen a god?¡± Even though she was only revealing a faint smile, Gawain felt that the smile had the zealotry of a devotee. He chuckled before spreading out his hands and said, ¡°Never¡­ Perhaps, I didn¡¯t die thoroughly back then, and the gods didn¡¯t even treat me as a dead person and ignored me.¡± ¡°Is that so¡­¡± Veronica seemed to be rather disappointed before she shook her head pensively. ¡°Thank you for your reply. I will be praying for you and your territory to The Lord.¡± After finishing her statement, the Saint Princess stepped onto the deck along with Count Cohen and Priestess Sandy, who had been glowing in Gawain¡¯s vision from start to finish. The trio¡¯s figure quickly vanished into the rear of White Oak. Once the fleet departed, Gawain and the others walked down from the docks and returned to the camp. Along the way, Heidi, who had spared some time to bid farewell, looked as though she had a load on her mind. Gawain asked after noticing, ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± Heidi opened her mouth a few times and couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Ancestor, I heard that you refused Princess Veronica¡¯s assistance and goodwill to build a Holy Light church?¡± ¡°Goodwill¡­¡± Gawain pursed his lips and looked at Heidi¡¯s eyes before asking, ¡°Do you think it was inappropriate?¡± ¡°The priests and priestesses from the Church of Holy Light have the ability to heal and pacify the hearts of people,¡± Heidi said. ¡°The territory iscking medical personnel. Mister Pittman might be a qualified druid, but most of his energy is on agriculture and the medicines that he concocts aren¡¯t enough for the long term. Especially after the recent battle that resulted in many injuries, all the medicines in the reserves have nearly been used up. There is also an urgent need to purchase medicines from Tanzan Town. But if there was a priest or two from the Church of the Holy Light, or even just an apprentice priest, the current situation would be alleviated.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Reba couldn¡¯t hold back anymore either. ¡°It is impossible for our territory to provide for an official church, and it isn¡¯t very worthwhile to hire a priest with our own money. If the Princess is willing to provide her own personal funds to construct a church for us, we will be able to save a huge sum of money! Furthermore, the priest that the Princess sends over will definitely not be those dabblers from some small rural church. It would be extremely cost-effective.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like the Church of the Holy Light,¡± Amber mumbled behind Gawain. ¡°They are always preaching and are also inflexible and stubborn. People like me who worship the Goddess of the Night feel as though we have ughtered their entire family. No matter where we go, they will look at us with cold eyes¡­¡± Reba rolled her eyes at Amber and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t that because you¡¯re always stealing things from the Church of the Holy Light?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense! When have I ever been discovered to be stealing something?!¡± Amber red and said, ¡°They obviously don¡¯t even know who stole their things, but they still seek trouble with me. If they are not finding fault, what are they doing?¡± Gawain and his two great-granddaughters were stupefied as this half-elf youngdy¡¯s unequaled logic had instantly triple killed1 them. Gawain decided topletely ignore this disgrace to all living beings and replied, ¡°I naturally know that Veronica¡¯s suggestion would be very worthwhile for us. But I have my own considerations too¡­ Do you really think she is simply going to help us construct the local church and send a chain here?¡± Heidi wasn¡¯t a one-track minded person like Reba and quickly reacted, ¡°Ancestor is saying¡­ this might be the influence of the royal n and the Church of the Holy Light behind her? It wouldn¡¯t be right¡­ Princess Veronica has always been upright and sincere to everyone. She is devoted to the God of Holy Light and would never allow profits to contaminate her conviction¡­¡± ¡°She wouldn¡¯t but it didn¡¯t mean that others wouldn¡¯t. Didn¡¯t you see the people she brought along? One of them is the honorary high-ranking priestess of the Church of the Holy Light. She might not have spoken much during the entire process, but she never left more than half a step away from Veronica. The other person was the inner royal court¡¯s Count that the king personally conferred. Furthermore, he is a Count that has been ¡®cut off¡¯ from the eastern Lnd n.¡± Gawain pursed his lips and continued, ¡°The royal n and the church are standing beside the Saint Princess like her left and right protectors, and they didn¡¯t allow any chance for Veronica to leave their line of sight. That Princess¡¯s devout conviction might not be able to stop the other people who have thoughts that are not so devoted. In such situations, I do not dare to ept her goodwill that easily.¡± When Heidi and Reba heard the exnation, they couldn¡¯t help but reveal thoughtful expressions. The former was considering the possibilities of the royal n and church¡¯s intentions, while thetter was thinking what her old ancestor bbed about. After Gawain finished, he immediately mentioned another matter that was on his mind. ¡°In addition¡­ I feel that Princess Veronica said something to me that I need to be mindful about.¡± Amber asked curiously, ¡°Which statement? She said a lot of things to you today!¡± ¡°There might be plenty of gods, but only the God of Holy Light will pardon everything. At the end of the Holy Light will be the final redemption for the foolish beings,¡± Gawain repeated Veronica¡¯s statement without missing a single word as though he was preaching. ¡°Don¡¯t all of you feel there is a problem with this statement?¡± ¡°What problem? Isn¡¯t it just preachy words that those Holy Light devotees love to use?¡± Amber scratched her head while saying, ¡°They love to dere the universal love of their god¡­ as though the entire world was their children¡­¡± ¡°Most of thetter part is indeed the preaching of the Church of Holy Light. But she added something extra at the front ¡ª there might be plenty of gods¡­¡± Gawain spoke with a stern tone. ¡°This statement might be short, and she said it indifferently too, but this statement isn¡¯t something a devotee of the Church of the Holy Light would normally say.¡± Heidi had a reaction and spoke without too much certainty, ¡°She is¡­ putting the God of Holy Light above the rest of the gods?!¡± Gawain nodded and responded, ¡°It is an unassuming induction, but it is indeed the meaning.¡± Everyone present had bizarre expressions. This world had plenty of religions, and it was something that Gawain already knew. There were dozens of reputable and well-known religions. There were hundreds of small churches in viges and towns too. As for those hidden and smaller groups that passed as secret religions, it had reached an extent that was countless. Each of the religions that could be passed on would have their individual theurgy. This would mean that a true god¡¯s power existed that supported them. It might be a god or something that was as powerful as a god. Even with so many religions, the continent was still able to maintain a rtively bnced situation. The bnce had actually surpassed the nations and races¡¯ bnce. Even if the nations broke out into war, the mainstream religions of those nations would be uninvolved. This wasn¡¯t always the case. In history, this continent had plenty of wars between religions. The history books were filled with how the religions annexed and invaded one another. Even when the entire continent was united into a single nation, the Gondor Empire would frequently have warring situations between the different religions. When Gawain was suspended in the sky during all those years, he had seen so many religions warring with each other that he became sick of them. To add on another condition, it was especially bad since he was unable to turn or close his eyes¡­ But no matter how each religion beat up the brains of each other, they were indeed at ¡®peace¡¯. All of the conflicts had stopped during the year of the Dark Wave. The gods had chosen to stay silent during the Dark Wave, and they had stayed silent for an entire year. Chapter 100 - The History of Religion and the Motive Power Trigger Chapter 100: The History of Religion and the Motive Power Trigger Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios For as long as a year¡¯s time after the outbreak of the Dark Wave, all believers lost the ability to listen to the revtions of the gods. It wasn¡¯t limited to only those low-ranking pastors and chains; the bishops and even popes of the respective sects lost this ability at the same time. Of course, even in normal circumstances, humans were unable to directly hear the voices of gods. The so-called ¡®listening to the revtions of the gods¡¯ actually referred to the almost hallucinatory, soft murmurs that pious believers were able to hear in the process of sincere prayer, carrying out sacraments, and testaments as their mental state had gotten close to the gods¡¯ spiritual nature. These whispers would reverberate in the minds of the believers and form a permanent and ineffaceable ¡®spiritual mark¡¯, and this spiritual mark would, in turn, alter the consciousness of believers, bringing them even closer to the gods¡¯ spiritual nature. This was the main path for clergymen in this world, to promote and be stronger. As those obscure whispers indeed had the power of altering humankind¡¯s consciousness and making humans stronger and purer, it was lifted out of thosemon auditory and visual hallucinations and were viewed as sacred phenomena by clergymen. However, in the year that the Dark Wave urred, all the believers of gods could not hear such ¡®whispers from the gods¡¯. They realized in terror, that regardless of how they prayed or how strictly they performed the ceremonies, their gods no longer responded. It was if all the gods had collectively disappeared. As they¡¯d lost divine grace, in that year, all the clergymen were unable to obtain promotions. Amongst the shallow believers andymen, not a single new person who could grasp theurgy emerged. The babies born that year were even proven afterward to not possess any natural gift for theurgy. If the situation continued to worsen following that kind of trend, the future of the believers on this continent would have been difficult to tell. However, like thest thread of hope in despair, people discovered that the mastered theurgies had notpletely lost effect. Although the might was slightly weaker than before, at least, the priests who had officially be clergymen before the Dark Wave could still use theurgies. And these priests who were still able to use theurgies did their best to maintain the various teetering churches in those days. Yet despite so, a considerable number of small churches were unable to continue on. They disappeared in the Wastnd when people began to escape from the Gondor Empire. Gawain remembered that the leaders of the various big churches conducted secret talks and attempts at divinemunication more than once. People gave up on their former prejudices and hostilities. Just likeymen who advanced shoulder-to-shoulder amidst the Dark Wave, clergymen no longer had any qualms about their respective beliefs and historical hatreds. In turn, they gathered together and attempted to find a solution to the problem. Subsequently, the fewrge-scale sects representing the God of Holy Light, the God of War, and the three goddesses of fertility finally found some progress. After several emergency meetings, the leaders of the sects proceeded with an attempt tomunicate with the gods at the summit of ¡®Ancestral Peak¡¯ at the eastern border of the tribal country of Augari. That attempt was a private meeting; even Gawain Cecil was unaware of the specific happenings. He only knew that the leaders of the sects announced after leaving the summit that the gods had sent a new message: a sign for mortals to abandon their disputes and strive to survive in unity. After all, the Dark Wave was a disaster that incurred due to humankind¡¯s various follies. The sects signed an agreement called the ¡®Sacred Alliance¡¯ on Ancestral Peak. They renounced all disputes regarding beliefs. The sects no longer opposed one another and would do their utmost best for humanity, regarding the continuation of human civilization as their responsibility. And as if it was really such acts that had pleased the gods, in the second month after the signing of the Sacred Alliance ¡ª also the same day as the one-year anniversary of the Dark Wave¡¯s urrence ¡ª the gods¡¯ graces were bestowed upon humankind once more. The believers could hear the voices of the gods once more. This was what Gawain knew of the historical event that led to the current rather peaceful situation despite having so many sects on this continent. That historical event changed many things: It ended the conflict between various beliefs on the continent and also united the clergymen of every sect, joining hands to help human civilization resist the Dark Wave and rebuild their homnd. However, there were also some unduly obstinate sects that could not ept such reality. They chose degeneration, setting all the sects who signed the ¡®Sacred Alliance¡¯ as their enemy. They be various twisted heterodoxies and gradually evolved into a few of the most-dreaded dark organizations. The theurgies they used were also named ¡®Dark Theurgies¡¯¡­ Even to this day, those degenerated and warped fanatics remain one of the most terrifying shadows on this world. As a person with normal logic and a healthy brain, Gawain naturally had a very high opinion of the ¡®Sacred Alliance¡¯. Although he was an atheist, he really admired those believers who, in the moment of crisis, put down their conflict, united as one, and worked hard for the continuity of civilization ¡ª regardless of whether those efforts were due to the gods¡¯ orders or not. However, he also knew that to a race like humans whose lifespan was short pared to elves), even the Sacred Alliance was not evesting. Today, 700 years had passed. Though the alliance from those years were still carved on the cornerstones of every sect, just like the ¡®Brotherhood Treaty¡¯ between Typhon and Anzu that was now long gone, theter generations were also gradually forgetting the significance behind the alliance that their ancestors established at the foot of Ancestral Peak. Presently, although the sects of the continent still maintained a peaceful picture, in reality, the disputes and discriminations in private had never lessened. Some sects with huge differences in their religious doctrine had alsoe to the point where they were just a step away from openly dering war. After all, no one could truly listen clearly to what exactly the gods were telling them. Even the pope of the Church of the Holy Light could merely hear fuzzy whispers from the gods. And the ambiguity of the gods¡¯ messages gave humans the space to improvise¡­ ¡°What if the gods are telling us to have a fight with the heretics? In any case, that¡¯s what I believe. This has absolutely nothing to do with me consuming too much dream herb before praying¡­¡± ¡ª A considerable number of people thought this way. But no matter what, the Sacred Alliance did have that little bit more authority than the alliance treaties between human kingdoms (it was written in the name of the gods after all). Even if the conflict between the sects intensified in private, at least on the surface, everyone maintained a win-win situation. At least with the churches inrge towns, for the priests of various sects to meet each other frequently was still very normal. ¡ª Of course, priests turning to the side to spit after greeting one another and returning home to prick voodoo dolls were also verymon. However, no one would speak about such situations in the open, especially the high priests of every sect. They would not makements of ¡®though there are many gods, my boss is more impressive than all of you¡¯ in public. Yet Veronica did. Gawain did not know whether that Saint Princess was giving an intentional hint or that hidden under her pure and intelligent outward appearance was a heart that spoke without thinking. In any case, he was very concerned about this matter. Moreover, the high priest who appeared with Veronica and resembled a light form had his heart full of doubts. In such a situation, he did not dare ept anything that the other party was tossing over without careful consideration. As for whether the camp would be constructing cathedrals and bringing in the church in the future, he wasn¡¯t too conflicted about that. After all, gods really do exist in this world; theurgies were also certainly a part of people¡¯s day-to-day lives. As a pragmatic person, even if he was an atheist himself, he would not stop others from believing. ¡ª Since he had arrived in such a bizarre world, if he still hung so forcefully onto atheism, it would be too idealistic. However, by that time, he would definitely strengthen supervision over the church and ensure that everything was under his control. It was true that theurgies were real; it was also true that theocracy would affect political power. He wasn¡¯t willing to trip and fall in this aspect. Just like for every qualified transmigrator, theurgies, in Gawain¡¯s opinion, were to be used as a means of production. Of course, it was too far away to be nning these things now. In the circumstances where the camp could not even construct a small cathedral, it would be more practical to think of how to manage capital construction instead of wondering how to control religion on hisnd. Hence, Gawain decided to make use of this period of time where foreign aggression was temporarily nonexistent to build up the camp¡¯s foundation. The news regarding the eastern border that Veronica andpany had brought had given him a reminder. In his not-too-peaceful world, the dangers were much moreplicated than the Dark Wave in the Gondor Wastnd. This continent had enjoyed 700 years of peace. There were too many people restless and eager to make trouble under the appearance of peace. If one wanted to live an easy life in such a situation, one would have to be nervous first. Gawain returned to his own tent ¡ª speaking of which, more and more tents were turning into wooden houses or even houses that were more resilient and warmer. It was time this tent of his was upgraded too. He woke Betty, who was curled up on the cushion, fast asleep, and drooling all over. He had the girl bring over all the blueprints that he had umted some time ago. He spread out those blueprints one by one and then weeded out the unrealistic items (but he did not n on destroying them; what if they came in handy in the future?). Finally, he found those that he wanted. It was a certain simplified machine ¡ª metal wheels, connecting rods, and cylinder blocks were ingeniously assembled together. There were the split-up and detailed exnations of these mechanisms and structures on the blueprints. However, at the bottom of the main blueprint was a line of striking red words, ¡°Initial motive power could not be resolved, temporarily shelved¡±. ¡°Go get Reba and Heidi.¡± Gawain looked towards the little maidservant who stood in a daze beside the desk. ¡°Just say I have something¡­ Never mind, just remember to get them here.¡± Betty jogged out in a dash, leaving Gawain in thought as he faced the sheets of semi-finished blueprints. Amber¡¯s voice suddenly sounded behind him. ¡°What are you drawing here? Why can¡¯t I understand it?¡± ¡°A certain motive power trigger,¡± Gawain said without lifting his head. At the same time, he pped the half-elf bandit¡¯s w from his silver stamp with ease. ¡°In theory, this is something that only needs to consume energy to operate continuously by itself and drive other mechanisms and structure, but the design is notpleted yet.¡± Amber¡¯s whole body left the shadows. She bowed her head and studied those blueprints on the desk curiously. ¡°Oh? You¡¯re referring to those magic puppets powered using elemental cores?¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°No, not the same thing at all. This is an equipment that is more universal and basic, but its value far exceeds those magic puppets¡­ Regrettably, it stillcks the most important part.¡± Yes, the part that could not boil water¡­ Chapter 101 - The Doofus Has Made A Contribution Again! Chapter 101: The Doofus Has Made A Contribution Again! Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios After realizing that boiling water was unable to produce enough steam power, Gawain gave up on the n to create Earth¡¯s ssic steam engine. However, this didn¡¯t mean he was giving up on the goal of creating a universal, reliable, and simple motive-power machinery. He still remembered in his native world, how industrial mass production had eroded all inefficient production methods, including manual workshops, sweeping away all obstacles in the way; how roaring engines hadunched human civilization from the ground into the space age. In factories, raw materials were poured into the workshops like flowing water, and at the end of the cluster of machines, tens of thousand tons of products would gush out. The power of machinery could change entirely the mode of operation of a society. They could cut into mountains and crack rocks and could also reimnd and tten grounds. They were stronger, more precise, more efficient, and more inexhaustible than individual human beings, and these properties that reced the natural man happened to reflect humankind¡¯s true power. That was the power of thinking and creating. Of course, Gawain was also very clear about the side effects of industrial mass production: for example, pollution and the pressure that overly high production efficiency had on natural resources. Though there would be problems, they could be resolved, and survival was the highest priority now. Just like how human illnesses could be cured, but if you reject reincarnation just to avoid falling sick, that wouldn¡¯t make sense¡­ Hence, regardless of whether it was for the sake of pushing through natural cmities and man-made disasters, including the Dark Wave, to allow himself to live morefortably in this backward world or for the sake of figuring out the truths of this world, Gawain had to establish technology in this world. And to kickstart technology, the most fundamental was to resolve the problem of motive power. Steam propulsion was an impassable way, but there were still many rules in the macroscopic domain of this world that could be used. Gears could be used; levers could be used; waterwheels could be used too. And thanks to the power of magic, many technological advancements that normally could not be skipped through or that required gradual umtion to achieve on Earth, could instead go forward by leaps and bounds here. For example, from high-quality steel that was smelted through magic skills, or from all sorts of alloys and crystals that differed from Earth¡¯s but whose properties are unusually outstanding ¡ª only no uses had been found for these things in this world. Rather, the people of this world had indeed unearthed the uses of these things in their own technological route. After all, the pseudo-Earth people weren¡¯t fools either; only, due to the restrictions in their world view, they had never considered other ways of utilizing these things. Gawain looked at the cylinder body structure on the blueprint. He had drawn a cross on this structure. Now, he needs to think of a substitute to rece steam that could provide motive power for the whole apparatus. What came to mind was still the work1 of expansion or high-pressure draft, but where would the ¡®source of energy¡¯ for these high temperatures and high pressurese from? He¡¯d once considered Reba Crystals. Explosion, when simplified, was also a form of expansion. As long as it was used appropriately, the energy of explosions was also a form of motive power. Earth¡¯sbustion engines were essentially carrying out ¡®safe explosions¡¯ continuously in the cylinder. Then, could the explosion caused by Reba Crystals also be controlled and vectored to be motive power? However, afterprehending the theory behind the explosion of those crystals, he had to give up on this idea. Reba Crystals that used magic to create explosionspletely differed from Earth¡¯s gunpowder. The processes of the two types of ¡®explosions¡¯ were entirely different too. The explosions that Reba Crystals produced were essentially ¡®spells¡¯. The power of the magic circles stimted the energy inside the crystals and formed an autonomous spell-casting process, and the effect of this spell was ¡®explosion¡¯. Thus, before producing impact and expansion, what Reba Crystals first produced was a spell effect. Then, if he were to shove such crystals into the cylinder and set off the explosive magic circles, what oue would be created? The cylinder would be ignited as an alchemical product¡­ Of course, Gawain could make this cylinder extremely sturdy, extremely thick, and heavy ¡ª to the point where it could not be blown apart even if it were to be filled to the brim with crystals. Then at this point, could the explosive magic inside produce motive power? No, it would blow up the rtively weaker connecting rods, pistons, and the like as materials for the spells. As long as these items are ced within the area of effect of the magic circles, there was no escape for them. If even the connecting rods, pistons, and everything else were extremely tough and would not be blown apart, leaving only the crystals to participate in the magic reaction¡­? Alright, at this point, this equipment might really be able to work now. However, its size would be massive, because that outer wall that was absolutely explosion-proof has to exceed the area of effect of the explosive magic circles. Judged ording to the quantity and size of the core, this outer wall could be a round ball with a radius ranging from a few meters, to tens of meters. And no shrinkage was allowed ¡ª once there was a shrinkage, a portion of the equipment outside would then be located within the area of effect of the explosive spell. Then, if the operator was standing right beside it, the operator would be ignited¡­ Humans were one of the best magic conducting materials. Even if there wasn¡¯t an operator beside it, this equipment would be enveloped in constant explosions and would blow up everything close to it. This was no way to use it at all! As the ¡®explosions¡¯ of this world were so special, Gawain also gave up on the thought of using Reba Crystals to build firearms. At the least, he had given up on the idea ofunching such crystals. He had no way of stuffing these crystals into the barrel as propents because these propents would directly create a one-off explosion within the area of effect in the process of spell-casting. By then, the gun might be fine, but the person firing would definitely have exploded; the people standing beside him would probably suffer the same consequence as well¡­ Then what should he use to have work done? Steam didn¡¯t work; explosion didn¡¯t work; fuel oil¡­ He had yet to hear of something simr to petroleum in this world. Moreover, he had to take into consideration the problem of process precision in this world. Even if he designed a usable prototype machine, it would be a problem if the cksmiths could not forge the suitable spare parts. However, to be honest, this wasn¡¯t what worried him. He still remembered the Mithril safe he had dug out in his old mansion in the capital. The safe¡¯splicated magic lock was actually a type of very precise gear. The people who created such gears weren¡¯t ordinary cksmiths, but rune craftsmen who specially worked on magic articles and had a higher standing than cksmiths. Rune craftsmen were equivalent to cksmiths or carpenters who¡¯d undergone advanced training. Although they did not have the ability to cast spells, they possessed some knowledge of magic. They were usually ¡®workers¡¯ that mages educated to produce magic articles for themselves. Their workmanship was exquisite, and they were able to forge things that were more precise andplicated than the usual ironware. Moreover, they knew how to safely process all sorts of magic materials. Although there were fewer rune craftsmen and it would be costly to forge these items (mainly due to the costs of magic materials), if they could build a prototype machine for him, it would still be worth it. There were rune craftsmen amongst the hundred technical personnel who came from the capital¡­ Just as Gawain was pondering, two familiar auras appeared in his senses. Then, the portiere of the tent was lifted. Reba and Heidi walked in together. ¡°Ancestor (Lord Ancestor), you were looking for us?¡± The two of them greeted almost unanimously. ¡°Yes.¡± Gawain did not waste time either and pushed the blueprints toward them. ¡°Bring yourselves a chair ande sit here. Look at these things.¡± Reba ran to get a big chair, while Heidi casually lifted her hand and the Sculpture Hand grabbed a chair in the corner of the tent and flew towards them. The sight left Reba stupefied. But very soon, this tiny bit of disappointment of Miss Iron-Headed was reced by the blueprints that Gawain hadid out. ¡°What is this?¡± Reba¡¯s eyes sparkled. ¡°There are so many wheels and connecting rods¡­ Is it also a waterwheel?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s a type of¡­ ¡®machine¡¯ that can produce motive power,¡± Gawain casually exined. ¡°My conception is limited, so I would like to hear your thoughts. Visualize this, a type of machine, driven using the most basic magic unit. It can produce stable and reliable motive power, such as allowing wheels to spin continuously, such as making a hammer move up and down. Look at these connecting rods and wheels, and this structure ¡ª it¡¯s called a crank. These things are able to inter-convert the back-and-forth movement of the straight line into rotational movement for the wheels¡­¡± Gawain patiently exined his ideas. Heidi became absorbed in thought as she listened, while Reba¡¯s eyes twinkled brightly. She had developed a keen interest in these unconstrained and imaginative designs! A machinery that depended on the drive of magical power for operation ¡ª this concept was actually not a new one. This world where supernatural powers existed had a natural advantage in many aspects. Of course, they were also many things that were ¡®ahead of time¡¯ in Gawain¡¯s eyes. For example, the magic puppets that mages created, the automatic doors of the vault in the mountains that were activated using cipher keys, and the magic lock that he had seen back in the capital that could distinguish the user¡¯s identity. All these were considered applications of magic mechanisms, and a considerable amount of them could even be described as ¡®ck technology¡¯. However, Reba instinctively felt that the ¡®magic motive-power trigger¡¯ that Gawain had proposed was an entirely different thingpared to those products. The majority of its structure were intuitive and direct mechanisms; it did not require the involvement of magical power. Its function and goal were especially simple ¡ª to provide motive power, and this portion of motive power was prepared for the next stage of machinery. Its specifications and standards were in and to the point. Abandoning everything that allowed the craftsman to ¡®be free¡¯, in exchange was the numerical index as precise as the rules of magic, striving to aplish the goal using the most logical and most sinct way. Traditional rune craftsmen or mages would often carve a heap of patterns on the magic articles that they¡¯d created and even racked their brains to find ways to conceal those truly usable runes inside theplicated, encrypted lines, afraid of them being seen and understood by others. Reba thought hard for a long while. A term that Gawain often said to her finally surfaced in her mind: universality. Just like Magic Web 1, this equipment was also ¡®universal¡¯. It wasn¡¯t designed to be a treasure or work of art. Instead, just like those Reba Crystals being baked at steelworks ¡ª what they wanted was arge amount and for it to be sturdy and reliable. Gawain finished exining his own thoughts and finally pointed at the cylinder that already had a cross on it. ¡°Now, we¡¯re just left with this step. It needs an initial motive power source, so that this ¡®piston¡¯ can move. I¡¯d thought of using expanded gas toplete this process, so I designed this airtight ¡®air cylinder¡¯, but you don¡¯t have to be restricted by my ideas. ¡ª From the viewpoint of magic, what kind of spell do you think can create a driving energy whose supply can be non-stop and recycled?¡± Reba held onto the chair while her body swayed here and there. ¡°Carve a super-mini typhoon magic circle inside it? To blow wind hard?¡± Heidi frowned and contemted seriously. ¡°Not too practical. The typhoon magic circle is tooplicated. Besides, the air current that it can draw in a closed environment is limited¡­¡± While speaking, she casually condensed a semi-translucent Sculpture Hand beside her. However, she quickly dissipated the magic again. ¡°It would be simple if we could use the Sculpture Hand and propel it inside. Regrettably, this is a very unique spell. There¡¯s no corresponding magic circle. Moreover¡­ it feels so strange to have a Sculpture Hand pushing inside the machine.¡± ¡°Sculpture Hand¡­¡± Reba¡¯s eyes rolled up as she thought hard. Suddenly, it was as if some train of thought was unfolded. ¡°Oh yes, it¡¯s not a must to use air currents¡­ So much so that we can even dispose of this thing called ¡®air cylinder¡¯?¡± Watching Reba¡¯s eyes that were growing brighter and brighter, Gawain could not help but feel delighted at heart. The doofus was going to make a contribution again!? Heidi also became curious. ¡°What have you thought of?¡± Reba gestured happily. ¡°Aunt, do you remember that I had a spell that I could never learn back then¡­¡± ¡°Other than fireballs, which other spells have you mastered?¡± ¡°No, that trick level one. You believed that I would definitely be able to master it regardless of how dense I was.¡± Reba waved her hands with effort. ¡°Subsequently, I secretly drew runes inside the glove, pretending that I could cast the spell. In the end, I was hung up and beaten up by you and dad¡­¡± Gawain was speechless. Was there a need for this girl to be gleeful when speaking about these?! Meanwhile, Heidi had clearly recalled what that ¡®trick¡¯ Reba was referring to was. ¡°Repulsion trick?¡± Chapter 102 - Magic-Powered Engine Chapter 102: Magic-Powered Engine Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios ¡®Trivial spells¡¯ were categorized as spells that weren¡¯t official. Even apprentice mages would be able to execute these fundamental spells. They were extremely easy to learn in normal situations, and the construction of the spells was so simple that even young children could understand. But the corresponding effects were extremely limited, and the functionality was very direct. In fact, many of the trivial spells didn¡¯t possess any practical usage forbat or work. They could only serve as support spells for official spells or ¡®preschool education¡¯. Gawain knew a few ¡®trivial spells¡¯ that were very interesting, like the Transformation spell¡¯s simplified version ¡®Dye spell¡¯. It could change the target¡¯s hair color ording to the situation, but apart from the change in color, there wasn¡¯t any lethal power, and it was only able to be maintained for two hours. There was also the spirit-tempering trivial spell ¡®Toughen Will¡¯. After execution, the spellcaster¡¯s vision would summon a phantom that would immediately start to recite the spellcaster¡¯s youthful and sorrowful experiences. It would keep on repeating until the spellcaster stopped the spell. It had an unbelievable effect on toughening willpower¡­ Okay, youthful and sorrowful stories were just Gawain¡¯s own understanding. The local mages realized that the phantoms would mainly be reciting the spellcasters¡¯ failures and foolish mistakes from their entire life. Because the phantom would only be seen by the spellcaster, it was something like a mental hint to oneself. It was a technique that was in between a spell and a skill. It was very effective when used to toughen the willpower, to self-reflect, and to summarize one¡¯s experiences. But most of the people weren¡¯t willing to learn this trivial spell. Official mages weren¡¯t willing to be grouped as ¡®spellcasters¡¯ together with people that merely learned trivial spells. It referred to those street performers who used trivial spells to deceive uneducatedmoners or to those shoddy apprentices who relied on trivial spells to trick countryside knights. Even apprentice mages wouldn¡¯t feel proud for mastering a few trivial spells¡­ On the other hand, if one wasn¡¯t even able to master a few trivial spells, it would definitely be humiliating¡­ Reba was obviously a dauntless general of the shamed and humiliated mages. The Repulsion trivial spell was something that had nearly caused Reba to have a mental trauma during her childhood. It was a rather powerful spell among the various trivial spells. It was the prerequisite spell for the force field-type spells. It was in the same category but a variant of the trivial spell, ¡®Telekinesis¡¯. It was also a training method for advanced spells like the Gravity Control spell, Levitation spell, or the Sculpture Hand. The Repulsion spell¡¯s function was to push away anything in front or within the vicinity of the spellcaster (as for which effect, it would be decided by the type of runes added during the construction of the spell). As for the object being pushed away, it would be up to the spellcaster¡¯s magic strength. It was one of the rare trivial spells that could be effective during battle¡­ to push away enemies or to make the enemies lose their bnce. Gawain knew of this trivial spell, but he had never thought of it. His mind was only filled with the forces of expansion or high temperature and high-pressure airflow. Even though his mind would sh with the electric-motor model asionally, he didn¡¯t corrte it with this world¡¯s most fundamental ¡®Repulsion spell¡¯. After seeing how Reba described her idea in high spirits, Gawain used a self-mocking attitude to reflect upon himself. He told himself not to overestimate his creative thoughts and other world¡¯s experiences as a ¡®transmigrator¡¯. These thoughts and experiences might be very effective, but there were plenty of moments when it would be a transmigrator¡¯s restriction and obstacle. Just like this time, Gawain Cecil¡¯s memories contained the Repulsion spell, but why didn¡¯t he think of it? Because Gawain¡¯s mind was filled with Earth¡¯s ssic engine model¡­ Reba had never seen a steam engine before and wouldn¡¯t know what an internalbustion engine was. She wouldn¡¯t even understand why Gawain insisted on adding a sealed cylinder in the machine; therefore, her thoughts didn¡¯t have such restrictions. She merely required Gawain to propose a rough idea, and she would use her fine brain and her magical knowledge of this world to think of a perfect solution. Of course, there was another very important reason ¡ª that Reba was indeed abnormally talented. With her highly creative ideas, as long as she didn¡¯t starve to death in this world, she would probably be a significant person. She would at least be those people who were printed on history books and would take up two lessons to fully exin their aplishments. But one had to admit that: how could the other world people be silly? They simply didn¡¯t consider things in a certain direction! Heidi¡¯s train of thoughts had opened up because of Reba¡¯s idea. She took a piece of paper and casually drew runes and lines on it. ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ the Repulsion spell is very suited for simple magic circles. In fact, there are plenty of magical mechanisms like the automatic door, and the mostmon floor traps are all actuated by the Repulsion spell. But no one had ever thought to transform such energy into sustainable operation and standardized machines¡­ Ancestor, your wisdom and thoughts are truly unfathomable.¡± As she spoke, she handed over the rough sketch she had done. The back of Gawain¡¯s head was perspiring with cold sweat after getting praised by Heidi. I am not done with my self-reflection yet¡­ After taking over Heidi¡¯s sketches, he took a nce and realized that it wasn¡¯t just the sketches of the simplest Repulsion magic circle; there were also markings of the corresponding magic effects and the cheapest material for assembly. She was truly hardworking and frugal. If the camp didn¡¯t have Heidi, there would be plenty of pointless expenses. The trio¡¯s minds were working together as their discussion revolved around the ¡®Repulsion spell¡¯ that was one of the most fundamental spells. Reba pointed at Gawain¡¯s initial blueprint of the cylinders and said, ¡°If we are using the Repulsion spell, we can simply do away with the sealed cylinders. Perhaps, we will leave behind a protective cover to avoid any foreign material from dropping inside, but it wouldn¡¯t need to be so tight.¡± ¡°We can carve the Repulsion magic circle at the undey for it to actuate the ¡®piston¡¯ thing.¡± Heidi¡¯s interest in research was aroused. ¡°But how will the piston return after being pushed away?¡± ¡°Using inertia ¡ª this steel wheel¡¯s inertia. It¡¯s called the sprocket wheel.¡± Gawain pointed at the sprocket wheel that was connected to the piston. ¡°It is connected to the crankshaft and piston. When the piston is away from the Repulsion magic circle, the sprocket wheel will turn and reset the piston.¡± Amber had been staring nkly for a long time. At the start, she couldn¡¯t understand at all, but as Gawain and the others continued to discuss, she finally had some clues. After all, the fundamental theorem of this machine wasn¡¯t consideredplicated. The main structure was a bunch of wheels and connected shafts. As a thief, Amber had frequent contact with various mechanisms and traps; thus, she was rather familiar with these wheels and shafts. When everyone was discussing the problem of the piston reset, she murmured something by the side, ¡°What about the process when the piston is trying to return to the Repulsion magic circle? The magic circle will still be pushing outwards¡­ but thisrge wheel will only be able to continue acting after turning thest half of the circle. It means that the machine will bepeting against itself.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡± Heidi frowned in response. ¡°When the piston is moving away, it naturally needs the force from the Repulsion magic circle. But when the piston is resetting, the Repulsion magic circle will counteract with those useful forces¡­¡± ¡°Useful forces would be called ¡®work¡¯.¡± Gawain made use of this opportunity to impart them with the terms he was familiar with. At the same time, he had already thought of a solution about the machine peting against itself¡¯. For the Earth¡¯s four-stroke engines and other ssic engines, the piston reset process required venttion to relieve the pressure in the cylinder. But for this machine, the Repulsion magic circle had to stop working the moment the piston was resetting. ¡°Rune triggers. We can use rune triggers to control the Repulsion magic circle. When the piston is close to the magic circle, the rune trigger will be connected. When the piston is being reset by the sprocket wheel and approaching the undey, the rune trigger¡¯s connection will be severed¡­¡± Heidi¡¯s mind emerged with various magic runes before she asked, ¡°But how are we going to control it? The sprocket wheel is moving very quickly and so is the piston. Magic circles with such quick reactions that had to instantly change based on the position of the rune trigger¡­ This would require high-grade runes¡­¡± Before Heidi had finished her thinking, Reba casually said, ¡°Put the rune triggers on the piston then. When the piston is near the undey, it will be connected and will push the piston away. It will be pushed away once it is close¡­ pushed away once it is close ¡ª Wow, so bouncy and vivacious.¡± What kind of image had appeared in thisss¡¯s mind for the words ¡®bouncy and vivacious¡¯ to emerge? Heidi and Gawain nced at Reba. The former was astonished at the delicate solution, while thetter was surprised that this foolish girl was truly an engineering genius. How was she able to switch between the magical knowledge and the mechanical knowledge so seamlessly? She was able to instantly jump ahead of his thoughts and obtain a result from the new train of thoughts. Didn¡¯t her brain require any cooldown time? Or were the two kinds of knowledge actually synchronized in her brain? Whichever side was able to provide a solution, she would be able to take hold of that solution? Reba¡¯s neck withdrew when she was stared at as she asked, ¡°Did I say something wrong?¡± ¡°No, no, no, this is a very good idea.¡± Heidi quickly shook her hand. ¡°I have even thought of more things. Why are we carving only one Repulsion magic circle? The piston is going to operate back and forth, so we can simply carve the Repulsion magic circle on the other side of the mechanism too. This way, the piston will be able to receive twice the power in a single repetition¡­¡± Gawain looked at the sketches seriously while his mind was thinking about the problem of the rune trigger¡¯s position. He suddenly had an idea too, ¡°Also, fixing the rune trigger on the piston isn¡¯t the best method either. This means that it will only be connected for an instant during the operation. We can connect it with the sprocket wheel¡¯s axis and allow two magic circles on both ends of the piston to be controlled by this rune trigger. We can then use a kind of ¡®prod¡¯ system to switch the rune triggers¡¯ magic circuit. It also means that when the sprocket wheel is at the first half of the turning process, the runes will be within the first magic circle. When the sprocket wheel turns to the second half, the runes will be connected to the other magic circle. This way, when the piston is being pushed away for the first time, it will be under the force of the first Repulsion magic circle until the piston reaches the furthest point. At this moment, the first Repulsion magic circle will switch off, and the second magic circle will activate, allowing the piston to reverse in direction. What do you think?¡± Reba¡¯s mouth was agape. She took a look at Heidi before looking back at Gawain while pouting her lips and feeling dejected. ¡°As expected, I am still the stupidest¡­¡± ¡°You are not stupid at all!¡± Gawain felt both funny and embarrassed by thisss who was habitually self-abased. ¡°The theory of the Repulsion magic circle was started by you. Me and your aunt are merely following up on this basis.¡± Reba continued to pout. ¡°But this machine is still proposed by Lord Ancestor.¡± ¡°But without your enlightenment, my machine will probably remain a blueprint for eternity.¡± Gawainughed. ¡°Aren¡¯t you incredible?¡± ¡°Really?¡± Gawain smiled and nodded with Heidi. ¡°Really.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, Ancestor. What name are you giving to this equipment?¡± Heidi suddenly recalled something. ¡°This is apletely new thing¡­ You have the right to give it a name.¡± ¡°Name, huh¡­¡± Gawain pondered, and a name immediately came into his mind. ¡°I shall name it Magic-Powered Engine.¡± Heidi listened to the unfamiliar and strangebination of words. A smile slowly appeared. ¡°Ancestor, that is indeed a great name.¡± Reba nodded repeatedly. ¡°Yea, yea, I might not understand the meaning, but it sounds very cool!¡± Seeing his two ¡®granddaughters¡¯ excited, Gawain lowered his head and looked at his sketches while a new idea appeared in his mind. This structure, could it be further improved? Or should he say¡­ Since the Repulsion magic circle and the rune triggers had alreadyid the foundation, why shouldn¡¯t he simply make an even more advanced machine with an entirely different framework? Like the use of electromaic force to actuate electric motors ¡ª eliminating the pistons and crankshafts. Directly carve the Repulsion magic circles in a certain angle on the annr shell to actuate the magic guided rotor inside? Chapter 103 - Talk with a Ball Chapter 103: Talk with a Ball Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios To be honest, after receiving the enlightenment from Reba, Gawain immediately realized that this small ¡®Repulsion¡¯ spell was simply a great pleasant surprise from this world. It was easy to use, low consumption, stable, and had a good effect. Anyone who had experience with magical mechanisms would be familiar with this fundamental magic. Be it the magic door that opened automatically or anything else, as long as there were mechanisms, it required the actuating structure, and it would definitely consist of the ¡®Repulsion¡¯ spell. But how much was the power output? As a kind of spell, its power depended on how much magic you supplied or the performance of the magic guided material. In Gawain¡¯s opinion, the spell efficiency was extremely high. The treasure vault in the mountain had a door that was forged with the dense purple steel, and a single door would be several tons in weight. The operation of the door was done by an ancient mechanism that basically didn¡¯t have mechanical optimization but was still able to operate with ease. Of course, this was because the ancient Gondor Empire had its ck technology, and the magic-guided crystals that they purified had wicked capabilities. But the current era¡¯s ¡®inferior goods¡¯ weren¡¯t bad either as there were plenty of magic traps that could push giant rocks! For all these magical mechanisms, the usage of the Repulsion magic circle was actually rather primitive and botched. They were basically using the concept to use brute force to create miracles and using the Repulsion magic circles to shove. They never considered using crankshafts and sprocket wheels to conduct optimization¡­ As such, Gawain had a high expectation for Magic-Powered Engine. He believed that even if he used low-cost materials to create the engine, the motive power generated by the engine would still be unbelievable. After the discussion of the ¡®imitation¡¯ Magic-Powered Engine was done, Gawain started to think of how to use the Repulsion magic circle in the future before Reba and Heidi finished the modifications, and they verified the details of the blueprint. He had already expanded the use of the Repulsion magic circle to theposition of electric motors. A motor that used a stator and a rotor naturally had additional advantages: its structure was rtively simple, so the malfunction rate was greatly reduced. During operation, the rotor¡¯s repulsion point could function at full load. The initial torque was great, but it wouldn¡¯t be like the piston-type engines where initial torque would be insufficient and would need to wait until the angr velocity was increased before the torque could reach the greatest. The electric motor¡¯s size could bepressed to a very small size, and with the energy supply from Magic Web 1, it would have a higher efficiency. Due to the benefits of magical technology, the ¡®rotor-type Magic-Powered Engine¡¯ wouldn¡¯t need carbon brushes and wouldn¡¯t need a ¡®prod mechanism¡¯ to frequently switch the rune triggers. This would lower the malfunction rate and also increase the machine¡¯s lifespan (because of fewer friction parts), making it rather cost-effective¡­ But it had obvious ws too. There wasn¡¯t a need topare with the pros and cons of Earth¡¯s electric motors and internalbustion engines. Just looking at ¡®this world¡¯s¡¯ technology, the rotor-type Magic-Powered Engine in Gawain¡¯s imagination would require arge quantity of ¡®repulsion points¡¯ along the entire outer shell. It would ensure that the augmentation process was bnced and continuous. With so many independent magic circles in close vicinity, there was also a need to ensure they wouldn¡¯t cause interference to one another, to ensure that the force exerted would be precise and unanimous, to ensure the urate distance between the rotors, etc. This way, it would lower the technological difficulty on the engine¡¯s mechanical structure but would increase the difficulty of the magic circles¡¯ drawing. Thetter¡­ would require skilled workers that were harder to nurture. Theplexity of this aspect would be much more troublesome than theplexity of the mechanical aspect. No matter what, this concept was still particrly attractive, and it was impossible for Gawain to give up on it. Hence, he took out a nk piece of paper from the side and started to make sketches on the paper under the curious attention of Amber, Reba, and Heidi. He drew a ring-shaped shell with an inner rotor that had many nted des. On the outer shell, there were many corresponding Repulsion magic circles. The structure was just so simple. ¡°This is¡­¡± Heidi¡¯s brows lifted as she asked curiously with hesitation. Gawain put down his brush and spoke with some excitement, ¡°Second-generation machine.¡± Apart from him, the three other individuals had stupefied expressions. After quite a while, Amber looked at Gawain as though she was looking at a monster and asked, ¡°How does your brain operate?¡± ¡°You are not allowed to insult my Ancestor!¡± Reba was instantly enraged and brought up her magic staff to point at Amber¡¯s head, but she quickly turned her head and asked, ¡°Lord Ancestor, how does your brain operate?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Reba only reacted two secondster before she withdrew her magic staff and apologized sincerely, ¡°Sorry, Lord Ancestor, have I spoken without using my brain again¡­?¡± ¡°No. That isn¡¯t the problem.¡± The half-elf youngdy who had just gotten out of the danger of having her head exploding didn¡¯t tone down at all. She continued to stare and exim, ¡°The discussion of the first-generation blueprint hasn¡¯t even ended yet, and you actually made a second-generation blueprint? Furthermore, be it the principle or the structure, it looks like it was born from a different mother¡­ Your brain probably has arge pile of blueprints waiting in there right?!¡± A mouthful of saliva nearly choked Gawain¡¯s airway; this fellow had unexpectedly guessed things correctly for once? ¡°It is just an iplete idea.¡± He quickly pulled back his expression that had nearly crumbled. He then looked at Heidi who had a much more meticulous mind and asked, ¡°Its theory is very simple. Do you think it¡¯s feasible?¡± ¡°It is indeed much simpler, and it is very feasible in theory¡­ But to do it in reality, it will not be easy.¡± Heidi took a nce and noticed the problem, and it was the same answer within Gawain¡¯s conception. ¡°When so many Repulsion magic circles are arranged in order, and in such symmetrical and close positions, it looks like it is specially prepared for magic resonance. There is a 100% chance that it will cause mutual interference, and it¡¯s unknown if it can continue moving after the activation.¡± ¡°What if the diameter is bigger, and each ¡®repulsion point¡¯ is further from one another?¡± ¡°¡­It isn¡¯t as feasible. I can understand your intention but these repulsion points need to continuously ¡®ry¡¯ in order to rotate the center part with the greatest efficiency. Hence, the distance between each repulsion point is limited. Instead of increasing the distance, why not put in an additional magic-inhibiting structure in between each magic circle to block out the interference. But doing it this way¡­ the costs will be very horrific.¡± Gawain¡¯s tooth was immediately aching. Magic inhibiting materials. Even the cheapest would beparable to the precious metals among the magic-guided materials. If it was going to be used for mass production¡­ Even if he died now and was buried for Reba and Heidi to sell tickets for the kingdom¡¯s citizens to visit him, they wouldn¡¯t be able to afford it¡­ Wait¡ª what kind of metaphor was this? ¡°Make a prototype as a study when there is spare time. Consider it an umtion of technical knowledge.¡± Gawain sighed. ¡°The priority is to finish the prototype of the piston-type engine. Most of the parts can be forged by Hummel and his apprentices. As for the difficult parts and Repulsion mechanisms, hand them over to the newly arrived rune craftsmen. Remember, don¡¯t worry about the cost for the first machine. As long as it can operate in a stabilized and safe manner, it will be our sess¡­ Also if some of the functions have to be sacrificed, it isn¡¯t a problem too.¡± Heidi and Reba brought arge pile of design ns and left. After considering the administrative pressure that Heidi would face, Gawain had handed the main task of the Magic-Powered Engine prototype to Reba, while Heidi would be providing technical support. This was something that made Reba extremely pleased. After the duo left the tent, Gawain kept the rest of the design ns and handed it to Betty who was squatting nearby and using a small branch to practice writing in a very serious manner. ¡°Keep it up. That¡¯s right. I have asked the carpenters to make a small study table for you. They will deliver it to your tentter in the evening. Also, there will also be a set of stationeries and some white paper that will be provided¡­ Use them sparingly.¡± Betty, still storing the design ns in the sheepskin bag, was shocked. She then immediately revealed an especially happy expression before bowing forcefully and nearly fell forward. ¡°Thank you Master~! You are awesome!¡± The maidservant was almost hopping as she ran out. Gawain smiled while looking at the hopping back view of the young maidservant and couldn¡¯t help but shake his head. At the side, Amber had strange eyes as she said, ¡°It feels weird. You are always so busy, but you actually have the time to take care of that silly maidservant¡­ Could it be that your real obsession is actually like this? Ehh¡­ People like you will always make a move on your own maidservant¡­ Hey hey hey, pain pain pain!¡± Gawain pulled Amber¡¯s ear with force and spoke in an unpleasant tone, ¡°What obsession and making what move? I simply like that child¡¯s diligence and studious drive. Can¡¯t your brain be a little cleaner?¡± Amber rubbed her ear while looking at Gawain with anger. ¡°Didn¡¯t you always say that my brain was very clean?¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­I was saying that your brain was empty, ignorant, and ipetent!!¡± ¡°Ha? It turns out that you¡¯re not praising me?!¡± Gawain nced at this embarrassing half-elf before walking towards the exit of his tent. As expected, Amber couldn¡¯t suppress her curiosity and followed along. ¡°Where are you going? Are you sneaking off to eat some good food? Bring me along!¡± Gawain waited for Amber to catch up before replying without consideration, ¡°I¡¯m going to have a heart-to-heart chat with thatrge metal ball. It has been holed up in the tent for a long time, and it should be willing to say something to me now.¡± Amber heard the reply and instantly lost interest. ¡°Oh, then I shall not be going¡­¡± Gawain conveniently reached over and was preparing to trap thiszy bum in between his armpits. But he had failed this time; Amber, who already suffered such an experience, had instantly blended into the shadows and caused Gawain to feel emptiness in his hand. The half-elf thief had already run over ten meters away. ¡°Go and have your heart-to-heart talk with the ball~¡± Amber stood from far away and spoke with a proud face, ¡°I will go and ask for a meal from Betty~~¡± Gawain didn¡¯t know whether tough or to cry as he watched this ¡®nominal guard¡¯ who did things her own way as she waved and turned around to leave. In front of the special tent at the south of the camp, Gawain inquired about the metal ball¡¯s situation from the guards. ¡°Is there anymotion from that fellow inside the tent?¡± ¡°No.¡± The responsible soldiers stood straight and replied, ¡°We have been guarding this ce. That ancient magical device had been staying inside the tent obediently and didn¡¯t have any intention to exit.¡± ¡®Ancient magical device¡¯ was the exnation that Gawain gave to the soldiers who witnessed the metallic ball. From the looks of it, they had already epted this exnation. After encouraging the soldiers that were standing guard seriously, Gawain walked into the tent. The metallic ball was floating in the middle of the tent and was roughly half a meter above the surface of the ground. It looked like a floating device from science fiction. But this science-fiction ball started to speak in a garrulous tone, ¡°Damn it, I thought you had already forgotten that you left me here! There is only a group of retarded soldiers standing guard in the vicinity, or that annoying little old man, or the female human that always wears a red dress. All of them are very boring. Let me tell you, if this ball didn¡¯t value promises, I would have already left this morning¡­¡± Gawain ignored the nagging of the ball and walked in front of it. ¡°I¡¯m here to have a chat with you today. I need to verify something first. You aren¡¯t¡­ a person¡­ a ball from here, right?¡± Comment (0) COMMENT FIRST Rate this chapter Vote with Power Stone Chapter 104: Foreign Person¡­ Ball Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The ball was probably startled by Gawain¡¯s question. There wasn¡¯t any method to determine if the ball was startled as it was merely a smooth metallic ball; it didn¡¯t have any facial features or any bodynguage. When it was floating in midair without moving, you wouldn¡¯t even know if it was listening. But it did stay silent for two seconds before replying, ¡°Aren¡¯t you talking nonsense? I was transported to this ce from another ce by you. I am definitely not a local ball!¡± ¡°You should know that isn¡¯t what I mean.¡± Gawain remained unmoved and said, ¡°You must havee from a ce that is further away. In fact, it wouldn¡¯t be appropriate to describe it as purely further away. A metallic ball that can think, talk, and can even release strange energy waves, with control over magic and metal. I have never heard of such a strange race in this world.¡± ¡°That is because you don¡¯t have enough experience.¡± The ball seemed to be mocking as it said, ¡°During the past two days, I have already found out about you people from the self-proimed druid. It seems like your people have gone through a great regression and are now unbelievably backward. How much could you have witnessed in your lifetime? Just based on your measly human eyesight and knowledge from oral tradition, the things you can experience in your entire lifetime is still little!¡± When Gawain heard this exnation, his heart was much steadier. This ball was right. Most of the people in this era indeed had their eyes ¡®covered¡¯. The deficient information ry method and the chaotic division of the continent made it hard for people tomunicate and gather new information. Only a rare few high-ranked noble ns, mages, or knights would be paying attention to the outside world. The others, including a feudal noble like Viscount Andrew of the Tanzan Town, were all shutting and closing themselves off. The farmers that were either facing the soil or the sky would only be able to receive fresh information in their entire lifetime through a few pieces of newspapers. As such, if Gawain was also a person whose eyes were ¡®covered¡¯, then it would indeed be ridiculous for him to judge that the ball came from outer space just because ¡®he had never seen it before¡¯. But the real Gawain didn¡¯t have covered eyes: he had been staring at this world¡¯s evolution for countless years. He had been observing this continent before monkeys started to walk straight. He might not have seen the situation in other continents, but no matter how the other continents¡¯ lifeforms were isted from this ce or how strange they might be, it still wouldn¡¯t evolve into a metallic ball from a pile of carbon-based life! Unless, there was a cheat-like race outside of Gawain¡¯s vision that developed rapidly and reached the zenith of science and technology, allowing them to create this alloy, anti-gravity, and artificial intelligence. Furthermore, this thing had been stranded on the Loren Continent 1,000 years ago and had been captured by a group of Gondor Master Mages¡­ Instead of believing such an exnation, Gawain would rather believe that Amber would return Viscount Andrew¡¯s butler¡¯s pocket watch. Thus, Gawain smiled and arrived in front of the ball before pressing his hand on the surface of the ball. The ball immediately screamed, ¡°Hey, hey, what are you doing!? I am going to be shamed into anger! I will¡ª¡± The ball was interrupted halfway because Gawain used magical resonance to transmit a message into the ball¡¯s brain (then again, does a ball have such things?): ¡°Don¡¯t you feel that your appearance and this world¡¯s living beings are drastically different?¡± The ball fell into silence for a few seconds before using magical resonance to reply: ¡°¡­You can just talk using your mouth. Why do you have to do it so mysteriously?¡± ¡°Because I know there are some things that you don¡¯t wish for others to know.¡± Gawain smiled and said, ¡°Therefore, you can just tell me alone.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t wish to let you know!¡± Gawain remained calm. ¡°Where are you from? How did you get stranded in this world? How long have you been here?¡± The ball pretended to be muddled. ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re talking about¡­ Isn¡¯t your mental association a little too good?¡± ¡°Sigh, I can understand why you are trying so hard. However, you have to admit that your novel and outstanding appearance doesn¡¯t allow you to conceal such information. Furthermore, you are underestimating the knowledge I have. Did that druid called Pittman mention to you that most of the people in this territory might have been born after the civilization regressed, but the feudal lord here¡ª that would be me ¡ª revived from over seven hundred years ago when the civilization was at its prime. Furthermore, I am a natural science schr.¡± The ball was in utter silence this time. It was obvious that the unreserved druid, who had a mouth like Amber¡¯s, had mentioned it before. With the open mind of a transmigrator and the current information Gawain had, he was able to determine that this ball was a guest from a foreign ce. But he wasn¡¯t able to determine if it had transmigrated to this world like him, or did it merelye from another? But no matter what, this unlucky fellow was definitely the most unfortunate one among all transmigrators: its appearance was entirely different from others¡­ This was goddamned awkward. Inparison to those ck-haired and ck-eyed transmigrators who were treated as the child of the devil, this situation was at least two hundred times more awkward. How were you going to use an atypical form to exin to someone else that you came from a strange remote eastern nation? For his own safety and because he didn¡¯t know this ball¡¯s inside information, Gawain couldn¡¯t just reveal his secret of being a transmigrator either. Instead, he could exin that he had another identity: a natural science schr who came from a developed society 700 years ago. This identity should be much easier for this ball tomunicate with aspared to those ¡®ignorant fools that cut themselves from information¡¯. ¡°Think about it carefully. Your secret might not be as critical as you imagine.¡± Gawain lowered his tone and said, ¡°I am not a member of those fanatical religions or those Master Mages that studied you from a thousand years ago. Hence, I don¡¯t really mind if you are a foreign guest, and I will not call some god¡¯s name to purify you, nor will I use metallic tools to drill holes on your body. I simply wish to have a good conversation with you. On the one hand, it will satisfy my personal curiosity. On the other hand, I will also be able to help you.¡± ¡°You need to know that you have nowhere else to go. The other side of the mountain is a wastnd, and it is filled with the monsters that you saw two days ago. If you head north, it will be to a feudal kingdom that was founded after civilization declined. Ny-nine percent of the people there are more stubborn, extreme, superstitious, and unreasonable than me. Since you can only stay here, why not be friends with me? ¡°Of course, if you are still suspicious, I can let you leave. You can try going to the human nation or the southern side of the mountain. But I cannot guarantee that you will make it back alive. Also¡ª¡± ¡°I can¡¯t remember very clearly¡­¡± When the magic was resonating, the ball suddenly echoed with a metallic and trembling voice that interrupted Gawain¡¯s words. Gawain blinked before realizing that the ball was heeding him. He quickly controlled his excited emotions and asked curiously, ¡°Can¡¯t remember clearly?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t remember clearly where I came from, or how I came here,¡± the ball said with a smothered voice. ¡°Your guesses are correct. I dide from a ¡®very far¡¯ ce, and it is much further than you can ever imagine. One thousand years ago, your people had the concept ofs and a universe. Hence, you should have it too. I shall tell you directly. Back then, those people who studied me had discussed it privately and were guessing that I came from another. But I want to say, it is even further than that. The distance has exceeded the concept of ¡®universe and outer space¡¯.¡± Gawain had a stern expression. ¡°In fact, certain astronomy knowledge wasn¡¯t entirely lost either. But after losing this aspect of observation and calction skills, the rted knowledge had degenerated and twisted into a legend. But didn¡¯t you say that you don¡¯t remember clearly about your homnd, or how you arrived here? How can you be so certain that you didn¡¯t cross the universe and outer space to arrive here?¡± The ball¡¯s voice sounded a little helpless. ¡°I lost my memory, but I didn¡¯t lose mymon sense. If the two ces¡¯ws of physics are different, how can it be the same universe?¡± Gawain had an emotional and excited feeling that was hard to suppress. Arade (although it was just a ball); arade that had transmigrated just like him (although it was just a ball); arade that could discuss concepts ofs, the universe, and time travel with him (although it was just a ball). Gawain who had been alone in this world for tens of thousands of years, this was an extremely emotional event. Of course, Gawain now had new friends and rtives (although the bloodline was rather far away). Amber, Reba, Heidi, and Byron were all people that he trusted but were they able to discuss the universe or outer space with him? Mm¡­ It might be possible if Reba¡¯s mind was expanded a littlerger¡­ Gawain had worked hard to suppress all the disorderly thoughts that had surged out instantly. He had a hard time finally finding a new question. ¡°Are you so sure that you have crossed the universe? Have you ever thought thews of physics in the universe might not have ¡®equal proportions¡¯? Perhaps each star system might have a differentw?¡± ¡°Sigh, how can I not think of that. But it is impossible,¡± the ball spoke in a dispirited manner. ¡°My race has already explored all our remaining survivors in the entire universe and has even started to consider opening a hole in the world¡¯s barrier. If the universe¡¯sw of physics was disproportional, we would have written it in the elementary textbooks¡­ Thus, since the first day I arrived, I had already excluded the possibility that I was stranded on a foreign.¡± Gawain was dumbstruck. This ball actually came from such a powerful and advanced civilization? They had already explored the entire universe? They were even researching how to travel to other universes? Gawain was a transmigrator, and when he realized that thews of physics here were different from Earth, he already guessed he had entered a so-called ¡®foreign universe¡¯. As such, he wasn¡¯t too surprised by the ball¡¯s exnation about crossing over to a new universe. But he was very surprised that this ball¡¯s race was actually so advanced¡­ Then could the ball be Gawain¡¯s chance for a science and technology explosion, allowing him to dominate the entire continent in half a year, unifying the entire in one year, and rushing into outer space in two years? After thinking like this for a moment, Gawainughed. Just the thought was fine. Thews of physics were different¡­ In this bizarre world, anyone would be caught unprepared if they were to transmigrate to this ce. Furthermore, this ball should be more unprepared than Gawain: the ball only had its own outlook of the world, but Gawain had the knowledge of Gawain Cecil¡­ At this moment, the ball was deeply moved as it said, ¡°It has truly been tough to find a human to speak with. This era¡¯s humans are all ignorant and prideful. Let alone talking about the universe or outer space, the people in your camp don¡¯t even understand what the atmosphere is¡­ I finally found a person that could have a conversation with me.¡± Gawain¡¯s bitter tears welled up in response. The ball had truly spoken what he felt in his heart. He was also deeply moved in his heart too. Foreigners meeting on a foreign. This was truly the destiny of the ball! Chapter 104 - Foreign Person… Ball Chapter 104: Foreign Person¡­ Ball Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The ball was probably startled by Gawain¡¯s question. There wasn¡¯t any method to determine if the ball was startled as it was merely a smooth metallic ball; it didn¡¯t have any facial features or any bodynguage. When it was floating in midair without moving, you wouldn¡¯t even know if it was listening. But it did stay silent for two seconds before replying, ¡°Aren¡¯t you talking nonsense? I was transported to this ce from another ce by you. I am definitely not a local ball!¡± ¡°You should know that isn¡¯t what I mean.¡± Gawain remained unmoved and said, ¡°You must havee from a ce that is further away. In fact, it wouldn¡¯t be appropriate to describe it as purely further away. A metallic ball that can think, talk, and can even release strange energy waves, with control over magic and metal. I have never heard of such a strange race in this world.¡± ¡°That is because you don¡¯t have enough experience.¡± The ball seemed to be mocking as it said, ¡°During the past two days, I have already found out about you people from the self-proimed druid. It seems like your people have gone through a great regression and are now unbelievably backward. How much could you have witnessed in your lifetime? Just based on your measly human eyesight and knowledge from oral tradition, the things you can experience in your entire lifetime is still little!¡± When Gawain heard this exnation, his heart was much steadier. This ball was right. Most of the people in this era indeed had their eyes ¡®covered¡¯. The deficient information ry method and the chaotic division of the continent made it hard for people tomunicate and gather new information. Only a rare few high-ranked noble ns, mages, or knights would be paying attention to the outside world. The others, including a feudal noble like Viscount Andrew of the Tanzan Town, were all shutting and closing themselves off. The farmers that were either facing the soil or the sky would only be able to receive fresh information in their entire lifetime through a few pieces of newspapers. As such, if Gawain was also a person whose eyes were ¡®covered¡¯, then it would indeed be ridiculous for him to judge that the ball came from outer space just because ¡®he had never seen it before¡¯. But the real Gawain didn¡¯t have covered eyes: he had been staring at this world¡¯s evolution for countless years. He had been observing this continent before monkeys started to walk straight. He might not have seen the situation in other continents, but no matter how the other continents¡¯ lifeforms were isted from this ce or how strange they might be, it still wouldn¡¯t evolve into a metallic ball from a pile of carbon-based life! Unless, there was a cheat-like race outside of Gawain¡¯s vision that developed rapidly and reached the zenith of science and technology, allowing them to create this alloy, anti-gravity, and artificial intelligence. Furthermore, this thing had been stranded on the Loren Continent 1,000 years ago and had been captured by a group of Gondor Master Mages¡­ Instead of believing such an exnation, Gawain would rather believe that Amber would return Viscount Andrew¡¯s butler¡¯s pocket watch. Thus, Gawain smiled and arrived in front of the ball before pressing his hand on the surface of the ball. The ball immediately screamed, ¡°Hey, hey, what are you doing!? I am going to be shamed into anger! I will¡ª¡± The ball was interrupted halfway because Gawain used magical resonance to transmit a message into the ball¡¯s brain (then again, does a ball have such things?): ¡°Don¡¯t you feel that your appearance and this world¡¯s living beings are drastically different?¡± The ball fell into silence for a few seconds before using magical resonance to reply: ¡°¡­You can just talk using your mouth. Why do you have to do it so mysteriously?¡± ¡°Because I know there are some things that you don¡¯t wish for others to know.¡± Gawain smiled and said, ¡°Therefore, you can just tell me alone.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t wish to let you know!¡± Gawain remained calm. ¡°Where are you from? How did you get stranded in this world? How long have you been here?¡± The ball pretended to be muddled. ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re talking about¡­ Isn¡¯t your mental association a little too good?¡± ¡°Sigh, I can understand why you are trying so hard. However, you have to admit that your novel and outstanding appearance doesn¡¯t allow you to conceal such information. Furthermore, you are underestimating the knowledge I have. Did that druid called Pittman mention to you that most of the people in this territory might have been born after the civilization regressed, but the feudal lord here¡ª that would be me ¡ª revived from over seven hundred years ago when the civilization was at its prime. Furthermore, I am a natural science schr.¡± The ball was in utter silence this time. It was obvious that the unreserved druid, who had a mouth like Amber¡¯s, had mentioned it before. With the open mind of a transmigrator and the current information Gawain had, he was able to determine that this ball was a guest from a foreign ce. But he wasn¡¯t able to determine if it had transmigrated to this world like him, or did it merelye from another? But no matter what, this unlucky fellow was definitely the most unfortunate one among all transmigrators: its appearance was entirely different from others¡­ This was goddamned awkward. Inparison to those ck-haired and ck-eyed transmigrators who were treated as the child of the devil, this situation was at least two hundred times more awkward. How were you going to use an atypical form to exin to someone else that you came from a strange remote eastern nation? For his own safety and because he didn¡¯t know this ball¡¯s inside information, Gawain couldn¡¯t just reveal his secret of being a transmigrator either. Instead, he could exin that he had another identity: a natural science schr who came from a developed society 700 years ago. This identity should be much easier for this ball tomunicate with aspared to those ¡®ignorant fools that cut themselves from information¡¯. ¡°Think about it carefully. Your secret might not be as critical as you imagine.¡± Gawain lowered his tone and said, ¡°I am not a member of those fanatical religions or those Master Mages that studied you from a thousand years ago. Hence, I don¡¯t really mind if you are a foreign guest, and I will not call some god¡¯s name to purify you, nor will I use metallic tools to drill holes on your body. I simply wish to have a good conversation with you. On the one hand, it will satisfy my personal curiosity. On the other hand, I will also be able to help you.¡± ¡°You need to know that you have nowhere else to go. The other side of the mountain is a wastnd, and it is filled with the monsters that you saw two days ago. If you head north, it will be to a feudal kingdom that was founded after civilization declined. Ny-nine percent of the people there are more stubborn, extreme, superstitious, and unreasonable than me. Since you can only stay here, why not be friends with me? ¡°Of course, if you are still suspicious, I can let you leave. You can try going to the human nation or the southern side of the mountain. But I cannot guarantee that you will make it back alive. Also¡ª¡± ¡°I can¡¯t remember very clearly¡­¡± When the magic was resonating, the ball suddenly echoed with a metallic and trembling voice that interrupted Gawain¡¯s words. Gawain blinked before realizing that the ball was heeding him. He quickly controlled his excited emotions and asked curiously, ¡°Can¡¯t remember clearly?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t remember clearly where I came from, or how I came here,¡± the ball said with a smothered voice. ¡°Your guesses are correct. I dide from a ¡®very far¡¯ ce, and it is much further than you can ever imagine. One thousand years ago, your people had the concept ofs and a universe. Hence, you should have it too. I shall tell you directly. Back then, those people who studied me had discussed it privately and were guessing that I came from another. But I want to say, it is even further than that. The distance has exceeded the concept of ¡®universe and outer space¡¯.¡± Gawain had a stern expression. ¡°In fact, certain astronomy knowledge wasn¡¯t entirely lost either. But after losing this aspect of observation and calction skills, the rted knowledge had degenerated and twisted into a legend. But didn¡¯t you say that you don¡¯t remember clearly about your homnd, or how you arrived here? How can you be so certain that you didn¡¯t cross the universe and outer space to arrive here?¡± The ball¡¯s voice sounded a little helpless. ¡°I lost my memory, but I didn¡¯t lose mymon sense. If the two ces¡¯ws of physics are different, how can it be the same universe?¡± Gawain had an emotional and excited feeling that was hard to suppress. Arade (although it was just a ball); arade that had transmigrated just like him (although it was just a ball); arade that could discuss concepts ofs, the universe, and time travel with him (although it was just a ball). Gawain who had been alone in this world for tens of thousands of years, this was an extremely emotional event. Of course, Gawain now had new friends and rtives (although the bloodline was rather far away). Amber, Reba, Heidi, and Byron were all people that he trusted but were they able to discuss the universe or outer space with him? Mm¡­ It might be possible if Reba¡¯s mind was expanded a littlerger¡­ Gawain had worked hard to suppress all the disorderly thoughts that had surged out instantly. He had a hard time finally finding a new question. ¡°Are you so sure that you have crossed the universe? Have you ever thought thews of physics in the universe might not have ¡®equal proportions¡¯? Perhaps each star system might have a differentw?¡± ¡°Sigh, how can I not think of that. But it is impossible,¡± the ball spoke in a dispirited manner. ¡°My race has already explored all our remaining survivors in the entire universe and has even started to consider opening a hole in the world¡¯s barrier. If the universe¡¯sw of physics was disproportional, we would have written it in the elementary textbooks¡­ Thus, since the first day I arrived, I had already excluded the possibility that I was stranded on a foreign.¡± Gawain was dumbstruck. This ball actually came from such a powerful and advanced civilization? They had already explored the entire universe? They were even researching how to travel to other universes? Gawain was a transmigrator, and when he realized that thews of physics here were different from Earth, he already guessed he had entered a so-called ¡®foreign universe¡¯. As such, he wasn¡¯t too surprised by the ball¡¯s exnation about crossing over to a new universe. But he was very surprised that this ball¡¯s race was actually so advanced¡­ Then could the ball be Gawain¡¯s chance for a science and technology explosion, allowing him to dominate the entire continent in half a year, unifying the entire in one year, and rushing into outer space in two years? After thinking like this for a moment, Gawainughed. Just the thought was fine. Thews of physics were different¡­ In this bizarre world, anyone would be caught unprepared if they were to transmigrate to this ce. Furthermore, this ball should be more unprepared than Gawain: the ball only had its own outlook of the world, but Gawain had the knowledge of Gawain Cecil¡­ At this moment, the ball was deeply moved as it said, ¡°It has truly been tough to find a human to speak with. This era¡¯s humans are all ignorant and prideful. Let alone talking about the universe or outer space, the people in your camp don¡¯t even understand what the atmosphere is¡­ I finally found a person that could have a conversation with me.¡± Gawain¡¯s bitter tears welled up in response. The ball had truly spoken what he felt in his heart. He was also deeply moved in his heart too. Foreigners meeting on a foreign. This was truly the destiny of the ball! Chapter 105 - Nicholas Eggs New Identity Chapter 105: Nichs Egg¡¯s New Identity It seemed like the ball had really kept it in for a long time in this world. ¡ª Considering the kind of state he was in, pretending to be a rock ball previously, even Gawain, the fellow who¡¯d been hanging in the sky for so many years could not help but admire it. Such willpower could not be found in the average Buddha-nature. And after such an extended period of repressing himself and living as a fake rock, now that it could finally unbind its tongue, the ball rattled on with no end. It constantly eximed about the joy of conversing with humans and alsomented the dullness of people in this era and this world. ¡°Sigh, if it wasn¡¯t for the factsid out here, who would dare believe that civilization had regressed to this extent? That bunch of soldiers standing guard actually have no knowledge of even concepts like the atmosphere or geomaic fields¡­¡± ¡°That druid called Pittman, there¡¯s definitely something wrong with his brain. He made countless trips here these two days. Each time, the topic of conversation was only one, and that was urging me to admit that I¡¯m a dragon egg. He even asked me if dragons had to hatch from their eggs twice. Damn it, so damn annoying. I¡¯ve really, already left my shell, alright? If I break my shell one more time, I¡¯ll be dead!¡± ¡°And that female human wearing a red dress, she would hold all sorts of strange magic articles against my body all day long and even asked me if she could scrape some chippings off my body to study. Eek¡ª¡ª Scared this ball to death! Virtually as abnormal as that bunch of Master Mages back in those years¡­¡± At this point, Gawain could not help but interrupt, ¡°Um, that abnormal human female dressed in red that you spoke of is my family member, my granddaughter.¡± ¡°Oh¡ª¡ª Then you¡¯ve got to educate her properly. Research cannot be done this way. She will develop problems mentally sooner orter this way.¡± The ball floated up and down, seeming to be slightly embarrassed. ¡°Speaking of that, that bunch of Master Mages from a thousand years ago do know something. Initially, I¡¯d even intended tomunicate with them and try to figure out a way to go home, but who would¡¯ve expected that all that bunch of fellows had in mind was to study me. Tsk tsk, if only those people then were as amiable as you are.¡± Gawain looked at it with slight curiosity. ¡°How many years has it been since younded in this world? Or, how many years had it been since younded in this world when those Master Mages caught you?¡± ¡°Sigh, I was caught once I arrived here,¡± The ball said dejectedly. ¡°Then I was locked up in thatboratory all the time, and it seemed like I¡¯d been locked up for a very long time ¡ª so long that I¡¯d even learned yournguage.¡± Gawain sized the other party up. ¡°Those Master Mages never realized that you were actually an intelligent being?¡± ¡°Hehe, I was cautious.¡± The ball dered triumphantly, ¡°When I¡¯d justnded in this world, I¡¯d instinctively built a protective shell for myself using metal and rock. I even switched myself into a semi-hibernation state, no signs of life at all. And because I could not understand this world¡¯snguage in the beginning, I had no idea what was happening. I kept pretending to be a piece of rock and observed in secret.¡± ¡°Those Master Magester found me and brought me to theboratory. I¡¯d nned on escaping at first, but they were really too formidable. A slight movement would put them on alert, so I really didn¡¯t dare to move. But I was pretty lucky. Some inexplicable phenomena would always ur near where I was found, so they thought I was an ancient sealed object or the like and did not slice me open at the first chance¡­¡± At this point, the ball¡¯s voice suddenly sounded terrified. ¡°It was really unsettling. I remember,ter on, they ended the research for the first phase, and they were really preparing to cut me open. However, an order suddenly came, requiring all facility personnel to immediately transfer, and they were not allowed to take any test samples found locally. I managed to preserve my life then ¡ª but those Master Mages especially wickedly added a seal to theboratory before leaving. In the end, I slept for many, many years. And everything that came afterward, you¡¯re aware.¡± The ball finished sharing his experience in those years. Gawain immediately took note of hisst few sentences. ¡°You said those researches suddenly received an order that on top of asking them to evacuate swiftly, it also demanded they leave all local samples in the facility?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± the ball casually replied, ¡°back then, they never realized that I was actually alive, so they did not avoid me regardless of whatever they were discussing. That order was directly read out in theboratory. I remember it especially clearly.¡± Gawain frowned instantly, rubbing his chin as he mused. The round ball questioned curiously, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? There¡¯s a problem?¡± ¡°Such evacuation orders wouldn¡¯t be given in normal circumstances,¡± Gawain exined. ¡°Back then, the Gondor Empire recalled every pioneer team because the gains and losses were disproportionate. There were no pressing problems, but the evacuation order you heard was clearly an urgent order. Moreover, not allowed to take any locally found test samples¡­ Why couldn¡¯t they take the samples with them?¡± The ball thought for a moment. ¡°Could it be because the samples were polluted? Or some instation went out of control when they were studying the samples, and there was no time to salvage it?¡± ¡°The former is highly possible, thetter, not quite.¡± Gawain recalled the state of the remnants in the mountains.¡± Although it was an urgent evacuation, I observed the remnants. The facility was emptied in an orderly manner. Many big-scale instations were taken away, and they had plenty of time to transfer the samples. Say, what exactly were they researching in these mountains back in those days?¡± ¡°That, I don¡¯t know. I wasn¡¯t the one doing the research, I was the one being researched,¡± the ball said helplessly. ¡°But there were a few asions where I caught sight of some things when they were transferring me to otherboratories. They pushed some mutated,pletely swollen corpses into the incinerator room. I suspect those corpses were from them using humans in experiments. Though they no longer looked like humans, you could tell they used to be humans at one nce.¡± ¡°Experimenting on human subjects?¡± Gawain faltered; he really hadn¡¯t expected such to be the secret hidden in the Gondor research facility. ¡°Were there any other traits of those test subjects?¡± ¡°Let me think¡­ Ah yes, other than being slightly bigger and taller than average humans and having signs of deformity on their limbs, there was also something like crystals growing on various parts of their bodies. Like crystals separated out from biological tissues. One researcher, how did he put it¡­?¡± The ball thought hard and finally recalled the term. ¡°Ah, he called them ¡®divine evils¡¯. But I don¡¯t know whether the ¡®divine evils¡¯ referred to those crystals growing on those test subjects or the test subjects themselves. Yournguage is too inconvenient.¡± ¡°Divine evils?¡± Gawain¡¯s brows were tightly knitted together. He could not help but repeat these words. This was not a term that could be casually used. The evils of divinity, forbidden, a vition of rules, a renouncement of divine will. Born because of divine power, but they were something that should not havee into being at all. Some believed they were the negative elements released due to agony in the moment gods lost their consciences and fell into degeneration. Others thought they were messengers that the gods sent to the mortal world to punish sinners, as mortals meddling in the gods¡¯ authority had infuriated all the gods. Regardless of which, this term was rted to the gods. In the era of the Gondor Empire, the belief in gods was as thriving as present-day. It was impossible that those researchers would pointlessly use the term ¡®divine evils¡¯, which had such significant meaning, to refer to those research products without careful consideration. An urgent order a thousand years ago had the research facilities in the Dark Range deserted, but this emergency order also demanded for them to leave all local samples behind. Then did the ¡®human experiments¡¯ that the ball saw share some rtion with the ¡®local samples¡¯ mentioned in that order? Thetter were the former¡¯s tools and materials? Energy source? Or technical source? Of course, these were not Gawain¡¯s greatest concerns. His primary concern was ¡ª were the samples that the researchers of the empire didn¡¯t take with them a thousand years ago still left in the remnants in the Dark Range? A thousand years had passed. Would those samples have weathered? Decayed? Disintegrated? Or had they seen no change at all and were even subtly influencing the area! ¡°You seem a little nervous?¡± Although the metal ball wasn¡¯t a human, in its prolonged process of observing humankind, it had learned how to analyze human emotions. ¡°Why are you worried? Those were research projects of a thousand years ago. By this time, those people should be long dead, and even the facility was abandoned. What implications could there be?¡± ¡°I¡¯m worried about the samples that they didn¡¯t take with them.¡± Gawain frowned as he asked, ¡°Do you know where they left those samples?¡± The ball swayed. ¡°Not at all. Though I was also ssified as a ¡®local sample¡¯, those Master Mages were clearly no fools. They would not confuse me with their true samples, so I never came into contact with the facility¡¯s real center. Why? You wish to find and bring out those things?¡± Gawain pursed his lips. ¡°Find them at the least, so I¡¯d know what they are.¡± The scale of the remnants in the mountains was massive, even to the extent where it was unbelievable. Gawain had already explored it once with a team, but he suspected that the area they¡¯d seen during that exploration was less than a fifth of the entire remnants. In other words, in the remaining four-fifths of the remnants, it was possible for anything to be hidden! ¡°If you wish to explore, you better be careful.¡± The metal ball perceived what Gawain had in mind and reminded him with good intentions. ¡°Given the scale and risk level of that facility, it¡¯s almost impossible to explore the entire ce inside with just the manpower in your camp.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°I will work within my means. Let¡¯s move on. We¡¯ll talk about you first.¡± The metal ball faltered for a moment. ¡°About me? What¡¯s there to talk about?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you know how striking you look in this world?¡± Gawain said with a wry smile. ¡°There do not exist lifeforms like you on this world at all. If you run out just like that, how would you introduce yourself to people?¡± ¡°Boss Saint Nichs Egg.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Alright, I was joking.¡± Nichs Egg slowly sank a little, almost touching the ground. ¡°The majority of the people in this era are fools. There are indeed very few people like you, who are smart and can bemunicated with. So speak, what are your arrangements for me?¡± ¡°My exnation to the outside of your identity is that you are a magical equipment that stores an ancient soul. However, at present, only some of the soldiers know this. Most of the civilians in the camp have yet to see you. If you think there¡¯s no problem, you may show yourself in the camp from today onwards using this identity.¡± ¡°Aha, sounds pretty cool!¡± Clearly, Mr. (Mdm.) Nichs Egg was rather pleased with Gawain¡¯s arrangement. Potential for attaining Buddhahood, that is said to be present in every person Chapter 106 - The Aid Team Chapter 106: The Aid Team The third day after reaching a consensus with Nichs Egg (this magical equipment that came from the ancient Gondor vault, stored an old soul, and forged a friendship with the Cecil ancestor), it finally began to officially appear to the people of the new Cecil territory. From now on, ¡®it¡¯ could no longer be used to address this egg, instead, they had to use ¡®he¡¯. His appearance naturally attracted a bout of attention. Even the most apathetic serfs and veborers could not help but grow curious about this metal ball. When they saw a bright, gleaming metal ball with a diameter of 1.3 meters floating mid-air moving towards them, everyone would involuntarily stop and watch and then discuss this thing with the people around them. Initially, a considerable number of people felt fearful because Nichs Egg¡¯s appearance was really unimaginably queer. Moreover, it was a little too bright under the sun, virtually looking like a magic ball that was about to explode anytime. Those extremely superstitious civilians with shallow knowledge would give way to screams and run away. However, Gawain specially sent some soldiers to publicize and introduce the origin of this ¡®magical equipment¡¯ and especially emphasized: it was actually a respectable ancient schr inside the egg; he had been trapped inside the metal ball because of a magic ident; other than his peculiar appearance, he was no different from the people at the camp. After spreading that message many times, people were finally able to ept such a metal ball. Of course, some fear and nervousness were unavoidable; eventually, they would realize that this round fellow was harmless. Moreover, it could even make sounds andmunicate with people. Together with Gawain¡¯s promise, everyone forced themselves to calm down. And Nichs Egg himself¡­ was extremely satisfied with his present situation. From the first day he was stranded on this odd foreign world, his circumstances had been difficult and awkward. First, he faced the strangeness of the environment; then it was the ill-intentioned locals, being detained in theboratory, and made a research sample. He was nearly sliced into metal shavings by those Gondor Master Mages a thousand years ago. Finally, he was suppressed by an arcane seal by those Master Mages for a thousand years. When he opened his eyes again, it was a new world with regressed civilization and copsed technology. He¡¯d thought he was doomed to such ceaseless bad luck, but he never expected to meet such an offbeat person like Gawain. He was able tomunicate, was able to understand what he said, and was so open-minded that he was able to ept his various statements. He was neither ignorant like the current locals, nor did he only know dissection and research like those ancient people. Now that he thought about it, when he attempted a secret escape a few days ago but ended up being caught¡­ it was really a very good thing. Otherwise, if he¡¯d continued pretending to be a rock, no one knew how long it would take before he would be able toe out for a stroll like he was doing today. However, while Nichs Egg was enjoying his stroll around camp, someoneined to Gawain. Heidi stood before Gawain with a troubled look. ¡°That ball keeps floating here and there around camp. Are you really not going to do anything?¡± Gawain had his head bowed, carefully studying the information on personnel. This was the rough register of the hundred technical personnel from the capital who¡¯d just arrived two days ago. Hearing Heidi, he lifted his head and smiled. ¡°Did that ball make trouble for anyone?¡± ¡°Not making trouble,¡±¡ªHeidi shook her head¡ª¡±but he¡¯s just too curious! As long as he sees people working, he would float over and watch them for a long time. That appearance of his is really too striking. The workers are bound to be affected.¡± ¡°Everyone will get used to it sooner orter. It¡¯s merely a metal ball that floats around. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s a gigantic dragon.¡± Gawain chuckled. ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll remind himter not to distract the workers as much as possible. Oh yes, about that, what do you think about Nichs Egg?¡± Heidi¡¯s expression became an odd one. ¡°You¡¯re sure you¡¯re giving him this weird name?¡± Gawain held up his open hands in resignation. ¡°I have no choice. He¡¯d only recognize this.¡± Heidi sighed. ¡°If you¡¯re asking my thoughts¡­ Actually I¡¯d always wanted to study how he managed to float. The energy that he emits is very intriguing. It doesn¡¯t seem like a magic energy that I¡¯m familiar with. Besides, he is able to float in mid-air forever. If this is a kind of innate spell¡­¡± ¡°Hang on.¡± Gawain quickly interrupted Heidi¡¯s thoughts that were beginning to unravel. ¡°If you¡¯re thinking of studying him, you¡¯d better restrain yourself a little. That rascal had been captured and studied for a long time by the Master Mages of the Gondor Empire a thousand years ago. Right now, his psychological trauma is especially severe. By doing so, you will cause the hard-earned trust that he¡¯d built with us to vanish in a sh.¡± ¡°Of course, I was merely thinking about it at heart.¡± Heidi smiled rather apologetically. ¡°Compared to that, I¡¯m more concerned about what you mentioned before ¡ª the issue about the samples that weren¡¯t withdrawn a thousand years ago being still hidden in the ancient fortress in the mountains. I heard you got Sir Philip to organize a scouting team? Are you thinking of going into the remnants to search for those dangerous items now?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°As you said, those are dangerous items, not something we can have a hand in right now. I got Sir Philip to organize a team mainly for the sake of investigating the shallow levels of the fortress, as well as checking on those forked roads that we weren¡¯t able to explore when we explored them. You must know, that is a massive and sturdy stronghold¡­ If we simply leave it in the mountains instead of making use of it, don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a waste?¡± Heidi¡¯s eyes widened slightly. ¡°You¡¯re thinking of¡­¡± ¡°Briefly making use of it. Or at least using those rooms between the entrance hall and the corridor on the main floor. This is the Dark Range after all; danger will always emerge. If we encounter an emergency, at the least, everyone can go to that stronghold to take refuge ¡ª¡ªIsn¡¯t that so?¡± With that, he bowed his head and directed his attention back to the register of the 100 tradesmen. ¡°Official craftsmen ¡ª fifteen, including masons, carpenters, cksmiths, cobblers and more. Another ten craftsmen who specialize in building houses. Official spellcasters ¡ª only two, one of them is a grade-two arcanist. Another is a grade-four runemaster.¡± Gawain could not help butugh out loud as he read. ¡°Jenni Perot, grade-four runemaster, the professional with the highest grade in the team. I guess this is considered the King¡¯s magnanimity. There¡¯s actually another intermediate spellcaster¡­¡± Heidi listened to Gawain¡¯s words but could not help but frown. She was actually displeased with that ¡®intermediate spellcaster¡¯. That grade-four runemaster was the person with the highest grade amongst the hundred-men team. ording to the distinction method of ¡®three grades in one rank¡¯, she was already in the intermediate rank (grades four to six). An intermediate spellcaster is indeed considered a high-end talent. After all, at present, other than Gawain, the most formidable person in the territory was a grade-three professional. However, in reality, runemasters could not be regarded this way ¡ª although they were also known as ¡®mages¡¯, they were the ¡®workers¡¯ among the mages. The skills that they learned were to carve runes and magic circles on all sorts of magic articles. Compared to the conventional mages, their strongest point was having steadier hands¡­ How did runemasters get promoted then? That was to have everyone get together and draw runes and magic circles. All would be good as long as they drew a lot of them and drew them well. As for their spellcasting abilities¡­ Runemasters only possessed the most rudimentary magic abilities. It was enough as long as they were able to sense magical power and discern between different elements. Usually, their mage grade would be around grade two, the lowest; even a grade-one mage who¡¯d just graduated from apprentice could be an official runemaster. Amongst theymen who could not grasp magical power, runemasters who were able to draw magic circles were equally mysterious and powerful as those ¡®great mages¡¯, but in the eyes of true mages, runemasters were their ¡®poor cousins¡¯ who were a ss or several sses beneath them. Their positions were merely just a bit higher than ¡®rune craftsmen¡¯ who werepletely unable to cast spells. Runemasters could often only act as assistants to official mages, serving as appendages or working with rune craftsmen to help thetter create magic articles or draw magic circles. As they did not possess high levels or magic skills, runemasters were unable to even use the magic circles and articles that they had made. Their weak magical power and inferior magic control were simply insufficient to control thoseplicated magic circles. As such, this was a profession that worked for others with no credit for oneself. Heidi did not have the lofty mentality of most mages; neither did she discriminate against those runemasters who were viewed as ¡®magic servants¡¯ by mainstream mages. However, she could tell with one look that the runemaster called ¡®Jenni Perot¡¯ was actually shoved in to make up the numbers by the capital ¡ª an intermediate spellcaster in name only. With such a person in the team, it could be said that Francis II had done his part in the letter of the agreement (if not the spirit). It would even be a wonderful story if it was spread. This was what Heidi was most displeased with. Moreover, the total number of spellcasters in this team was only two. The rest were all mage apprentices or craftsmen apprentices. This made her feel that this team sent from the capital severelycked sincerity. Heidi was not a person who was good at concealing her emotions, especially before Gawain. Thus, thetter caught her dissatisfaction at one nce. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You feel that a grade-four runemaster is insulting our intelligence?¡± ¡°The king has no sincerity.¡± Heidi was very straightforward. ¡°A runemaster¡­ If Reba practiced properly, she might be stronger than him. He was wholly added in to make up the numbers.¡± ¡°This probably isn¡¯t Francis II¡¯s intention.¡± Gawain waved his hand. ¡°That king needs to take into consideration my attitude, so his support for the Cecil pioneering camp wouldn¡¯t be too fake. However, he has to bear the pressures from the other aristocrat ns of the capital, and those aristocrat ns do not wish to see the Cecil n rise back up too quickly. In reality, a good half of them probably wish that this old family n would noiselessly die in the Dark Range. Knowing this, do you think they would allow a capable and valuable technical team toe here?¡± Heidi¡¯s expression became grim. ¡°Those narrow-minded and greedy aristocrats of the capital¡­ The Cecil family haspletely no inclination to vie against them over any interests, yet they would spare such great efforts to wreak havoc.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°This is precisely the code of conduct of the aristocrats. If you cannot ept it, it only means to say that you¡¯re actually not a qualified aristocrat ¡ª ording to their standards at least. Of course, I¡¯m not qualified either.¡± ¡°Then with regards to this name list, you¡­¡± ¡°Of course, I¡¯d kindly ept it. Why not?¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°No matter what, these are a hundred technical talents even if they were randomly put together to make up the numbers. It¡¯s better than having none. These cksmiths and carpenters shouldn¡¯t be so bad to the extent that they can¡¯t even use hammers and saws? Moreover, I want to meet this runemaster called Jenni Perot. There was a sentence on her data that had me pretty interested.¡± ¡°Which?¡± ¡°Jenni Perot, mage grade ¡ª apprentice.¡± Chapter 107 - Jenni Perot Chapter 107: Jenni Perot Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Jenni Perot, the grade-four runemaster who came from the royal capital was in her room and arranging her very little luggage. Most of the things were tools for the drawing of runes or to carve magic circles: tools like corrosion-proof painting sticks, carving des that were coated in adamantite powder, wedge-shaped scrappers, and brushes of various sizes. Apart from those, it would be those books and notes that were kept carefully for many years. When she left the mage tower, she was only permitted to bring along these things. As for the other things, she only had two sets of clothes. But Jenni Perot still arranged them seriously before putting her pitiful number of personal items on the study table, the closet, and the rack by the bedside. After she was finished unpacking, she sat on the chair in the center of the room and quietly observed this wooden cabin that could only be described as simple and crude. As the highest-grade intermediate profession holder in the 100-person team, she was given extra attention: A solitary house. Even though it was a simple and crude wooden cabin and couldn¡¯t bepared with the mage tower, Jenni knew that this was among the few good houses in this camp. Among the team, only the official craftsmen and the other mage were qualified to have a solitary house. Furthermore, she had thergest house among all the houses, so she was already very satisfied. After all, even back at her mentor¡¯s mage tower, she would only be sleeping in the junk room¡¯s floor bed. Apart from the walls that were constructed of stones, that dwelling truly wasn¡¯t any better than this ce. No, this ce was better as this wooden cabin belonged to her, and she wouldn¡¯t need to constantly worry that her mentor would ask her to test magical drugs or magic circles. Jenni watched everything quietly before lowering her head to look at her hands while contemting her future days. She was very clear of her awkward position. She was the team¡¯s highest-grade intermediate professional, but in fact, she was only a mage apprentice. Runemaster was ¡®handicraft¡¯ work, and if the spellcasting ability and magic-sensing ability were eliminated, she was not much different from those carpenters and stonemasons. Actually, ording to mage custom, the grade-two arcanist in the team should be the one with the highest status. Thus, it was very obvious that¡­ she was just an intermediate professional to fill up the numbers. At the same time, she was very clear that the legendary duke from 700 years ago could see this in a single nce. She was such an awkward person, but he still had to treat her seriously ording to the rules. She was even provided with a solitary dwelling. How long could such a situationst for? It would probablyst until the moment the duke believed he had given the king enough face. Or until someone in the territory raised an objection. But then, the only thing that would guarantee her the qualification to stand on thisnd would be her handicraft. After all, the camp was in its construction phase, and there were plenty of things that were required to be constructed ¡ª be it production of magic tools or processing of runes. Madam Heidi couldn¡¯t possibly be doing everything personally; hence, a runemaster like her would be useful. If she couldplete her tasks well, she might be able to receive the approval of the madam. Jenni didn¡¯t dare to have excessive expectations and would be perfectly satisfied if she could have a footing in this ce. Right at this moment, the sound of door knocking interrupted Jenni¡¯s thoughts. She looked towards the door with surprise and anxiety while guessing who would be looking for her at this time. But she didn¡¯t stop moving just because of this as she stood up and went to the door while thinking: ¡®It doesn¡¯t matter who is outside the door. I must not offend that person.¡¯ After opening the door, the person standing outside the door had caused her breath to slow down by half a beat. It was a tall figure with brown short hair and abstruse eyes. It was thisnd¡¯s lord, Duke Gawain Cecil from 700 years ago, who had revived. Beside the tall figure was the elegant and beautiful Madam Heidi who was wearing a red long dress. The feudal lord and the chief supervisor hade to visit personally, causing Jenni to be at a loss. She couldn¡¯t hold back her wild imaginations from before and started to be worried. Could this feudal lord already feel that he was giving me an excessively preferential treatment? As Jenni was in a state of astonishment, Gawain was sizing up the youngdy in front of him and couldn¡¯t help but take two more nces. ¡®This runemaster who came from the royal capital shouldn¡¯t be more than twenty years old yet. She is tall but skinny, and it feels like she is weak due to illness. She has silver long hair, but due to the insufficient attention to her hair, they look dried up and are in a mess. Her hair is hanging over the two sides of her cheeks, and on her left cheek, there is a spot where the hair couldn¡¯t cover, where there is arge and ugly scar.¡¯ That scar was the reason why Gawain took two more nces. The scar had utterly affected this youngdy¡¯s appearance that would have originally been considered delicate and pretty. The scar didn¡¯t just cover a third of her left face, but it extended down along the neck. Due to the obstruction of the clothes, Gawain didn¡¯t know how great of a surface area this scar, which looked like it was a scald wound, covered. But he guessed that the scar must have been due to some kind of horrific ident. Soon enough, he realized that it wasn¡¯t appropriate to stare at a youngdy and immediately withdrew his eyes before asking, ¡°Why? Are you not going to invite us inside?¡± Jenni finally returned to her senses and stood to the side helplessly before asking cautiously with a soft voice, ¡°Duke¡­ Duke, what instructions do you have to personally¡ªpersonally visit?¡± ¡°I am just here to take a look.¡± Gawain entered the wooden cabin along with Heidi and casually looked around. ¡®The house isn¡¯t big. The bedroom and living room arepletely connected. All the furnishings in this ce could be seen in a single nce.¡¯ Gawain could see those simple furnitures that were made by the territory¡¯s carpenters but couldn¡¯t see any traces of personal items. He was immediately able to determine that Jenni Perot was in dire straits in the royal capital just as he guessed. ¡°How is it? You have been adapting to this camp for two days. Are you satisfied with life here?¡± Jenni couldn¡¯t possibly know why the feudal lord and the chief supervisor had visited her simple and crude house. She couldn¡¯t possibly ask on her own ord and had no choice but to brace herself and answer Gawain¡¯s question, ¡°Very¡ªvery satisfied. To be honest, it is much better than I imagined.¡± As she spoke, she shifted two chairs over so that the feudal lord and the chief supervisor could have a seat while she stood by the side. There were only two chairs in this ce. ¡°Imagine?¡± Gawain looked at Jenni curiously and asked, ¡°What did you imagine?¡± Jenni heard this question and thought she had said something wrong, but she had to respond, ¡°In the beginning¡­ I thought this ce would be harsher. I heard that this camp had only started construction for over one month and doesn¡¯t really have sufficient manpower. I didn¡¯t think there would be so many houses already constructed. There is also the dock to receive the supplies from Tanzan Town¡­¡± ¡°This is everyone¡¯sbor and hard work.¡± Gawain smiled and said, ¡°To be honest, this still isn¡¯t considered fast. I have witnessed an entire city being constructed in a single month.¡± ¡®That is on Earth where cement is avable¡­¡± Gawain thought silently in his heart. Jenni was shocked by Gawain¡¯s casualment, but she immediately used her own method of understanding and asked, ¡°Ahh, you are talking about the Gondor Empire seven hundred years ago, right?¡± ¡°Almost the same meaning.¡± Gawain replied half-heartedly before looking at this simple and crude house. ¡°Mm, the camp can only provide such living conditions now. But don¡¯t you worry, the brick-kiln yard¡¯s construction has already started. When there is sufficient bricks and tiles, I will have the people in the territory move into brick houses.¡± Jenni: ¡°¡­Ha?¡± From the start, she had been waiting for Gawain to mention the problem about the ¡®excessively preferential treatment¡¯, but after waiting for a long time, the topic was deviating away until it was the direct opposite. She couldn¡¯t help but suspect that this ancient figure was nning the operations of this camp by using Gondor Empire standards. But she immediately recalled that¡­ Back then, Gawain Cecil had also developed and from the ground up and had constructed the Anzu Kingdom together with thete king. He was a veteran with experience in this aspect and wouldn¡¯t be making reckless analyses¡­ The confused runemaster had started to analyze with her wild imagination. However, Gawain didn¡¯t know what this runemaster named Jenni was thinking about in her mind. He merely wanted to use some casual statements to set the mood, but seeing that he wasn¡¯t sessful, he simply changed the topic. ¡°We¡¯re here today mainly to understand your living arrangements and to understand what kind of requirements our guests from afar would need. And also to understand a bit about you.¡± ¡°Understand about¡­ me?¡± Jenni pointed at herself while feeling bbergasted and asked, ¡°What aspect are you referring to?¡± Heidi took out a piece of paper and pushed it in front of her. ¡°I will ask bluntly. We have seen your information. You are a grade-four runemaster but your mage grade¡­ is that of an apprentice?¡± Jenni¡¯s heart throbbed. As expected, what was supposed toe would eventuallye. The status of a grade-four runemaster wasn¡¯t going to bring her any glory. It was her apprentice mage grade that was the truth. This drastic difference in grades didn¡¯t indicate talent; it was only for people to associate her with ¡®freaks¡¯. What¡¯s even worse? A mage apprentice was actually filling up the numbers of intermediate professionals in the team. What was this founding duke from 700 years ago going to think? ording to normal nobles¡¯ thinking, he would definitely view this as a kind of deception and humiliation. It was possible he might be enraged too, but he wouldn¡¯t vent his anger on the king; hence, he could only vent his anger on her, who was a ¡®fake¡¯. The runemaster from the royal capital bowed deeply and used the most humble and most terrified tone to seek forgiveness. ¡°I am sorry, Duke and Madam Heidi. I didn¡¯t have the intention to deceive you. I am willing to ept punishment¡ª¡± But Gawain suddenly interrupted her, ¡°How did you do it?¡± Just as Jenni was doing her best to arrange her words to extinguish the ¡®noble¡¯s anger¡¯ in her imagination, she didn¡¯t expect that Gawain was calm and had asked a question all of a sudden. As a result, she was stunned. Gawain thought Jenni didn¡¯t hear the question clearly; thus, he repeated his question. ¡°How did you finish the foundation practice of a runemaster as an apprentice mage? Are you able to sense the magic ofplex runes? Are you able to conduct ¡®magic tuning¡¯ on runes?¡± Runemasters were indeed ¡®craftsmen¡¯. In the eyes of professional mages, their work wasn¡¯t any different from masons, but Gawain knew clearly that there was a difference and that it was a big one. Runemasters didn¡¯t just draw magic circles ording to the blueprints. It was necessary for them to make alterations and adjustments to the runes¡¯ positions. They had to also be able to conduct tuning tests on those uncertain runes, and in order to do such things, they had to be able to senseplex runes and to conduct ¡®magic tuning¡¯ after adjusting the runes. This was something only grade-one mages could do! Chapter 108 - Runes and Formulas Chapter 108: Runes and Forms Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The drawing of magic circles and carving of runes was a very technical job, and it was this world¡¯s unique product. It wasn¡¯t like a pure ¡®drawing¡¯ like everyone imagined. It was indeed as simple as drawing ording to the blueprint, but in order to be a runemaster, one couldn¡¯t just learn to draw. If drawing magic circles were as easy as following the blueprints, an ordinary person would be able to do it. Even amoner who couldn¡¯t sense magic could draw the magic circles as long as they were instructed on how to draw and what to use when drawing. It would be a simple ¡®produce-then-repeat¡¯ job. Apart from the production and repetition, runemasters would need the ability to create and to adapt ording to situations. They would need to assist mages to produce magic tools or draw the magic circles on variousplicated magic-guided materials. Each magic tool and magic-guided material had different attributes, and when put together, there could be countless variations. It inevitably meant that they couldn¡¯t just draw magic circles ording to the blueprints¡­ They had to change the runes¡¯ sequence on the magic circle ording to the materials and the function of the magic circle. Or they would have to make minute adjustments to the runes¡¯ positions and the methods of connections. In short, the runemasters were creating ¡®blueprints¡¯. Each time they drew, they would draw the first edition of the blueprint and make a new creation. And this process would require the ability to sense magic and to conduct ¡®tuning¡¯ for the runes. The ability to sense magic would be used to make sure every rune was working normally during the process of the drawing as well as to sense if there was any disturbance between the runes that were above the threshold. The ability to ¡®tune¡¯ would be to inject one¡¯s own magic into the runes to conduct a practical test¡­ Runemasters might not be able to activate the entire magic circle, but it was possible for them to test parts of the rune array. To do these two things, one had to be an official grade-one mage. Apprentice mages definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to do such things as apprentice mages didn¡¯t have the ability to sense and controlplex runes. Their magic wasn¡¯t precise enough and couldn¡¯t be released outside their bodies. If they could do these things¡­ they would have graduated. Jenni¡¯s information clearly stated that she was an apprentice mage. Jenni had heard Gawain¡¯s question clearly during the first time, but she didn¡¯t know how she should reply. She hesitated and considered for a long time before she lowered her head and said, ¡°It was luck, my lord.¡± ¡°Luck?¡± Gawain¡¯s brows lifted and didn¡¯t sound like he was convinced. ¡°Yes, luck.¡± Jenni¡¯s head was still lowered as she said, ¡°I have great intuition and would always be able to find the correct method to arrange the runes. You should know that there is a certain rule for rune sequences. With enough experience and intuition, one would be able to urately arrange those¡ª¡± ¡°If it was really luck, then before you umted enough experience, you would already be dead.¡± Gawain interrupted Jenni and said, ¡°I might be a knight, but I know the fundamental principle of magic. For a magic circle, each rune¡¯s position and connection method are rtively strict. You would have to already be familiar with all of the rune¡¯s rules and their formation methods in this world. Otherwise, it is impossible for you to arrange all the runes in their proper positions. Rune sequences might have a rule toply with, but I have never heard of anyone analyzing all the rules of the rune sequences. It is also because it is impossible for humans to write down all the runebinations. Thus, there is a need for the abilities to ¡®sense¡¯ and to ¡®tune¡¯.¡± As Gawain talked, he stared at the silver-haired youngdy in front of him and said, ¡°Raise your head and tell me the truth¡­ Without the ability to sense and tune, how are you able to know each position of the runes and the effects each rune would generate?¡± Perhaps Gawain¡¯s tone was too stern, it caused Jenni to shiver uncontrobly, and she didn¡¯t even dare to speak. When Heidi saw the situation, she recalled that Gawain had instructed her to assume the roles of a stern individual and a lenient individual. Therefore, she used a gentle tone to say, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be nervous. This isn¡¯t the royal capital that has strict rules or the oppressive and inflexible Association of Mystics. We wee and encourage all actions that would be beneficial to the construction of the territory. It is fine even if the actions are unorthodox.¡± Jenni finally raised her head and looked at Gawain. Thetter nodded sternly. ¡°I can guarantee that creative ideas are protected in this ce. Because I am thew of thisnd.¡± ¡°It actually isn¡¯t a creative idea.¡± The silver-haired apprentice mage who was a grade-four runemaster had finally spoken. She then turned to the bedside and retrieved arge and heavy book. ¡°It is through logic and calction.¡± Gawain put his hand on the book but still asked, ¡°Can I take a look?¡± ¡°Of course, you are the feudal lord.¡± Gawain opened up the book that looked rather old and realized it was actually a book of handwritten notes. The yellowed pages were filled with runes, numbers, calction methods, diagrams, etc. There were writings that were already blurry due to wear and tear. He casually flipped through and realized that the handwriting on this notebook wasn¡¯t uniform. There were at least four different handwritings in the book, and they appeared sequentially from the front to the back. It was obvious that this notebook had gone through four different owners, and each owner had written down their own records. This book seemed to have verified Gawain¡¯s indistinct conjecture. He was almost excited and inspired as he flipped through the pages rapidly. It had caused Jenni who was seated directly opposite to worry if her precious notebook would be damaged due to the violent flipping. As Gawain was flipping through rapidly, his vision was suddenly attracted to an attached piece of paper that was sandwiched in thetter half of the notebook. This piece of paper had been pasted to the middle of the page with glue, and there seemed to be an additional annotation or summary. The words on it caused Gawain to suffocate for a moment: [E/N: Yeah, just skip through the next few paragraphs.] ¡°¡­All inferior rune¡¯s energy levels have an energy ratio of 1:3 aspared to runes that are one grade higher. If inferior runes are continuously connected, three would be one, making it aplete rune that is one grade higher.¡± ¡°¡­Random runes of the same grade, same positions, and different attributes can only be connected no more than eight times. Runes of the same grade, same positions, and same attributes can only be connected no more than four times.¡± ¡°¡­When the originating character and the ending character of random runes form a ¡®bond¡¯, each ¡®bond¡¯ rune¡¯s interior could be filled with connecting fields that must be an even number. Every two connecting fields are considered a ¡®pair¡¯. The number of ¡®pairs¡¯ is X and every ¡®bond¡¯ rune would develop energy level X+1.¡± ¡°¡­In a magic interference area, twopletely identical and adjacent runes would produce an ¡®interference bond¡¯. The overall interference in the area produced would drastically increase due to the increase of interference bonds. A single interference bond has the interference value of constant t=1.35, and when the interference bond¡¯s number is n, it would cause an actual overall interference value of m=t*n3. (Note: Avoiding identical runes being adjacent to one another would greatly decrease the production of interference bonds).¡± ¡°¡­Among magic-guided materials, purple copper is ¡®zero¡¯ grade; those weaker than purple copper would be negative; those superior or equivalent to purple copper would be positive. Positive magic-guided materials can endure theoretical interference value M during rune connections. The number of rune bonds is set as N, and the number of rune attributes is set as Z. Interference values produced by interference bonds are set as t. As such, magic-guided materials within the range of a runebination would be able to endure a theoretical interference value of M=(N+Z*N)*t. The negative magic-guided materials would divide the interference value by the constant E=1.66¡­¡± ¡°In all circumstances, the actual interference (m) should be smaller than the theoretical interference value (M)¡­¡± ¡°In multifunctional magic circles, the form for ¡®self interference¡¯ produced by the rune bonds is¡­¡± ¡°In multifunctional magic circles, the optimal arrangements for runes should follow¡­¡± There were even more records at the back. There were massive quantities of forms, rules, and logical deductions filling up this paper attachment. There were also a lot more on the page behind this attachment. Gawain merely took a nce and judged that this was already a summary and derivation that had practical value. It seemed like they weren¡¯t the ultimate result. Furthermore, there were also limitations due to the era. Many summaries were purely the product of experience andcked definite forms. There were also plenty that had messy forms and had yet to be simplified and merged to be forms that could be used anywhere. Moreover, these things weren¡¯t arranged into a system and were scattered and umted individually without any rules. But they were already extremely astonishing things. ¡°Are these summarized by you?¡± Gawain looked with wide eyes while asking with surprise. ¡°No, no¡­¡± Jenni answered with a little panic. ¡°Not all of it. Only a part of this notebook was written by me. The other parts¡­ are the legacy of the predecessors.¡± When speaking of the words ¡®legacy of the predecessors¡¯, her face had an obviously dull and sorrowful expression. ¡°Mm¡­ that¡¯s right. There are at least four kinds of handwriting on it.¡± Gawain lowered his head and looked at the notebook. He then continued to flip and suddenly realized that the words in the beginning were rather familiar. After verifying for a moment, he turned to look at Heidi. ¡°Did you bring that notebook along? The rogue mage¡¯s notebook.¡± The rogue mage¡¯s notebook was simply a treasure in the eyes of Gawain, but the most precious thing recorded inside was knowledge and not the notebook itself. Hence, he had made a copy of the notebook and kept that copy with him, but he had given the original as a present to Heidi, who was passionate about magic research. Heidi nodded. ¡°I have it. I just happen to be researching the interchangeable runebinations inside it for the past two days¡­¡± As she spoke, she took out that book of old notes which Gawain ced on the table. He thenpared it with the notebook from Jenni¡­ As expected, one quarter of Jenni¡¯s notebook had the exact same handwriting as the rogue mage¡¯s notes! This thick and old notebook was also one of the rogue mage¡¯s legacies? Furthermore, these had been circting in the mage¡¯s circle and had been researched and carried on by at least three other individuals? ¡°This¡­¡± Jenni saw the notebook that Heidi had taken out, and it caused her to subconsciously say, ¡°Do you know the owner?¡± ¡°I have met him.¡± Gawain replied casually and pointed at Jenni¡¯s notebook that contained the rune calctions. ¡°Since you have this, does it mean you met him too?¡± ¡°It is very regretful. When I obtained this notebook, it had already switched hands three times.¡± Jenni shook her head and asked, ¡°You have seen him? Where is he now? Could he be in this camp too?¡± The runemaster¡¯s expression was filled with traces of reverence and excitement. However, Gawain had to disappoint her. ¡°He has already passed away. My notebook is his legacy. Of course, now there is also your notebook.¡± Jenni opened her mouth, but it ultimately turned into a sigh. ¡°Is that so¡­¡± ¡°You said this notebook has switched hands three times. Where are the previous owners?¡± Gawain didn¡¯t give Jenni a lot of time to immerse in regret and immediately asked, ¡°Those people that carried on the research, are they in the royal capital or the Association of Mystics? Can you contact them?¡± ¡°They¡­ are dead too.¡± Jenni¡¯s tone suddenly became even gloomier. ¡°The second owner had died in an adventure. The third owner is also my previous master. He is Master Ravencrest, and he perished in a mission arranged by his mentor¡­ Constant E=1.66 is his legacy.¡± Chapter 109 - E=1.66 Chapter 109: E=1.66 Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios After Gawain and Heidi¡¯s constant questioning, Jenni was no longer silent and presented theplete stories of all the previous owners of this notebook. Gawain also found out more information about that rogue mage. The first owner of the notebook was indeed that rogue mage, and he didn¡¯t leave his name in this notebook either. Jenni only knew he was a dejected and entric senior that was shunned by everyone. That rogue mage came from the Violet Kingdom that was situated in the northern side of the continent. He was once a member of the human mages¡¯rgest organization, ¡®Association of Mystics¡¯. But just as Gawain knew, his magic power was too weak, and he was ostracized. His research was considered unorthodox in the eyes of traditional mages, and he had an extremely miserable life. Finally, in order to treat his daughter, he left the Association of Mystics and entered the Anzu Kingdom. The notebook that Jenni had was one of the manuscripts that leaked out long ago from that rogue mage. It was highly possible that he had sold it cheaply to a mage from the Anzu Kingdom in order to raise funds for the trip. Perhaps he only sold it for three copper pieces, or perhaps it was worth nothing, and he had merely given away arge pile of books and notebooks. The second owner was also in the same miserable situation, and he could see from the implied meaning of the words that the rogue mage was conducting simrly ¡®unorthodox¡¯ research. It was obvious that he had conducted such research because he was also weak and had no hopes of promotion. A mage that was having a hard time progressing in magic and runes had hoped that logic and mathematics would aid him in exploring the truth of this world. The rogue mage¡¯s research on the universality and hidden rules of the runes had lit up a path for the second owner, allowing him to vaguely understand that even without powerful magic and individual strength, he would also be able to explore the mysteries of magic. But the second researcher wasn¡¯t able to walk far on this path. Perhaps it was to collect the funds for research or to validate a certain data in the notebook, this nameless mage had perished on an adventure. The few pieces of property that he left behind had been distributedpletely, and this precious notebook had been transferred to the hands of Jenni¡¯s master. Jenni¡¯s master didn¡¯t be this notebook¡¯s owner as he was an ¡®orthodox master¡¯ who treated this notebook with abnormal disdain. He didn¡¯t believe that a bunch of calctions written by two low-grade mages would be able to reveal any truth. Furthermore, he believed that the second owner of this notebook had lost his life in an adventure because he believed the nonsense written on these pieces of scrap paper. The wretch that perished in the ruins had just proven the errors in the notebook. As such, the master threw the notebook in a pile of trash outside the mage tower. It was then picked up by his ¡®apprentice¡¯ Ravencrest. That so-called ¡®apprentice¡¯ was actually that great mage¡¯s ve. This phenomenon was verymon among orthodox mages. They normally had two kinds of apprentices: real apprentices and apprentices that weren¡¯t treated as human. The former would be individuals with a great talent for magic or individuals of high nobility. Thetter would only be nominal apprentices in the mage tower but would actually be used as ves and experiment subjects. Ravencrest belonged to thetter. Due to his inferior magical talent and that he wasn¡¯t from any prestigious n, Ravencrest wasn¡¯t valued in the mage tower. Even though he had an exceptional talent for mathematics and logic, due to his inferior spellcasting and rune-sensing abilities, he had been addressed as ¡®retard¡¯ or ¡®freak¡¯. The great mage barely taught Ravencrest some entry-level knowledge and had used low-cost magical drugs that would cause great seque and a ritual to forcefully push Ravencrest into an official mage. Afterwards, the great mage nurtured Ravencrest as a runemaster and nned for him to take charge of the drawing of magic circles and the production of tools. It was also at that moment that Ravencrest obtained the notebook and became the third owner of the notebook. After a few years, Jenni got to know Ravencrest. Different from most of the ¡®talented people¡¯ that could enter the mage tower, Jenni was born from a family with low status, and she wasn¡¯t even selected to enter the tower as a ¡®mage ve¡¯. She was a frail youngdy from a poor vige very far from the royal capital. The generations of her family had never interacted with any extraordinary figures, and it wasn¡¯t possible for them to possess a ¡®mage¡¯s noble bloodline¡¯. She was able to enter the mage tower because her hometown had encountered a disaster, and her family was about to die from starvation. It was at this moment, her ¡®master¡¯ happened to pass by her vige and wanted to ¡®show his kindness in exchange for some experimental materials¡¯. Jenni remembered clearly that it was a windless yet very cold night. Her parents had gathered all of the children to draw lots, and the 14-year-old her had drawn the lot. On the next morning, she had been pushed into the caravan of the ¡®lord mage¡¯ in order to exchange for enough food to survive: two bags of wheat. She still remembered that the caravan had plenty of things stacked up. There were unknown herbs, animal specimens, rocks, metals, tree barks, a few children that had numbed expressions and were about the same age as her¡­ The caravan was filled with experimental materials. The mage had used rations to exchange materials for experiments, and she was being brought to the mage tower as ¡®experimental material¡¯. Afterwards, in the mage tower, she got to know Ravencrest, a mage ve who as an ¡®apprentice¡¯ had a slightly higher status than her. Ravencrest was responsible for ¡®feeding¡¯ the experimental materials. The children that were brought over from the same vige were quickly put to use by that mage. At almost every two to three days, a child would be taken. Some would return alive; some wouldn¡¯t. Even if they returned alive, they would quickly turn insane or extremely sick. Jenni was already aware of her fate, but she didn¡¯t try to escape. Because Ravencrest had been reminding her everyday: ¡®never try to escape; it will be worse than death¡¯. Just like that, it was finally Jenni¡¯s ¡®turn to be used¡¯. She was already unable to remember the exact details of that day as she was basically immersed in fear and chaos, but she had been blessed by fortune. When she was delivered to the experimental magic circle, she had been suddenly tested to have a weak affinity with magic. She actually possessed talent for magic. Due to the fact that she possessed talent for magic and because of her good behavior, Jenni had preserved her life and had been promoted to one of the mage¡¯s apprentices. Moreover, she had the same status as Ravencrest who was a ¡®ve apprentice¡¯. She had also obtained a family name as the mage had casually given her the family name of ¡®Perot¡¯. In the humanmonnguage, her family name had the same meaning as the word ¡®wheat¡¯¡­ It was because she was bought by the mage for two bags of wheat. Escaping the threat of death, it was actually a great blessing for Jenni who was an experimental material. However, in reality, her situation had yet to step into the light. She had merely been promoted from a ¡®thing¡¯ to a ¡®ve¡¯, and in many situations, the two didn¡¯t actually have much of a difference. Back then, Jenni didn¡¯t have the mood to consider such things as she was extremely d to be able to continue living. Furthermore, she never would have expected she would be able to learn how to read and practice magic with the status as an apprentice mage (even though she was a ve apprentice). She started off with the hunger to learn that knowledge and had been studying, learning words, differentiating runes, remembering spells without rest. Soon enough, she realized that her interest and manner of thinking were simr to Ravencrest¡­ They became good friends that didn¡¯t bother about the age difference. Ravencrest then excitedly revealed his treasured notebook to Jenni and started to exin the unbelievable findings that took root from mathematics and logic. The duo had feeble magical strength and were ¡®apprentices¡¯ who had never received a proper magic education. Thus, they had been absorbing the knowledge within the notebook and using that knowledge as a basis for their own worldview. They werepletely unaware that the use of forms and calctions to research the truth was actually very unorthodox in the eyes of the mages who pursued the truth with the orthodox belief in individual strength. On the other side, Jenni¡¯s ¡®master¡¯, that powerful mage, had quickly realized that Jenni¡¯s talent for magic was actually feeble and pitiful. This sickly person who climbed out from the experimental materials only had a tiny bit of ability to sense magic. With her spiritual power, she would probably only be able to master apprentice-ss trivial spells in her entire lifetime and would never enter the ranks as an official mage. As such, he immediately stopped his investment in Jenni and had an urgent desire to take back his investment. He gave Jenni a bottle of magical drug and a set of magic-circle blueprints. He had asked Jenni to drink the magical drug so that she could be forcefully turned into a grade-one mage before she started her practice as a runemaster. Ravencrest, who had drunk the magical drug, had secretly stopped Jenni and proposed a bold suggestion. Why not believe the knowledge on the notebook and believe the forms derived by the data in the notebook and attempt to control those runes without the assistance of magic and to use mathematics and logic instead? Jenni listened to Ravencrest¡¯s suggestion and hadpleted the magic circle at her level of apprentice mage. That was probably the first ¡®calcted¡¯ magic circle in the world. falsehood Her ¡®master¡¯ didn¡¯t reward her because of that and flew into a rage instead. He quickly found out that Ravencrest was the one who nned this ¡®dirty trick¡¯. Immediately after, he followed the clues and found out about the existence of the notebook. This near ¡®betrayal¡¯ behavior had enraged him because he believed that this book was full of nonsense and because some feeble and shoddy mage¡¯s research had actually been able to entice two servants in his mage tower. This was an utter humiliation to him. As the great mage¡¯s anger was burning, he was preparing to destroy the notebook and to ruthlessly punish his two ¡®apprentices¡¯. At this moment, Ravencrest had stood out bravely for the first time to face the wrath of his ¡®master¡¯. He had epted the punishment alone, and as the cost to protect the notebook and Jenni, he had lost one eye, a quarter of his soul, and two tendons. He attempted to make the violent mage believe that there was value in preserving the notebook and to let his foolish apprentices continue to research. Perhaps there might be something worth investing in the notebook, and Ravencrest and Jenni could be the experimental subjects who would produce magic circles and runes ording to the forms recorded in the notebook. If it was a sess, then all the credit would belong to the great mage, but if it was a failure, the mage would only be losing two experimental subjects. Jenni¡¯s master had epted this proposal and allowed his two audacious apprentices to carry on the research, but the master had constantly mocked and criticized them. He believed that people who couldn¡¯t even control high-grade runes would definitely produce worthless findings in rune research. It was as foolish as a serf trying to guess the menu of the king¡¯s lunch. Without the ability to sense and control runes, how would one be able to tell the power of runes? With just calctions? Wasn¡¯t it ridiculous? But no matter what, Ravencrest and Jenni were finally able to continue the research on the notebook¡¯s content. They had quickly discovered an obvious ¡®fault¡¯ in different magic-guided materials when conducting magic. This fault seemed to separate all the magic-guided materials into two intervals of ¡®positive¡¯ and ¡®negative¡¯. There was a mysterious constant that affected the two intervals of the magic-guided materials and would have an actual performance in the magic circle. It turned out that various magic-guided materials would affect the ¡®output power¡¯ of the magic circle. The anti-interference ability of the magic circle would depend on the arrangement logic of the runes and the rtionship with the magic-guided materials¡¯ positive or negative impact, and it was also influenced by a constant¡­ They then started to deduce this constant and were getting closer to the ultimate result. But before the eve of sess, their master suddenly gave them a mission. They had to visit a magic well that had lost control and reset the rune formation in there. This was totally beyond their skills as runemasters, and the resetting of the magic well¡¯s rune formation wasn¡¯t even the specialty of a runemaster. This was a job for an official mage. But the master¡¯s order was absolute, and there was a remark that came after the order: ¡°Didn¡¯t you say all runes can be modeled after your forms? Then go remodel that.¡± Ravencrest epted this order. He was very clear that the great mage had already lost his patience, and he wasn¡¯t a person that could tolerate his servants acting freely. Hence, Ravencrest didn¡¯t have a choice but to adjust the runes in the magic well. It would also allow him to verify the most crucial problem. Jenni¡¯s recollections were getting close to the end, and her tone was very calm. It was so very calm, as though it didn¡¯t involve her. ¡°Before Mister Ravencrest departed, he told me he would adjust those runes ording to the first conjecture. If he returned alive, it meant E=1.29. If he didn¡¯t return alive, it meant E=1.66¡­ He didn¡¯t return alive.¡± Gawain looked down at the notebook, and the constant E recorded was in a brand new and delicate handwriting. It was written by Jenni. Chapter 110 - When The Storm Rises Chapter 110: When The Storm Rises For a long time after Jenni finished speaking, neither Gawain nor Heidi broke the silence. However, Heidi could sense a powerful aura brimming out from her ancestor¡¯s body. It was like an ice crevasse beside her; it was such that by simply sitting near him, she could sense all her magical power gradually freezing, and this unbearable sensationsted until Gawain opened his mouth. When Gawain spoke, his tone was, unexpectedly, very peaceful. ¡°What is your master¡¯s name?¡± ¡°¡­William, William Birken,¡± Jenni said, stuttering slightly. ¡°He isn¡¯t a pce mage but is a person of great standing in the city of St. Soniel. He is the Honorary Advisor of the Royal Mages Institute, and¡­ is very powerful.¡± Gawain only nodded quietly. ¡°William Birken, Honorary Advisor of the Royal Mages Institute, I got it.¡± Heidi felt that the atmosphere was too stifling; she had to say something to get the air that had almost frozen over to circte again. ¡°After that? Are you still continuing to research the contents of the notes?¡± ¡°I pretended to have given up on the theories in the notebook, but I secretly continued to study them,¡± Jenni said in a low voice. ¡°Originally, master also developed that tiny bit of interest in the notes, but he disdained reading them in detail. Instead, he sat by and watched what we coulde up with. Mr. Ravencrest¡¯s death seemed to be a piece of evidence for master to be sure that the research in the notes was absurd and wrong. So, he put them out of his mind, while I pretended to have given up on those theories as he had.¡± ¡°So, it is impossible for him to ever know the existence of constant E. He disdained to even read a single assertion in the notes in detail and finished making all judgment based only on impression¡­ based on that foolish impression of his.¡± Gawain¡¯s tone was extremely contemptuous. ¡°He has no idea what he is despising. Neither does he know what he has let slip. Better yet, he doesn¡¯t even know that he had let something slip¡ª I have never heard of such a foolish and ignorant person.¡± Jenni¡¯s eyes widened slightly. This was her first time hearing someone use the two words ¡®foolish¡¯ and ¡®ignorant¡¯ to evaluate her master, to evaluate an archmage who had an illustrious reputation in the Royal Mages Institute and even an honorary seat in the Association of Mystics¡­ However, she did not dare to agree with Gawain. She only dropped her head slightly and went on, ¡°Then I slowly became a skilled Runemaster. Master had once been curious why I was able toplete the adjustment of runes with magic techniques at the apprentice level, but he still had many other matters to pay attention to, and ve apprentices like me are innumerable in his mage tower. Very soon, his attention was shifted away from me¡ª until not long ago. News that the King wanted to organize a Southern Borders pioneering team came. Various aristocrats in positions of power and influence began organizing this team, and master suddenly came to me¡­¡± Heidi sneered lightly. ¡°So this is due to Archmage William Birken. Packaging a grade-four runemaster with the foundation of a mage apprentice into an intermediate professional and arranging for her to join the team.¡± ¡°He probably just wanted to get rid of a burden. After all, in his eyes¡­ I¡¯ve always been considered someone who is neither obedient nor talented.¡± Jenni nodded with a bitter smile. ¡°Besides, to have a mage apprentice make up the numbers with the rank of a runemaster, this is already severe deception and dishonor, so he¡¯d probably gotten the instigation and support of certain big figures in the capital. Duke, I wish to remind you, I am not an exception. Half of this hundred-men team have been shoved in like that to make up the numbers and are essentially outcasts and radicals. We are either burdens with no status and have been kicked out or hold an empty professional rank and cannot be put to use in reality. Just like that grade-two official mage, Mr. Santis. Although he is a grade-two arcanist, he has an inherently frail spiritual power and can only continuously release three to four grade-two spells. And the carpenter Mr. Blues spent half his life studying gears but was ostracized by the Carpenters Association because he was no good at socializing. He¡¯d been expelled from the association many years ago. Not until the organization of the pioneering team this time did the association find him, reinstate his status as a member, and add him to the team just for the numbers¡­¡± Heidi was left agape. ¡°Does that bunch of aristocrats in the capital have to go so far¡­¡± However, Gawain could not help but break out inughter. ¡°I¡¯ve got to thank them instead. Thank every n who had a hand in this matter and also thank Jenni¡¯s master. Those idiots would never know how much wealth they¡¯ve let through. Radicals and rebels? Alright, what mynd fears the least is rebelling. If those people who cling to old ideas with a pile of connections were to reallye over, I wouldn¡¯t want them!¡± Heidi watched Gawain with a worried gaze. ¡°Ancestor, you don¡¯t have to console yourself like this¡­¡± ¡°¡­Why are you also showing inclinations of bing more ¡®Reba¡¯-like?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean Iron-Hea¡ª Never mind, you won¡¯t understand even if I spell it out.¡± Gawain waved his hand and turned to look at Jenni. ¡°Let bygones be bygones, Miss Jenni Perot. You¡¯ve arrived at your new home. Toss all your past fears and worries aside. You may continue your research openly and as you please. Not only will I permit that, I will even support you. From now on, you may go to Heidi¡¯s to collect materials for rune research every month. I only have one request¡ª¡± Jennipletely did not expect Gawain to dere his support for her so frankly and even passionately. She was still lost in great shock and only asked subconsciously at this point, ¡°What request?¡± ¡°Sort out your research. Sum them up into simple and straightforward forms and theorems,¡± Gawain said while looking at the notebook on the table. ¡°I can tell from your notes that you are a practical researcher. You are good at using experience to arrive at these forms, and I happen to have someone who canplement you in my territory ¡ª my descendant, Reba Cecil. She is a girl who is very quick-witted and also skilled at mathematics. I will have you two study these together. I hope that the end-product you ultimately create could be a¡­¡± Gawain suddenly stopped here as if choosing his words carefully. Until a few seconds after, under Heidi and Jenni¡¯s curious gazes, he then found the most suitable word. ¡°Textbook. I hope that you can tidy all these into a textbook, a textbook that can be understood by as many people as possible. Of course, that is the ultimate oue. It is a wish of mine, and it will be really tough to achieve. You can take it slow, and let me know if youck anything.¡± ¡°Are these¡­ really that important?¡± Jenni finally realized that Gawain wasn¡¯t deceiving her. But apart from being immensely surprised, she only felt confused and bewildered. ¡°Do you want to foster runemasters like me in great numbers?¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°Foster runemasters? No, I n on making the contents in this notebook, in the days toe, the general knowledge for every spellcaster on this territory, or even general knowledge for every person.¡± With that, he stood up and solemnly pushed that big book back to Jenni. ¡°Keep it well. Protect it well, and if you have the time and chance from now on, it¡¯ll be best to make a copy of it. Knowledge is even more precious than the book itself. The writings right at the beginning have started to blur.¡± Jenni nodded fervently in a slight fluster. ¡°Yes¡­ yes, I will definitely bear your orders in mind.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll take my leave first. Rest well. I will introduce Reba to youter.¡± Gawain and Heidi left the small wooden hut, leaving Jenni staring dazedly at the thick, big book in her hands alone. The burn scar on her left cheek started to throb with a dull pain. This was a scar left from the first time she walked into her master¡¯sboratory and stood in the magic circles as a test subject. It had apanied her for five whole years. Originally, it no longer hurt, but for some reason, the pain returned at this time. Then she finally understood. Those injuries had actually been hurting all this time. Only, the pain gradually became a type of habit, such that she¡¯dpletely regarded them as only natural and right. Until today, before an ancient hero from 700 years ago who resurrected, she seemed to have lost control and poured the things that she¡¯d kept in her heart for so many years out altogether; these had all kept the familiar numbness and pretense used to relieve pain at the back of her mind. Only now did she gradually feel that she had recovered some¡­ consciousness of a living person.¡± So a living person did feel pain. She hugged that notebook which bore the work bequeathed by three generations of its owners and her painstaking effort over years and suddenly broke down into tears. After leaving Jenni¡¯s small wooden hut, Gawain¡¯s expression darkened once again. Heidi had the illusion that all her magical power was about to freeze again. She cautiously watched her ancestor¡¯s expression. ¡°You are¡­ very angry?¡± Gawain could not help butsh out with curses, ¡°Hopelessly stupid! Ignorant! Fools! A hundred percent,plete, utter ret*rd!¡± ¡°You¡¯re referring to¡­ that master of Jenni?¡± ¡°That thing has the cheek to call himself Jenni¡¯s ¡®master¡¯?¡± Gawain sneered in contempt. ¡°I am actually ashamed to be of the same race as him.¡± ¡°I also feel that¡­ that mage called William Birken is really foolish.¡± Heidi shook her head too. ¡°I know that traditional mages are all really obstinate, but I never thought someone could be stubborn and blind to this extent. Jenni and Ravencrest already achieved significant results, yet that William Birkenpletely turned a blind eye to it. Moreover, he never looked at that notebook seriously from the start to the end¡ª Is he blind?¡± Gawain snorted. ¡°Blind? Of course he¡¯s not blind. He¡¯d merely been a perfect fit for the code of conduct of his social ss. For what reason do you think that William Birken had overlooked Jenni and Ravencrest¡¯s results, ignoring the existence of those forms?¡± [E/N: I would have been more upset about the whole child-experimentation-and-deaths thing, but that¡¯s just me.] Heidi made a guess, ¡°Because Jenni and Ravencrest¡¯s capabilities are low? So their research isn¡¯t credible too?¡± ¡°This is only a minor reason. The true reason ¡ª is because Jenni and Ravencrest are ve apprentices. They are ves.¡± Gawain had long seen through all this. ¡°This was enough for that mage to deem the two as ¡®a different species¡¯ from himself. He had ¡®intentionally¡¯ overlooked their results, hadn¡¯t he? No, that¡¯s not the case at all. He hadn¡¯t paid attention to what results they¡¯d obtained from the very start. He didn¡¯t look at all. Didn¡¯t think about it at all. What he noticed was only the point that ¡®his ves are notplying with orders¡¯.¡± ¡°¡­¡± A momentter, Heidi then suggested, ¡°We can send a document of protest to the King. Given your title of duke, it¡¯s impossible for the King to not respond. That archmage would to a certain degree¡­¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t like protesting ¡ª because it¡¯s useless.¡± Gawain waved his hand with force. ¡°Since these hundred people who were scraped together have arrived at our territory, do you think that the King would fear my protest? It is true that the influential aristocrats in the capital had meddled with this team, but since the team could set off, it means Francis II had at least tacitly assented to this matter. Then why would he not give his tacit approval?¡± Heidi reacted very quickly. ¡°Because he¡¯d fulfilled the required ¡®etiquette¡¯ and ¡®customs¡¯. As King, he has done no wrong.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, the customs and etiquette of aristocrats. All the people of this era only recognize that.¡± ¡°Then this issue¡­¡± ¡°There is no hurry, Heidi, no hurry.¡± Gawain let out a long breath and slowly smiled. ¡°Customs and etiquette will not protect them forever.¡± Chapter 111 - One Small Step Chapter 111: One Small Step If he hadn¡¯t experienced for himself and seen for himself, even with Gawain Cecil¡¯s memories, it would probably be difficult for Gawain to realize why this world would be so inextricably bogged down in the mire of a regressing civilization; why was it that after so many years, not only did civilization not advance at all, it was instead showing signs of rigidity and stepping back? One research manuscript, four owners altogether, several decades of umtion, study and summary. The results born from that were enough to change the world order yet were almost destroyed in the hands of the obsolete powerhouses of this era. Jenni and her predecessors were rare talents, but their bitter experiences were not umon in this world. This was a typical example: on thend of an aristocrat, a serf was suddenly struck with a great idea of managing thend or had discovered a problem with the tax collector. He decided to tell his findings to his feudal lord. What would the oue be? Many people believed this serf would be punished for poking his nose in his feudal lord¡¯s estate or for ndering the tax collector. However, more often than not, that wasn¡¯t the case ¡ª because they wouldn¡¯t be able toe in front of the feudal lord at all. There wouldn¡¯te a time where they could speak what they thought at all. The punishment that they faced was often another thing ¡ª how dared he step on the courtyard of an aristocrat with those bare feet of his that had stepped on horse dung! If he was wearing shoes? Then, they would also be dragged away by the guards ¡ª You actually had shoes?! Where did you steal them from! Clearly, from start to finish, no one cared what this serf had discovered; neither would anyone know what he truly wanted to say. As a serf, he wasn¡¯t convicted for his words, he was convicted for breathing. Serfs had yet to be of enough importance to be convicted for their words. This was a kind of societal ecology that people from a modern civilized society would find difficult toprehend. It was preposterous, foolish, strange,mentable ¡ª¡ª but real. Had Jenni and Ravencrest¡¯s research produced substantial results? Of course, even though those basic and primitive theories had yet to be sorted out, situations whereby real world phenomena could not be exined would also appear; there would even be major errors in practical use. But, at the least, most of the time, those forms would be effective. Otherwise, Jenni couldn¡¯t have be a grade-four runemaster. As a runemaster who only possessed apprentice-level spellcasting abilities, she could only rely on the forms and logic summed up by three generations of predecessors. Was Jenni¡¯s master really stupid? Of course not. At least in terms of intelligence, an archmage could not be stupid. Stupid people wouldn¡¯t be able to graspplicated spell molds and rune calctions, so that archmage must be a highly intelligent person. What ultimately caused the tragedy was neither a problem with the notebook, nor was it Jenni¡¯s ¡®master¡¯ being really stupid that he couldn¡¯t perceive the worth of the notes. Instead, it was thetter never having paid attention to the notebook at all, nor had he paid attention to Jenni. All he paid attention to was that his ves were doing something that broke the rules, just like the aristocrat who whipped the serf as he stepped barefoot into his courtyard. As Gawain walked down the road, thoughts spun in his mind without stopping. He realized that the situation was indeed as he had expected ¡ª this world had arrived at the opportune moment where revolution could take ce. The breakthrough, whether in technology or mentality, had been umting greatly. Amongst a small number of lower-ss people, such revolutions were currently happening or had already happened. They emerged noiselessly and ended without a sound. The powerlessness of the transformed poptions caused things that should be epoch-making to be entirely unable to spread upwards. Therefore, changing the times became just talk, and this was precisely where this world¡¯s problemid. However, the situation being as he¡¯d expected did not cheer him up. The heavens would know how many more geniuses like Jenni were being repressed in that obsolete mire, being buried, being wasted, being sacrificed, just like Ravencrest! And before his project came true and made a radical change to the present situation, how many people wouldn¡¯t be able to wait till the day they had the chance to catch a glimpse of daybreak? He returned to his tent with a rather heavy heart. Once he stepped in, he saw the little maidservant Betty squatting beside his desk. The youngdy had probably just finished cleaning this ce; her clothes appeared to be dusty, but she was not in the least aware. She only squatted quietly on the ground, using the small tree branch to scratch here and there in the soil to practice her writing. Only until Gawain walked closer was Betty jolted back to her senses. She lifted her head for a nce and hurriedly stood up. ¡°My Lord!¡± Looking at this innocent youngdy, Gawain felt his depressed mood slowly easing for some reason. He pressed a hand lightly on Betty¡¯s hair. ¡°Didn¡¯t I give you a set of stationery already? Why are you still writing with a branch here?¡± Betty batted her eyes, seeming to be a little shy. ¡°I¡­ write badly. I always write wrongly, and I was worried I would waste the ink and paper. I want to practice on the ground first. When I¡¯m able to write the alphabet properly, then I¡¯ll use ink and paper¡­¡± Gawain¡¯s mouth opened in slight surprise. He initially wanted to tell her that although the territory still could not manufacture paper and ink yet, they weren¡¯t short of money at all. Ever since the building of the pier at the White River waspleted, purchasing from Tanzan Town had be much more convenient than before. However, after giving it some thought, he only shook his head with a smile, picked up a small wooden stick from the side and squatted down beside Betty. ¡°The way you grip your pen is wrong. Although writing on the ground with a wooden stick differs from writing on paper, if you want to write well, you¡¯ve still got to practice gripping your pen first.¡± As he spoke, he held Betty¡¯s hand loosely and guided the youngdy to grip the ¡®pen¡¯ in her hand in the correct manner and write the alphabet on the ground. ¡°You don¡¯t have to use so much force. Writing is different from work. Having a lot of strength doesn¡¯t mean you can write well. If you use too much strength, you will instead quiver.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright even if you write slower. You just learned. Take it slow.¡± Betty was engrossed in learning; her eyes twinkled. This little maidservant who was always known as clumsy and rash was so serious right now that she seemed like another person. She was so immersed that she was simply too upied to even wipe the tiny beads of perspiration that had seeped out onto the tip of her nose. Gawain loosened his hand and watched the youngdy slowly put those letters together and wrote out a few slightly crooked words on the ground. ¡°Betty¡­ likes¡­ this¡­ ce.¡± She finally wrote out aplete sentence. The youngdy appeared to be very pleased. Lifting her head, she looked at Gawain with shining eyes. ¡°I¡¯m done writing.¡± Gawain looked at the girl¡¯s bright eyes. ¡°You really like it here?¡± ¡°Mm.¡± Betty nodded hard, and then she thought for a moment and still nodded strongly. ¡°I like it.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because everyone is a good person. Miss Reba is. Madam Heidi is. There¡¯s also you, Lord, and Miss Amber, and Sir Philip, and Sir Bryon, and everyone else working outside. Old Gordon, Old Hummel, Norris¡­¡± Betty counted on her fingers while she spoke as if she wanted to mention every single person whose name she could remember. Finally, because it was getting really hard to count, she then stopped. ¡°Everyone is great, and everyone really likes this ce too.¡± ¡°Does everyone like it too?¡± ¡°Mm! Everyone said it when we were chatting afterpleting our work. They said Lord was a¡­ How do I say it again? A powerful and upright aristocrat lord. As long as it¡¯s a promise that you put out, you will definitely fulfill it. And you can even go on the battlefield to protect everyone. Most importantly, you let everyone have enough to eat.¡± Gawain did not continue the conversation. The rations in the territory had yet to be self-supporting and self-sufficient. At present, both grain and meat, or other foodstuffs, were actually all being purchased from Tanzan Town. The money spent was their capital from the vault in the mountains. However, to those civilians who only hoped to have enough to eat, they did not think there was any difference in this. Moreover, ording to Norris, as long as they waited until Frost Month, the first batch of fast-growing crops could be swiftly harvested under the ripening of the druid spells. By then, food in the territory would no longer be a problem. Allowing everyone to have ample food was enough to gather loyalty in this era. Betty did not hear Gawain¡¯s response, but she wasn¡¯t bothered either because she had bowed her head again and started practicing her writing. Watching the girl who looked absorbed, Gawain suddenly asked very solemnly, ¡°Betty, do you wish to go to school?¡± The little maidservant was stunned for a moment. ¡°Go to school? To learn what?¡± ¡°Reading and writing, calction, history, or possibly even¡­ runes and magic circles,¡± Gawain said slowly. ¡°Runes and magic thatymen can also learn. Trust me, there will be.¡± Betty gave it some careful thought and then dropped her head. ¡°I can¡¯t learn. They said I¡¯m very stupid.¡± ¡°But do you want to learn?¡± ¡°¡­I do, but who would cook?¡± ¡°You can learn in your spare time. For example, two hours before you go to bed at night.¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°So long as you want to learn, you will always have the time.¡± This time, all that was left of Betty was her nodding her head. However, the two did not continue on this topic because it was soon time to prepare dinner. As the cook, once Betty heard the ringing of brass bells outside, she quickly stood up, put her small tree branch away, bowed to Gawain, and dashed out. Only until Betty¡¯s figure disappeared past the tent¡¯s portiere did Gawain tilt his head slightly to look towards the seemingly empty area by the tent mast and said, ¡°Come out. How long are you nning to stay there for?¡± The air there contorted slightly, and Amber¡¯s figure emerged out of thin air. She leaned on the mast of the tent, utter surprise on her face. ¡°How did you notice me? How long did you know I was here?¡± ¡°I¡¯d seen you since you started leaning on the mast and made funny faces at me.¡± Gawain snappily rolled his eyes at this half-elf. ¡°I know you¡¯re very confident about your stealth skills, but standing so carelessly in a spot less than three meters from me in broad daylight without using the shadows to conceal yourself is quite an insult to my intelligence, alright? Did you think that a knight¡¯s senses were that poor?¡± ¡°Psh, I thought you werepletely focused on teaching that girl to write that you wouldn¡¯t take notice of this side at all,¡± Amber pursed her lips and muttered. Then, her body swayed, and she was already seated on the desk beside Gawain. Following that, she simply sat there without a word, only keeping her eyes fixed on Gawain. Before long, thetter was flooded with goosebumps from her gaze. ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Gawain could not help but ask. ¡°Is there something on my face?¡± ¡°You¡¯re really an odd¡­ aristocrat,¡± Amber suddenly blurted without rhyme or reason. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± Miss Half-elf waved her hand. ¡°I¡¯m just curious. Previously, you said that you wanted everyone to be able to read and count¡­ Turns out you weren¡¯t joking?¡± ¡°Why should I joke?¡± Gawain chuckled. ¡°Not only am I not joking, but I also want you to go get Heidi and Reba here right now. I want to discuss this matter with them.¡± Chapter 112 - Talents and Population Chapter 112: Talents and Poption Heidi and Reba were called to Gawain¡¯s tent, and after hearing what Gawain had in mind, the two were, sure enough, shocked. ¡°Educate? Teach every civilian and even the serfs?¡± Heidi¡¯s eyes were wide; she was this close to totally losing her grace. ¡°And it is to be listed as aw of the territory. Everyone has to receive an education like paying taxes?!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Henceforth, learning to read and write will not only be a right but also an obligation.¡± Gawain smiled; being able to see the always mature and steady Heidi being so startled by him was also a rather pleasant thing. ¡°Now, every person in the territory has to know how to read and write. People whoe to thisnd in the future must also do the same. Otherwise, they absolutely wouldn¡¯t be able to survive in the new order that I¡¯m pursuing.¡± Heidi looked to be absorbed in thought. ¡°New order¡­¡± Meanwhile, Reba who was beside her was much more practical: what immediately came to her mind was how difficult this would be. ¡°Lord Ancestor, to educate an illiterate civilian into a knowledgeable, cultured person with propriety isn¡¯t that easy. This requires literature teachers, mathematics teachers, history and geography teachers, and also teachers who teach swordsmanship, horsemanship, as well as a couple of natural history tutors. Even afterpleting all this rtively basic curriculum, there¡¯s still the super, super tough courses like art, etiquette, and heraldry. All these subjects would take ten-odd years toplete!¡± Gawain was stupefied; he was about to exin when Heidi who was in front of him held her forehead and spoke up, ¡°Reba¡­ not every person requires ten-odd years to learn etiquette, art, and heraldry. Besides, as a matter of fact, even till today, you¡¯ve yet to grasp them¡­¡± Reba was dazed. ¡°Eh? Was that the case? Why do I remember my etiquette teacher telling me that I¡¯dpleted my education¡­¡± Heidi wore a look of exasperation, expecting better from her. ¡°Because he really couldn¡¯t beat you!¡± Reba: ¡°¡­¡± Amber, who stood behind Gawain, was instantly convulsed withughter; the entire tent was filled with a merry atmosphere. Whereas Gawain had to quickly interrupt his granddaughters¡¯ topic that was moving further and further away. ¡°Stop, stop, stop. You¡¯re digressing as you go on. I believe you people have misunderstood what I meant. The education that I speak of is entirely different from the kind of education that you know of, forrge families to foster their heirs. I do not want to cultivate an aristocrat or an apprentice as a result of this but to foster talents who possess the ability to read, write, and understand mathematical logic. And remember, this will be mass cultivation.¡± As he spoke, he shook his head. ¡°Those methods of looking for a group of renowned teachers, teaching from the start of the day to the end, and producing a few young masters and youngdies after ten-odd years of education will not work here. The education that I demand will be very simple. For adults who hold a job, conduct two hours of fundamental general studies, literacy, and counting every day after work, that¡¯s all. For children who still cannot take on jobs, conduct half a day of education. The other half will be left for them to help their parents by working at home.¡± Such a ¡®basic¡¯ and ¡®inexpensive¡¯ way of education was truly unheard of. Heidi could not help but frown. ¡°In other words, the minimum requirement for them is simply to be able to read and write, and the teachers would also only have to be of this standard¡­ What use would such basic education have?¡± She had actually yet to vocalize another half of her question: what do civilians need literacy for? If this was in the past, she most likely would¡¯ve blurted it out, but she wasn¡¯t that sure now. This was because she had realistically seen the other side of civilians and serfs, and ancestor had mentioned, once previously, his ns for every person in the territory to be literate. That was equivalent to having given her a heads-up; only she didn¡¯t expect that this ancestor actually meant business and was getting to it so soon. ¡°Being literate means being able to understand reason, being able to shoulder even moreplicated jobs, being able to understand ideas that we ry to them, being able to live with clearer goals, being able to be useful talents.¡± Gawain smiled and looked towards Heidi. ¡°Perhaps some people were fated to never be mages, knights, or priests since they were born. They were unable to awaken transcendent gifts, but the majority of people are able to grasp knowledge through acquired learning after birth. At least in this aspect, fate was rtively fairer.¡± Heidi had yet to realize what Gawain was referring to at the start, but she was quickly reminded of a person ¡ª someone she¡¯d just met today, the silver-haired girl from the capital. She finally revealed an appalled expression. ¡°Ancestor, you aren¡¯t intending to¡­ add rune theories into this general-studies curriculum, are you?¡± ¡°That is an intermediate to advanced level curriculum, so why not?¡± Gawain beamed, his spirits unprecedentedly high and joyful. ¡°Recall carefully, Heidi. Amongst the forms and theorems recorded in that notebook¡­ which has to do with the gift for magic?¡± Heidi¡¯s mouth opened. She finally made a sound sometimeter. ¡°No, none, those¡­ are all solely calctions!¡± ¡°Correct, that notebook verified a thought that I already had previously. That is, that the gap between supernatural powers and mortals isn¡¯t as great as it is imagined to be. Perhaps such powers indeed favor those with unique gifts more, but since it is a natural phenomenon, there is no reason that more than ny percent of theymen in this world are isted from it because of a mere problem with natural gifts,¡± Gawain said,ment in his tone. ¡°Runes and magic do have rules, and to sum upws¡­ what is required is intelligence and not power.¡± Yes, mortals could also engage with the supernatural realm. Even if they themselves would never be able to release a spell, they could build an indirect connection with supernatural powers through this ¡®lever¡¯ of mathematics and logic. And once contact was established, the scarily massive ¡®quantity of mortals¡¯ could almost cleanly sweep away the old order ¡ª Gawain was convinced of this. Heidi pondered whilst in shock; atst, she hesitantly asked a question, ¡°Do most people¡­ really possess such intelligence?¡± ¡°Your tone is very hesitant. Which means you already have an answer.¡± Gawain looked at Heidi with a subtle smile. ¡°Through your interactions with them these days, are you still not sure that they are the same people as you and I?¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Heidi inhaled deeply. ¡°I will go make preparations. First, select literate people from the hundred people from the capital to serve as the most basic teachers. Then, convene the various supervisors and arrange everyone¡¯s work and study timetable.¡± ¡°Remember, the most fundamental is literacy.¡± Gawain nodded in satisfaction and emphasized, ¡°And we cannot dy the construction of the territory. Regardless of teachers or students, they cannot be released from productionbor at this stage. Teachers who teach reading and writing are to participate inbor after sses too.¡± ¡°Please rest assured, I will handle it well.¡± Reba nced at Heidi, then at Gawain, and then scratched her hair in bewilderment. ¡°What were you two talking about at the end? Rune theories? Why can¡¯t I understand¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s normal that you didn¡¯t understand because you didn¡¯te with us this morning.¡± Gawain¡¯s figure leaned back, resting against his chair. He watched Iron-Headed Girl with a merry smile. ¡°Reba, I found you a friend. She specializes in the same area as you do¡­¡± Without waiting for Gawain to finish, Reba¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°She can consecutively fire three big fireballs too?!¡± ¡°¡­Um, I¡¯m not referring to the ability tounch fireballs.¡± Reba¡¯s eyes spun around. She wanted to ask ¡ª since she could notunch fireballs, was it knowing how to climb trees, steal from birds¡¯ nests, or grilling locusts? However, as she was afraid of getting beaten up, she didn¡¯t dare to vocalize this thought. Meanwhile, Gawain had be profoundly aware from seeing this youngdy¡¯s expression that regardless of how talented this child was, it could never change the reality of her lively and unbridled character (moreover, she¡¯d had her head clipped by a door before). Hence, he could only tell it straight. ¡°The friend I speak of isn¡¯t to fool around with you. She¡¯s here to do research with you. Her name is Jenni Perot, a member of the hundred-person aid team. She¡¯s a grade-four runemaster and is equally gifted as you are in the area of mathematics and calctions. And the way she studies magic has many aspects that couldplement and correspond with you¡­¡± To avoid this youngdy letting her mind out of control, Gawain shared everything about Jenni Perot in one breath. Whereas Reba listened on dazedly. At the end, she suddenly pped her hands together. ¡°You said that she¡¯d found a technique to do the framework of rune blueprints using calctions instead of spells?¡± Although the process of it was tortuous, Gawain did not exin much of it at present. ¡°Something like that.¡± ¡°Ah! I want to meet that person!¡± Reba, sure enough, had an ted look. ¡°It feels like she¡¯s really impressive!¡± Gawain was very d to see Reba being fully interested in this but still reminded before the doofus ran wild. ¡°Do not dy the development of the Magic Powered Engine and the ¡®cement¡¯.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I know that!¡± ¡°Then the discussion for this matter shall end here.¡± Gawain nodded in satisfaction; then he looked towards Amber. ¡°Amber, make another trip and get Sir Byron here.¡± Amber looked reluctant, but her figure still gradually faded in the air. ¡°Sigh, what aborious life.¡± Soon, Sir Byron, who had been resting in the barracks, was brought to the tent. This former mercenary and now a middle-aged knight bowed to Gawain. ¡°Duke, you asked for me?¡± ¡°Are you familiar with the serf market and refugees?¡± Sir Byron faltered for a moment before nodding. ¡°I¡¯m very familiar with the serf market. Previously, I¡¯d represented Miss Reba¡¯s father to purchase serfs from the territories of the other aristocrat ns. As for refugees¡­ I can¡¯t speak of being familiar or not. Those are people who rove everywhere and are more or less like savages. At the old mine to the extreme north of Tanzan Town and the abandoned Goering mill¡ª¡± Gawain cut him off. ¡°I don¡¯t want those who have be ouws, but those whose background are still clean for now.¡± ¡°There are no refugees with a clean background, but I believe I get what you mean. You want those still lingering at the perimeters of towns and viges and have yet to give up on getting a means of livelihood in the civilized world?¡± Certainly, someone who was once a mercenary, who had associated with all sorts of poor people and fought in the gray zone, Byron understood Gawain¡¯s request immediately. Then, he quickly put out a suggestion. ¡°Lord, if you are really prepared to recruit refugees, then I have a suggestion. Why don¡¯t we try issuing a mercenary authorization at Tanzan Town? Just say we want to buy ves in masses ¡ª¡ª buy ves at less than thirty percent of the market price. This way, it would not cost more than dispatching announcers to put up notices everywhere andmunicating with the feudal lords of the various aristocrat ns. Moreover, it will be extremely efficient.¡± Chapter 113 - Gawains Morals Chapter 113: Gawain¡¯s Morals This suggestion that Byron put forward made everyone present slightly confused, especially Heidi. She raised her question directly, ¡°Buy ves at a price that is thirty percent of the market price? And in the form of issuing a mercenary authorization? How could there be anyone willing to ept this? Don¡¯t mention this unusually low price, the mercenaries¡¯ remuneration probably still has to be taken from this thirty percent¡­ To those mercenaries, this is nothing but a losing deal.¡± With regard to this question, Byron only said coolly, ¡°So we have to add an extra line ¡ª We do not require very or contracts.¡± Heidi and Reba stared at each other, while Amber had already understood. This half-elf was just about to say something, but unexpectedly, Gawain spoke up before her, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, the mercenaries will capture refugees to act as ves and sell them for money.¡± Amber nced at Gawain with a slight surprise as if she hadn¡¯t expected this Duke to actually understand such things, whereas Sir Bryon added, ¡°A strong serf or veborer with aplete very contract and a clear family background would often cost 20 to 30 small iid coins or 16 to 17 silver coins. And the greatest cost among everything was actually their ve record as that held a tabtion of their identity, so that has to be bought through proper channels. Other than the cost of purchasing the ve itself, the owner of the ve, the tax collector of the feudal lord, the local churches, the ve market, and even the ¡®ve association¡¯, usually made up of local ruffians and crooks, would draw tiers ofmissions from this. This would make the price several times or even tens of times more. However, refugees¡­ refugees do not need capital to acquire. No one would protect them, nor is there any information on their identity. If they go missing or die, it wouldn¡¯t attract any attention.¡± At this point, Byron paused for a moment, seeming to be giving Reba and Heidi some time to think. Then he went on, ¡°In normal circumstances, aristocrats will not buy ves with no very contracts as such ves have no safeguard of their background. The aristocrat could also wind up miserly and poor if the ves turn out to be less than satisfactory. Moreover, if such ves are killed or captured by other ve owners, there would be no way of gettingpensation. Despite this, there are still people who send out requests to buy cheap ves with no citizenship. This was a tacitly approved ck rule¡­ But this was actually simply referring to refugees.¡± Heidi held her chest. Despite herself already being an example amongst the aristocrats who had close ties tomoners, she had yet toe into contact with such dark truths at the deepest level. ¡°There are actually such things?¡± ¡°Not only do they exist, they also happen all year round everywhere, Madam,¡± Sir Byron said in a deep voice. ¡°In some hical mercenarymunities, such refugees are called ¡®money with legs¡¯. They would even treat the gathering points and hideouts of refugees as valuable intelligence and circte them secretly, keeping an eye on those homeless people like sharks and hyenas. They only wait for the time when someone wants to buy cheap ves with no citizenship ¡ª usually, these would be bulk purchases ¡ª then they would rush forward together to capture them.¡± Reba instinctively tightened her grip on the iron staff in her hand; her knuckles even turned slightly white from the force she¡¯d put in. She spoke under her breath as if murmuring to herself, ¡°Mercenaries¡­ I heard their stories in the taverns. I heard stories of them wiping out bandits, killing monsters, exploring old castles, and arcanends. I thought that was the life of a mercenary, but¡­¡± ¡°Viscountess, when you were in the taverns, the mercenaries there were no longer behaving like mercenaries.¡± Sir Bryon gave Reba a deep look. ¡°Of course, not all mercenaries would do what I¡¯ve just said. What you¡¯ve mentioned is indeed also the life of some mercenaries, but there¡¯s one more thing ¡ª the hands of mercenaries are destined to be dirty. It¡¯s merely a question of how much evil they¡¯ve done.¡± Following that, this middle-aged knight lifted his head and looked towards Gawain. ¡°Lord, what do you say? About issuing the¡ª¡± Gawain looked at this knight with a subtle smile. This knight had told those darkest truths in the presence of everyone; his unspoken words were already very obvious, but Gawain didn¡¯t want to expose this halfway knight who seemed to have quite a past. ¡°I do not intend to save on this sum of money.¡± Both Heidi and Reba evidently heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°We¡¯re not short of money. The gold and silver in the treasury are enough for the entire territory to spend for a very, very long time. However, if we use a way that encourages vices in order to save money, the debts borne by our souls won¡¯t be that easy to atone for,¡± Gawain said unhurriedly. ¡°Do it ording to the usual process. Put up notices at the territories close by, and dispatch people to read them out. Communicate with aristocrats that we are able to. Rent horses and carriages and prepare rations as well. If we buy serfs, do it ording to the usual process. There¡¯s no need to be miserly with money. I only have one request. Ensure that everyone who will being to thisnd understands one thing ¡ª regardless of what they have done in the past, they must obey thews here.¡± Byron held his chest and bowed his head. ¡°That is their duty.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°You are good at associating with people of this type, so you shall assume full charge of this matter. Get the money you need from Heidi, but there must be clear ounts and spending ns. In addition, if you have the channels, it would be best if you could get a line on the refugees¡¯ gathering points.¡± As the foundational work was on track, they now had some extra manpower. The work for the mint had begun on a small scale. Gawain had already designed the currency and ordered people to forge their very first few coin denominations. He then sent these currencies to the neighboring Tanzan Town and several other rtively further towns and notarized them with the merchants and aristocrats. These currencies had now be official. When Byron and the others left, it was only Gawain and Amber left in the tent. Thetter kept surveying Gawain with an odd gaze, making Gawain uneasy all over. ¡°What are you looking at again?¡± ¡°Having those mercenaries who only recognize money capture refugees and send them here is clearly less trouble, less effort, and less money spent. I¡¯d have thought you would definitely pick the more practical proposal. Don¡¯t you always im to be a pragmatist?¡± ¡°I am indeed a pragmatist, but I¡¯m not a viin. What ways would those mercenaries use to capture the refugees to serve as ves? I can imagine just with the back of my teeth. How many people would be killed on the spot in this process? How many people¡¯s families would be broken up? How many people would die of hunger and illness during the brutal ¡®transportation¡¯ process of those mercenaries? Even if I were to especially emphasize ensuring the health of the ¡®ves¡¯ in the authorization, how many mercenaries do you think will really obey? These things might not be personally done with my hands, but they would be impelled by me. It would vite my principles.¡± ¡°But do you know, even if you¡¯re not doing it, there are others who are. Miserly farm owners and ck mines would approach mercenaries to buy ves with no citizenship. The amount they would buy every year is enough to fill this small camp of yours several times over.¡± ¡°I intend to destroy such a present situation and build a new order. Not only do I myself have toply with these criteria, every piece of territory that I found will also abide by these norms ¡ª Whether they are ve owners, mercenaries, local hoodlums, bandits, unscrupulous merchants, or hereditary peers and upational powerhouses, all are to do so. I do no evil, and neither are they allowed to.¡± Amber looked at Gawain with a stupefied air, mouth agape. She only spoke some timeter. ¡°You sound pretty confident¡­ but why are you so set on protecting the weak? Is it really because of those so-called ¡®ssic virtues of aristocrats¡¯ or ¡®knights¡¯ chivalry¡¯?¡± ¡°No, this is only basic morals.¡± Amber acted as if she was intentionally being spiteful, wanting to find some faults. ¡°You¡¯re simply being naive. How could you bring so many changes alone? You must know that in this world, the weak falling prey to the strong is a rule. The strong being above the weak is a moral itself.¡± Gawain watched Amber and suddenly could not help but burst intoughter. ¡°That¡¯s right. The weak is prey to the strong. This is indeed the rule of the world or even the rule of nature. The strong ought to set the rules, and the weak can only obey.¡± Amber batted her eyes. ¡°Then you¡ª¡± Gawain¡¯s smile became even more unrestrained. ¡°So haven¡¯t I already startedying down the rules?¡± ¡°¡­It could work this way too?!¡± ¡­ Meanwhile, on the ship White Oak, which was now far from the Cecil territory and currently sailing on the White River, Veronica was in her own praying room. She was still dressed in a in white nun gown, long pale-blond hair softly spreading behind her head; there were no luxurious essories on her at all. She knelt before the statue of the God of Holy Light, her hands crossed on her chest, imitating the form of the two intersecting rays of Holy Light on the emblem. Plenty of light elements circled and danced around her, like many translucent little angels, surrounding and protecting this matchless pious believer of the Holy Light. She prayed sincerely, letting the radiance gradually envelop the statue of the God of Holy Light whose features were blurred and could not be distinguished with the naked eye. When she finished a passage of prayers, she then opened her eyes and looked towards the thick candle that was burning before the statue. The me of the thick candle danced a few times and abruptly changed from orange to a pure white color. The me also expanded several times, turning into a pure light beam. This radiance shook and shrunk, slowly bing the image of an old man. The old man sat in a chair. Though he appeared to be rather dignified, he was clearly aged and frail. And if there were any believers of the God of Holy Light here, they would recognize at first nce that this was the Church of Holy Light¡¯s supreme ruler, Pope Saint Ivan III. Veronica bowed her head slightly. ¡°Your Holiness.¡± The slightly distorted voice of the Pope sounded from the light. ¡°Child favored by the Holy Light, you¡¯re on your return journey?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve left the Cecil territory. The fleet should be approaching the mouth of the Dolgon River now.¡± ¡°Has everything gone smoothly during this trip? Is Gawain Cecil opposed to our Lord?¡± Veronica pondered for two seconds and replied with a gentle voice. ¡°Everything has been going well. Gawain Cecil is indeed that legend from seven hundred years ago and not an ignoble evil soul in the mortal world that has stolen a hero¡¯s body. He spokeposedly under the illumination of the Holy Light and is a person with a noble and pure character.¡± ¡°In that case, that¡¯s good. I¡¯ve been hearing the voice of the Lord frequently in recent years. He wants me to teach the right way of the Holy Light to themon people, and Gawain Cecil happened to resurrect at this point. It was truly a matter of concern. However, now that you¡¯ve confirmed he isn¡¯t an opposer of the Lord, I am much at ease.¡± Veronica¡¯s hands ovepped as she bowed deeply. ¡°My Lord¡¯s way will definitely spread throughout the entire world.¡± The candle was gradually burning out; the power of the theurgy had also reached its end. The voiceing from the radiance became weaker. ¡°Come back as quickly as possible. Do not be held up en route lest the filthymoners affect the purity of your Holy Light. Return to the Church of Holy Light¡­¡± The light disappeared; all that was left of the candle were some pale ashes. The Pope¡¯s aura had also left this ce. Veronica waited for another few seconds before slowly standing up and quietly gazing at the statue of the God of Holy Light. She spoke softly, as if murmuring to herself. ¡°That is actually a nonbeliever, right?¡± ¡°Yes, not only does he have no beliefs, he opposes the way of the Holy Light.¡± ¡°He seems to only be against gods and not the Holy Light¡­¡± ¡°In short, he is neither a servant of the Holy Light nor a pawn of the darkness.¡± ¡°Very interesting¡­¡± ¡°Very interesting.¡± Chapter 114 - Typhons Dark Cloud Chapter 114: Typhon¡¯s Dark Cloud When Veronica rode on the White Oak and was sailing on the spacious Dolgon River, when the Cecil territory¡¯s first brick-kiln yard was emitting smoke, when St. Soniel City¡¯s influential nobles and the king¡¯s advisers were discussing the southern border¡¯s situation and the conflicts between the warlocks and mages in the north¡­ the Typhon Empire¡¯s strongest knight lord, Duke Ferdinand Wendell, was caught up in deep anxiety. He was situated in a residence within the empire and was standing in a tall tower while looking down at the majestic imperial capital. asionally, he would look at that pitch-ck imperial pce that was enveloped in prestige. This was the capital of the Typhon Empire, Aldernon. This city¡¯s name originated from the ancient giantnguage, and it meant ¡®City of a Thousand Years¡¯. Even though Typhon was a new empire that had been established for only two centuries, its proud citizens believed without a doubt that they had constructed a grand city that was just like the great dynasties recorded in myths and that had been standing tall in thisnd for at least a thousand years. Everything in this city seemed to be demonstrating such pride and spirit. This city had countless spires that stood tall, countless sculptures of heroes that were sculpted from monoliths. They rose steeply from the ground as though they were pointing at the horizon and challenging the sky. In between the rows of gothic structures was the orderly and expansive ¡®Imperial Avenue¡¯ that allowed 10 carriages to ride through side by side. This avenue split Aldernon into east and west city districts. There were plenty of straight, leveled, and spacious roads that extended out from Imperial Avenue, delineating orderly regions for the entire city. The entire city was like aplex geometrical diagram with distinct edges and a structure. Everything was clearly nned and in good order, making it entirely different from other kingdoms that had chaotic, trite, congested, and worn-down capital cities. Because this city was indeed brand new. The old imperial capital had already copsed and sunk into the ground two centuries ago. The emperor who had prepared prematurely had constructed a new imperial capital on this in before the disaster and had named it ¡®Aldernon¡¯. Due to the empire¡¯s formidable strength and meticulous nning and considerations, when Aldernon was constructed, it had be one of the continent¡¯s most magnificent and grandest cities. From the beginning to now, Duke Ferdinand deeply felt proud to be able to live in such a grand city in such a grand nation. But today, there was a feeling of crisis that he felt from the bottom of his heart. Even when he looked at this flourishing capital city, he couldn¡¯t help but feel uneasy. The emperor who had great skill and strategy, Emperor Rosetta Augustus, had seemingly made the decision to have a war with the Anzu Kingdom. He had rejected all of the anti-war chancellors; he had even chased the peace-advocating Count Winterhold out of the imperial pce. This was a resolute attitude that was unprecedented. To be honest, Duke Ferdinand wasn¡¯t worried about the direction of this war. He believed in the imperial army just as he believed in his own military skills and in his de. He knew that the northwest¡¯s Anzu Kingdom was a trite and weak nation. It had the same long history as the Typhon Empire, but the kingdom had been restricted by its own history, turning it into a sluggish old man who only had one breath left. Their army and weapons hadn¡¯t made any progress for centuries and would never be a match for the imperial army. By contrast, the Typhon Empire had multiple sessful military reformations and administrative innovations that had made this nation shine with vitality and vigor like never before. Be it the soldiers in the army, all levels of officials, or the citizens, the Typhon Empire had always been superior to its regressing neighboring nation. There wasn¡¯t a need to worry about the oue of this war. Ferdinand was only worried about the emperor, worried about Rosetta Augustus¡¯s personal condition. The emperor had always been an awe-inspiring and decisive person, but he wouldn¡¯t take arbitrary action to this extent. He would listen to each chancellor¡¯s opinion seriously even if those opinions weren¡¯t enough to change his mind; he would still listen patiently and wouldn¡¯t reject opposing voices. He valued each and every nobility and would never publicly humiliate an authoritative Count by chasing him out of the imperial pce. But now¡­ he had done both of those things. Duke Ferdinand recalled the scene of thest time he met with Emperor Rosetta Augustus. That awe-inspiring emperor was seated in his ck iron throne, and his entire body was enveloped by the shadows of the throne¡¯s back and his crown. He might have been patient enough to listen to every word of his most trusted duke, but he gave a sickly reply and didn¡¯t seem like he wished to say an additional word. When Ferdinand left, he clearly heard the emperor speaking to himself toward a basin at the front. It was as if the basin had a hidden listener and was conversing with the emperor. Withdrawing his vision from the distant imperial pce, Ferdinand made a deep sigh. He thought about the curse that was handed down in the Augustus n¡¯s bloodline. The curse that only a few individuals knew of and that had only appeared two centuries ago. They would normally hear voices that no one else could hear; they would see things that no one else could see; they would be able to understand forbidden knowledge that no one else could understand. They would be able to obtain extraordinary wisdom and insight from the knowledge and would be able to make advanced considerations and nning, but ultimately¡­ Their minds would be dragged into that unseen and unheard world, leaving behind a body that had fallen into madness. Before thest meeting with Emperor Rosetta, he was still sober and could talk normally. However, Ferdinand was deeply concerned that¡­ the signs of madness had already started to appear on that sovereign. He turned around and pulled a rope by the side, causing a bell to jingle that was meant to call a servant. The balcony door opened as an attendant in a blue smock appeared in front of Ferdinand. ¡°Master.¡± The attendant lowered his head and asked, ¡°Do you have any instructions?¡± ¡°Get my coat and prepare the carriage. I wish to meet with Count Winterhold.¡± ¡­¡­ At the northern foot of the Dark Range, in the new Cecilnds. Gawain was patrolling the newly constructed brick-kiln yard, and with him was Nichs Egg who had been ¡®replenishing itself with native knowledge¡¯. Brick kilns with magic catalysts and rune triggers were arranged in rows on the spaciousnd. With the assistance of the buried ¡®Magic Web 2¡¯, they started the first ¡®test burn¡¯. As Gawain still didn¡¯t have precise temperature control or a reliable conveyor device, coupled with the construction limitation of the territory, Gawain decided not to reveal the ¡®magic-tunnel kiln¡¯ in his mind. Instead, he was preparing to use the rather traditional furnace kiln and then carry out simple modifications to settle the ¡®intangible problems¡¯. Although the furnace kiln adopted a rather primitive form, with future expansion and reformation considerations in mind, the magic web buried under this brick-kiln yard was constructed to very strict and high standards. Its power output was even higher than the magic web at the steelworks. Due to theck of direction for the quantification of magic, Gawain was still unable to determine the exact power output of these two magic webs. Feeling the orderly flow of magic in the air, the bright and shiny Nichs Egg who was suspended in midair had transmitted a metallic voice from within the ball. ¡°I have to admit¡­ Everything might be primitive, but this world is truly interesting. These flows of energy and the tools and usage methods are things that I would never think of.¡± ¡°This is the difference inws of physics.¡± Gawain acknowledged andmented. ¡°Actually, you should rejoice. A ¡®transmigrator¡¯ like you who came from a foreign world with differentws of physics was actually able tond in this world and survive unscathed. It is already a great blessing that you didn¡¯t disintegrate due to the differentws of physics.¡± ¡°Transmigrator? That is a great term.¡± Nichs Egg buzzed as it said, ¡°You are truly my soulmate. You aren¡¯t only able to understand me, but you are also able to recognize my experiences and would always be able to think of the same things I do. To be honest, when I realized that thews of physics here were different from my old world, I was most worried about this too. Back then, I was afraid that my body would suddenly go ¡®boom¡¯ and break down. After all, the matterposition of both sides was different. But afterward, I understood that if I was really going to break down, it would have already happened when Inded in this ce. Since I¡¯m fine, it would mean I am blessed. What was there to be worried about¡­?¡± ¡°Then do you wish to understand the reason you are able to survive peacefully?¡± Gawain asked whileughing. ¡°Who cares?¡± The metallic ball swayed and said, ¡°I have already forgotten about my name. Do you think I have time to think about such things?¡± ¡°Honestly, how severe is your ¡®amnesia?¡± Gawain frowned and asked a question he was curious about for a long time. ¡°You are able to remember general knowledge of your old world, like the environment,ws of physics, and history, but you forgot everything else?¡± The metallic ball considered for a long time before replying, ¡°Tsk, the facts are like this. What else can I do? The most terrifying thing about memory loss would be that you wouldn¡¯t even know what you have forgotten. I¡¯m only able to remember some general knowledge, but all that general knowledge belongs to the other word. I still remember anguage, but it is simrly useless in this ce¡­¡± As Nichs Egg spoke, it seemingly sank into a great disappointment and gradually turned silent. Half a minuteter, it sighed in an extremely human manner and said, ¡°Sigh¡­ I am actually working hard too. Working hard to find out who I am, what I¡¯m supposed to do, what I knew, what I specialized in¡­ However, in this ce, everything is utterly unfamiliar to me, and I cannot find any trace of things that could aid me in the recollection of my past. I have been wandering around the camp just to see all of your people¡¯s production and way of life, hoping to find out what I can do. As a result? Nothing¡­ It seems like I cannot do anything, and there isn¡¯t a single task I can get involved in as¡­ I don¡¯t have hands!¡± Gawain rubbed his chin and asked, ¡°Are you able to guess what you did in the past?¡± ¡°Where do I start guessing from?¡± The metallic ball seemingly wanted to extend its hands but it didn¡¯t have hands and could only hover around. ¡°I don¡¯t have any impression of any work or specialty? Could it be that I didn¡¯t have to work, learn, or even exit the house in my previous life?¡± Gawain couldn¡¯t help but size up the metallic ball while shivering in his heart: After listening to this ball¡¯s description, could he be a damned stay-at-home fatty before transmigrating? The reason he stayed at home? Just take a look at his size! Chapter 115 - Rotational Wheel and Bearing Chapter 115: Rotational Wheel and Bearing Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios To be honest, after meeting this metal egg, Gawain finally realized how lucky his present circumstances had been: he hadn¡¯t lost his memories; hended in a world that was simrly dominated by humans; he even had an identity that allowed him to smoothly integrate into the current world (though this identity consisted of some scary and ult elements to some extent) and a satellite vision that mighte in very handy. Most importantly, he possessed the memories of Gawain Cecil. Thest point was particrly important. It was precisely because he owned memories from two different worlds that he was able to face this universe, whose physics differed greatly from that of Earth, more easily and that he was able to use ¡®this world¡¯s¡¯ experience to ovee difficulties when he was unable to resolve problems using his experience from Earth. However, Nichs Egg waspletely unable to do the same. This metal ball¡¯s circumstances,pared to Gawain¡¯s, were virtually at another extreme end. He lost his memories; he had no experience and knowledge that could be effective in the present world; he was captured and treated as a test subject the moment he arrived here. And the most, most important of all, hended in a ce belonging to the scary homo erectus1 with the image of an egg lifeform¡­ If Gawain having to nt fields and develop technology in a world with different physics was already hell-like tough, then this ball had practically crashed through the ceilings of all the kings in hell and then rolled into the cauldron of the Lord of Hell. The vor of the soup inside was even m1 and durian. Therefore, Gawain could not help but admire this ball¡¯s adaptability and the extent of his mental strength. After encountering such a despairing situation, he actually could still live so peacefully and became an outstanding joker¡­ Could it be because the nerves of metal lifeforms were tougher? ¡°Hey, hey, why did you suddenly stop talking?¡± Nichs Egg¡¯s voice jolted Gawain from his thoughts. This big metal ball circled and floated around thetter. ¡°I still want to hear your suggestions. What do you think I can do? Honestly, I really want to find something to do right now¡­¡± Gawain immediately gave it some serious thought. As a matter of fact, he had been thinking of this before today. This metal ball that came from an alternate world and had intriguing abilities was probably only an experiment source material in the eyes of those Gondor Master Mages, but to Gawain, he was a potential high-technology talent. Only, knowing that this ball had just awakened from a deep sleep and might need some time to adapt and adjust his mentality, he didn¡¯t rush to force him to get to work. However, now that Boss Egg had taken the initiative to mention it, he exined while tidying his thoughts. ¡°You have the ability to control the flow of magical power and metals. These two abilities could both be turned to good ounts here, but I still don¡¯t know the specific parameters of your control over magical power and metals, so it¡¯s not easy to make arrangements.¡± ¡°I¡¯m actually not too clear about my control of magical power either,¡± The metal ball replied. ¡°You people call those energies magical power, but such a thing doesn¡¯t exist in my world at all. When I am affecting the flow of magical power, I am actually just vibrating my own maosomes. This is a kind of organ in my body that produces high-frequency maic fields. In my world, we can form a protective barrier around our body surface when we vibrate maosomes, but I realized that the barrier doesn¡¯t appear here. Instead, I am able to affect the kind of energy called ¡®magical power¡¯ that you people speak of and make it ineffective temporarily¡­¡± Gawain cut off the other party right away. ¡°You said maic field? You were actually using a maic field to influence the flow of magical power?¡± ¡°Yes, including the time you mentally conversed with me using magical power. Actually, I used maosomes to sense magic fluctuations¡­ but it¡¯s pretty regrettable. Although I can sense magical power and also use maic fields to influence it, I am unable to use it to produce spells like those ¡®mages¡¯ of yours. That female mage¡­ called Heidi exined to me about spiritual power and spell molds, but I couldn¡¯t understand a word of it.¡± Gawain wasn¡¯t bothered by thetter half of the other party¡¯s words. His attention had beenpletely captured by the truth of ¡®maic fields affect magical power¡¯, and he sank into a massive dilemma. ¡°Are you sure the ¡®maic field¡¯ you produced was really the kind of ¡®maic field¡¯ that you and I know of? You must know, the same noun could be referring to two entirely opposite phenomena in two worlds!¡¯ ¡°That I can really confirm.¡± Nichs Egg exerted energy and floated up and down for a moment as if imitating the human action of nodding. ¡°A maic field is a maic field. Of course, the people of this world seem to have no concept of maic fields. They only know about maic force, the kind of maic force where natural mas are able to attract ironware. But I¡¯ve confirmed, the maic fields that I produce using maosomes are the same as the natural mas of this world¡­ What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know where it went wrong.¡± Gawain opened his hands with a bitter smile. ¡°I¡¯ve done quite a few experiments using maic fields. I never discovered that it could affect the flow of magical power. Could it be that the maic field I used wasn¡¯t strong enough?¡± He still had another half of his sentence that he¡¯d yet to finish ¡ª other than using maic fields to influence magical power, his experiment using a maic field to produce electricity didn¡¯t seed either¡­ ¡°Strength? I don¡¯t think it matters. The maic fields produced by maosomes aren¡¯t strong.¡± The metal ball said as he swayed here and there. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s because of the frequency. You didn¡¯t use a high-frequency maic field, did you? I remember a thousand years ago, those ¡®Master Mages¡¯ had used an osciting maic field to scan me. How high was the frequency again¡­? Millions of oscitions per second? That seemed to be the highest frequency they could get out, but it wasn¡¯t even a tenth of the maosomes¡¯ frequency. Why don¡¯t you try putting in some effort and increase the frequency of the maic field a little?¡± Veins in Gawain¡¯s temples bulged. In such an atrocious ce in a medieval era where the technology of various periods was lost to them, where would he go to make a high-frequency maic field at tens of millions of hertz?! Nichs Egg was probably the only high-frequency source in this world that could produce a maic field of that frequency! Knowing that they could not create a test environment that matched the criteria at this moment, Gawain silently noted this down in his heart. Following that, he wanted to ask the other party about his ability to control metals. However, just as he was about to speak up, he suddenly saw the door of the brick-kiln yard being pushed open. A doofus¡­ fireballuncher¡­ Iron-Headed¡­ Reba dashed over in a haste. ¡°Lord Ancestor! Lord Ancestor!¡± The Viscountess shouted excitedly while she ran. ¡°Come quickly! Quickly follow me!!¡± Watching this girl¡¯s excited manner, Gawain¡¯s first reaction was to dodge to the side. He feared that this doofus would suddenly go crazy and swing seven to eight big fireballs at his face¡­ When Reba arrived before him and finally managed to catch her breath, Gawain then took his time to ask her, ¡°You finally blew up Heidi¡¯sboratory with a fireball?¡± ¡°Huh¡­ Ah?!¡± Reba was startled by Gawain¡¯s words when she¡¯d just gathered her breath. She quickly waved her hands forcefully. ¡°No, no! I¡¯m very careful ¡ª listen to me, the Magic Powered Engine that you proposed, we¡¯ve assembled it!¡± Gawain¡¯s initially rather calm expression was instantly reced by shock and surprise. ¡°Alreadypleted?! Has it been tested?¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± Reba swung her hand. ¡°We¡¯re waiting for you to go test it! But Aunt Heidi had already tested all its individual parts, all done ording to the blueprints, and they could achieve the corresponding effect. There should be no problem¡ª¡± ¡°Stop talking. Let¡¯s get moving.¡± Gawain could not suppress his excitement anymore. Dragging Reba, he headed to the outside of the brick-kiln yard; only halfway through did he remember that there was also a ball. Thus, he turned back and gestured. ¡°Youe too, youe too ¡ª Take a look at the good stuff we designed!¡± Probably no one would¡¯ve imagined that the ¡®assembly shop¡¯ of the first-generation Magic Powered Engine would be simple and crude to this extent. It was a wooden shed located beside Cecil Steelworks. Other than having some soldiers keeping guard, onepletely wouldn¡¯t notice any difference between this and the other sheds. There was also nothing that could make one associate it with high technology or sophisticated magic. Except for the most precise part of the runes which werepleted in Heidi¡¯sboratory, all the remaining parts of the Magic Powered Engine relied on the cksmiths and rune craftsmen to hammer into shape with their hands. Therefore, there were neither machine tools nor precision molds here. Reba and Heidi led the craftsmen toplete the manufacturing process of the prototype machine through the most primitive and most strenuous way. If there wasn¡¯t magic in this world to aid them, especially Heidi¡¯s me and sculpturing spells that were of significant help, the final assembly and welding work of the prototype machine would probably also be a problem. Regardless of the world, the birth of any invention didn¡¯te easy. In the empty central space of the ¡®assembly shop¡¯, a big piece of bup covered the object that was less than two meters tall. Its outline was rather peculiar. Gawain could vaguely make out that it was probably the sprocket wheel structure under one of the slightly bigger projecting pieces, but its true features were still being covered. The old cksmith Hummel and Heidi both stood beside this prototype machine. There were also some other people standing beside them: amongst them were Hummel¡¯s apprentices, while two others were rune craftsmen from the capital who¡¯d just joined the territory. ¡°Reba insisted on running to get you herself.¡± Heidi nodded towards Gawain slightly apologetically. ¡°This child is simply a little impetuous.¡± ¡°She wanted to inform me of this good news personally. It¡¯s understandable.¡± Gawain took a breath in and looked toward the prototype machine. ¡°Lift it. Let me take a look.¡± Heidi waved her hand. A translucent Sculpture Hand then emerged in the air and lifted the piece of cloth. It was an odd-looking machine beneath it. It had vague traces as a ¡®distant rtive¡¯ of a real one on Earth, with arge sprocket wheel as well as the connecting rods, cranks, and crankshafts that were connected to the wheel. Yet, it was entirely different from any motive-power machine from Earth in Gawain¡¯s memories ¡ª there was no cylinder, but in its ce was a ¡®Repulsion mechanism¡¯ in the middle of the machineposed of a sliding rail, piston, and base. That piston was a square piece of metal with four sliding rails cutting through its four corners and fixed on a base on the two ends. Shimmering magic circles could be seen on the side of the base that was facing the piston, and on the outer edges of the two Repulsion magic circles were runes that extended outward. A rectangr metal te connected the two Repulsion magic circles. The rune-trigger structure and one of the Repulsion magic circles remained linked, while this metal te was also connected to the crankshaft of the sprocket wheel through the connecting rod and prod mechanism. Each time the crankshaft turned more than half a circle, the rune trigger would be prodded. The corresponding runes would connect to one of the Repulsion magic circles until the crankshaft moved past the remaining half of the circle. The rune trigger would then leave this magic circle and enter the linking range of another magic circle, activating the Repulsion mechanism opposite it¡­ Other than the rune trigger used to ¡®toggle the direction of repulsion¡¯, there was another rune trigger controlling the ¡®total energy¡¯ of the two magic circles. It also relied on the control of the connecting rod, and this rod was located on the side of this machine. The special Repulsion mechanism allowed this machine to not require an air-cylinder structure, which also evaded the highest threshold of precision ¡ª mechanical precision. Recing that was the demand for the precision of the magic runes, and that happened to be the specialty of ¡®this world¡¯. Heidi was rather absorbed as she stared at the Magic Powered Engine before her. It had an outer appearance and inner mechanization that were entirely different from any magic article in this world. Even though she¡¯d participated in the manufacturing of this engine, she still could not help but nk out at this moment. However, she returned to her senses very quickly and looked at Gawain. ¡°Lord Ancestor, please push down the gear.¡± This ce was located on the fringes of Cecil Steelworks. The engine was totally able to receive the energy from the Magic Web here. Although there weren¡¯t any of those ¡®amplification boards¡¯ from the Cecil Steelworks yard to boost the efficiency of the transfer of energy, for a low-power validation machine, this energy was enough. However, Gawain shook his head. ¡°We designed this together. You twoe with me.¡± Heidi appeared to be slightly hesitant, while Reba didn¡¯t even give it much thought; she could no longer repress her curiosity. With Gawain¡¯s permission, she scurried over to the machine and even gestured fervently. ¡°Aunt Heidi,e quickly!¡± Heidi smiled. Setting down all hesitations, she walked to Gawain¡¯s side. Three hands were ced together on the handle controlling the total energy. Then, Gawain counted to three, and the trio used force to push the handle down. The magic circuit was instantly connected. The Repulsion mechanism which was the core of the engine was lit up; then one of the magic circles brightened. That simple and crude ¡®steel piston¡¯ started moving slowly before everyone¡¯s eyes. It seemed that because it was setting the heavy sprocket wheel in motion, its initial movement was very slow. But when the sprocket wheel began moving, the piston swiftly shifted to the end of the entire Repulsion mechanism. The rune trigger used for toggling also took effect. The magic circle to first light up was extinguished, while another Repulsion magic circle lit up almost simultaneously. The sprocket wheel spun an entire round; then it went faster and faster and faster. Though apanied by a loud noise and forceful shaking, the entire machine really began to operate! Chapter 116 - Metal Master Chapter 116: Metal Master Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Watching that strange machine operating rapidly, the old cksmith Hummel¡¯s eyes were wide in shock and perplexity. Its core was filled with the radiance of magical power. The Repulsion mechanism that could be described as austere was carrying out a to-and-fro movement under the effect of a simple magic circle and a series of mechanical structures. The heavy sprocket wheel was spinning swiftly, driven by the connecting rod and crankshaft. The speed it was spinning at exceeded that of any windmill, waterwheel, or crank handled by manualbor. He knew very well how heavy that big metal wheel was. It was something that could easily break a person¡¯s bones once it was set spinning, yet it was being driven, and it was done so in a breeze. Meanwhile, the two rune craftsmen beside him saw more and also thought of more. They were servants cultivated by mages. If runemasters were said to be the ¡®electronic engineers¡¯ in designing the blueprints, then rune craftsmen were ¡®mechanical engineers¡¯ responsible for producing the mechanical parts of the magical mechanisms. Their knowledge in this aspect naturally exceeded that of the average cksmith. Rune craftsmen manufactured all sorts of mechanisms and magic articles in everyday life; they were naturally no strangers to knick-knacks like Repulsion magic circles that were part of the most fundamental aspects of their craft. However, they¡¯d never thought this simple, minor spell-level circle could actually produce such a miraculous effect. With just a set of effective mechanical structures, it was enough to make the Repulsion magic circle that could originally only be used to push gear doors or traps of falling rocks to automatically cycle and toggle. Even though the entire Magic Powered Engine was driven by magic circles, its intrinsic theory waspletely different from any former magic article! In the Magic Powered Engine, magical power was no longer the sole, entire driving force. Magic was no longer being used in a raw manner but had been transformed, amplified even, using even more ingenious and indirect ways into something more¡­ functional. In the beginning, when they¡¯d been asked to work together with a group of cksmiths and cksmith apprentices, the rune craftsmen harbored, to a certain degree, some resentment. However, upon seeing the finished product of the Magic Powered Engine, their resentment was unwittingly reced by a kind of enlightenment. They finally realized what that female supervisor named Heidi meant when she told them to ¡®cast aside all old thoughts and conventions, and submit to the new order of thisnd¡¯ when they¡¯d just arrived at this territory. Compared to the wholly new things they were seeing on thisnd, those rules and conventions were really unworthy of mentioning. A cksmith apprentice stared at the Magic Powered Engine that was continuously operating with unblinking eyes. He could not help murmur, ¡°This is what we made¡ª¡± Hummel quickly cut off his apprentice. ¡°No, this is the Duke, Viscountess, and Madam Heidi¡¯s intelligence.¡± ¡°No,¡±¡ªGawain interrupted Hummel¡ª¡±all of you made this, no need to doubt it. Credit belongs to every person who has contributedbor. Hence, not only will the people who contributed to the manufacturing of the Magic Powered Engine receive mary rewards, they will also receive glory. Every one of your names will be taken down and made into a namete to be mounted on the first generation of Magic Powered Engines and noted in the Cecil historical records.¡± The craftsmen and apprentices looked at one another. Hummel twiddled his own beard with force and didn¡¯t even feel it when he identally pulled out a few strands. It was not until the rune craftsmen from the capital who had seen much of life bowed and gave their thanks did the old cksmith finally return to his senses and quickly followed with his thanks. While Gawain retracted his gaze and watched the Magic Powered Engine prototype machine that was still operating normally with emotions of joy and excitement that was difficult to repress. Its noise was very loud; the sprocket wheel also led the whole machine to shake violently in its rotation due to errors in the precision of the parts; these were problems that could not be avoided. Gawain could confirm that a considerable amount of motive power of this machine was being wasted in the friction of those parts that fell short of specifications, and its output power and overall life-span would have to take a discount too. However, these were all minor details. Most importantly, this machine was operating as he had expected. He¡¯d first resolve the problem of having none and then consider the good and bad of it. Gawain looked at that primitive machine in near enchantment, but all of a sudden, a hint of doubt and worry appeared in his eyes. Only, this minute change in emotion disappeared very quickly. And on the other side, Heidi had begun testing the power of this machine. She used either the Sculpture Hand or a gravity spell to add pressure to the output shaft of the machine. After repeating that a few times, she could not help but speak in admiration, ¡°This machine is very powerful. I tested it briefly. When it spins at full speed, it can even pound a steel piece that weighs half a ton into a vertical piece and pull it up. If we were to use the pulley system or speed-reducing gear, its power could be expanded many more times. Also, we used rtively cheaper rune materials, and the connecting rods were also made ofmon steel instead of the sturdier purple steel. Thus, it has significant room for improvement.¡± Reba was incapable of the various support magic that would be useful, nor could she throw a big fireball at it to test the health bar1 of the machine, so she scratched her chin and wondered about something more practical. ¡°Lord Ancestor, what do you think the machine can do?¡± Gawain nced at the girl with an amused smile. ¡°Share your views.¡± ¡°It seems like many tasks that are dull and repetitive yet require a lot of strength can be left to it. For example, letting it rece the mill? Drive that huge saw in the sawmill? Its strength is certainly enough, and there¡¯s no need to take into ount the influence of the wind direction or river water at all!¡± Gawain added, ¡°There are so many uses to it. It can drive the waterwheel. It can tow the mine carts over in the mine. It can be used to draw water from the mine caves. It can drive big hammers to beat and forge steel. When fitted with a suitable mold, it can even directly press a piece of steel into armors or the parts for a certain item like molding cookies. It can even be put in the brick-kiln yard to move other machines to press unfired bricks instead of having a dozen serfs use wooden molds to shape them one by one¡­¡± Gawain casually mentioned the uses that he believed were most important right now, whereas the people around him had sunk into bewilderment. They¡¯d never had the concept of using machines to rece manualbor; even if there were things like windmills and watermills in this world, they were rather basic and crude operations. How could they be able toe up with all sorts of machines that could be linked with the Magic Powered Engine all at once? But Hummel, upon hearing about using machines to drive big hammers as well as forging and pressing steel tes into armors or spare parts, his eyes could not help but light up. His professional instincts instantly had him realizing that this was a bright path. Whereas Reba¡¯s eyes had been sparkling the whole time. Basically, each time a usage popped out of Gawain¡¯s mouth, a pile of levers and bearings would follow and appear in her mind. Although those items had yet to be assembled into a usable machine, she believed that as long as she gave herself some time, she would be able toe out with every one of those things that Ancestor had conceptualized! But just then, Heidi frowned and spoke up with some worry. ¡°The key is we¡¯ve only got one machine¡­ Manufacturing a new Magic Powered Engine consumes time andbor. Moreover, it has to be located within range of the Magic Web to operate. That makes it a problem.¡± While speaking, she pulled the handle and cut off the energy to the Magic Powered Engine, making it gradually quieten down. The noise from this thing was exceptionally loud; as it spun, the people around it had to shout to converse with one another. ¡°Laying out magic webs shouldn¡¯t cost too much. After all, they¡¯re all fundamental runes, and we have ready-made blueprints. But the difficulty of building the machine is a problem¡­ Mainly because forging these spare parts manually takes too much time.¡± Gawain rubbed his chin. ¡°Yet this is something that cannot be helped. We still need to use manualbor to forge¡­¡± Just then, a voice with a metallic trill suddenly chimed in, ¡°Cough cough, I have something to say.¡± Nichs Egg who was a silver luster from head to toe floated over slowly. Reba was delighted once she spotted this shining metal egg. ¡°Egg Egg, you have an idea?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not called Egg Egg!¡± Nichs Egg instantly took off two to three meters in the air (if there wasn¡¯t a roof stopping him, he might have flown even higher). The voiceing from inside the sphere was exasperated. ¡°You¡¯ve at least got to address me by Boss Egg!¡± Reba wasn¡¯t intimidated by this ball at all. ¡°Alright Egg Egg, do you have a solution?¡± Nichs Egg: ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t keep at loggerheads with her. Talk about your solution.¡± Gawain cut short this squabble that was about to begin and looked very solemnly at the metal ball that was slowly descending to a normal height. ¡°I know you specialize in controlling metals, could it be¡­¡± ¡°Yes, I finally know what I can do here!¡± Nichs Egg¡¯s voice sounded especially merry. As he spoke, the nging sounds of all sorts of metals hitting together sounded from various spots in the shed. Those leftover bits and pieces of metals piled in the corner that were to be thrown back into the furnace were floated one by one and pulled near this silver metal ball. ¡°I can help you with forging!¡± As his words fell, those metal pieces floated in the air let out creaks and crackles one after another; as if there was a massive pressure acting on their surfaces, they slowly deformed. Gawain very quickly realized that such distortion wasn¡¯t only due to an external force ¡ª some metals had shown clear signs of melting; they weren¡¯t only being pressed, they were being forged! Just a few minutester, these metals be spare parts of all sizes with delicate andplicated structures and all sorts of weirdly shaped trifles. There were even lifelike metal sculptures of every person present. The wooden shed becamepletely silent. Nichs Egg seemed to be very pleased with the results of his demonstration. He triumphantly ced all those spare parts on the ground and then put the metal sculptures into every person¡¯s hand. ¡°How is it? Isn¡¯t this efficiency much higher than yours?¡± Hummel took the metal sculpture belonging to himself, and his hands involuntarily began to tremble. Such a powerful ability¡­ Would this territory still need cksmiths in the future?! Was it really just as the feudal lord had said the previous time ¡ª that cksmiths who swung hammers to forge things were bing useless? They were bing useless so quickly? The rune craftsmen present also had the same terrifying thought; even Heidi and Reba, apart from their shock, felt that with this ball, all the craftsmen in the territory who had dealings with metals were about to be jobless¡­ Except Gawain. Though he was also astonished by the rapid speed with which Nichs Egg molded the metal forms, his attention was quickly focused on another aspect¡ª He looked at the strikingly vivid metal sculpture in his hand; he looked at its eyebrows and hair which had been shrunk ording to a strict proportion. He abruptly lifted his head and fixed his eyes on Nichs Egg. ¡°How precise can you be?¡± Chapter 117 - Cecil Mechanical Manufacturing Facility Chapter 117: Cecil Mechanical Manufacturing Facility It was true that this metal-ball alien¡¯s ability to transform the shapes of metals at a very fast speed left a deep impression on Gawain. At the start, he was indeed also amazed by this fellow¡¯s high efficiency when he was processing the spare metal parts. However, he quickly realized thatpared to such speed, his precision was probably an even greater wealth. Speed was nothing ¡ª Gawain was very much aware of this. Although Nichs Egg¡¯s processing speed could scare everyone present here out of their wits, Gawain was very clear that under the model of true industrial mass production, it was meaningless no matter how astonishing an individual¡¯s speed was. Waspleting a hundred spare parts in a few minutes very fast? Sure, it was faster than a cksmith¡¯s hammer, but just by casually arranging several production lines from the industrial times, this speed would instantly be wholly defeated by those machines! Although Gawain had no way of casually getting a production line right now, they now had a prototype of the Magic Powered Engine. He believed that there woulde a day where he could do so with a wave of his hand. Nichs Egg¡¯s advantage in efficiency would sooner orter be obliterated after more and more machines were put into production. Yet, his other edge wouldn¡¯t be that easily reced by machines. At leastpared to his efficiency, this advantage would be slower in being reced¡ª His precision. Those spare parts that he had ¡®molded¡¯ using the leftover pieces weren¡¯t randomly made. Gawain could tell that they were actually the mini versions of some exposed parts of the Magic Powered Engine, and the intricacy of every spare part was nothing that those hand-made products of the cksmiths couldpare to. Better yet, even strands of hair had been carved out on those metal sculptures¡­ This waspletely wicked! ¡°Precision?¡± Nichs Egg seemed to have realized something too. He pondered seriously for a while and replied rather confidently, ¡°That depends on how many items I am simultaneously processing at one time. If it¡¯s a hundred at one go, there would certainly be a considerable number of errors. However, if I were to process less than ten parts at a time and I am allowed to do so slowly¡­ the errors would probably be a few times finer than a strand of your hair. Of course, the specific speed depends on theplexity and size of the parts, but to me, the mostplicated parts in this machine that you¡¯ve built are fairly simple.¡± ¡°?!¡± The metal ball did not hear a sound from Gawain for a long time. He could no longer hold back and floated over to nudge thetter¡¯s arm. ¡°Hey, hey, why are you not speaking anymore?¡± ¡°The first generation of industrial machine tools is in your hands!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Gawain did not give the other party much exnation because his heart was alreadypletely filled up with joy and tion; he could barely spare any energy to talk about something else. Yes, this was the first generation of machine tools, or the so-called ¡®mother machine¡¯, the most important link in allowing the entire industrialized chain to be built up. Instead of letting Nichs Egg repeatedly manufacture those mass-produced parts inrge numbers, he ought to let him make use of his advantage in precision and efficiency to build the ¡®mother machine¡¯ that could be used to produce theponents of other machines within the shortest amount of time. Regardless of whether it was all sorts of machine tools that could process spare parts or ¡®rune-drafting machines¡¯ that carved simple runes in batches, only by producing these things would he be able to tie the foundation of his territory to the upsurge of motive power provided by the Magic Powered Engine; in turn, this would give him the confidence to fight before that not-too-solid barrier opposite the mountains copsed! At this point, he even felt slightly regretful. Why hadn¡¯t he discovered this talent of the metal ball earlier? If he had participated in the research and development of the Magic Powered Engine prototype, this day might have arrived earlier. However, he did not let such emotions of regretst too long. This was because before personally witnessing it today, who would¡¯ve thought that this metal ball¡¯s control over metal would actually be so powerful? In fact, Gawain even suspected that Nichs Egg himself hadn¡¯t thought of it either¡­ Besides, there was one more thing: he wasn¡¯t carried away by Nichs Egg¡¯s ability. This metal-ball alien was a special entity; he was an entity that could not be cloned and could not regenerate. Moreover, betting the entire setup on one individual was extremely irrational in any situation. It would be wonderful if Nichs Egg could produce the first generation of machine tools, but what if an ident urred? What if he was unable to control a certain type of key metal material? What if a mishap happened to him? What if a piece of equipment with unique characteristics of this world could not be produced using metals? Thus, Gawain quickly calmed down and was aware that while Mr. Nichs Egg (or Miss? Say, was this a male ball or a female ball) was the greatest boost that he¡¯d encountered thus far, he could not bepletely dependent on him. He still had to ensure that there wereymen participating in the entire process of building the industrial foundation. Thus, he looked towards the uneasy old cksmith and rune craftsmen and nodded lightly. ¡°No need to worry that your skills won¡¯te in handy from now on ¡ª the territory is forevercking manpower. At the most, a little change woulde to your ways of work henceforth.¡± Then, he shifted his attention to Nichs Egg. ¡°Are you willing to be the manager of the Mechanical Manufacturing Facility?¡± Nichs Egg was brisk in his reply. ¡°Sure, why not? ¡ª It¡¯s rare that I can find something to do.¡± ¡°Alright, you¡¯ll be responsible for helping me build machines. Soon, I will hand you some blueprints and machining tasks. Aim to get those things out as quickly as possible. For the convenience of materials, this work shed next to the steelworks shall be for your use. In addition, your first task will be to build another three Magic Powered Engines. I want to use them in key areas such as the mine and steelworks. Although Gawain¡¯s position for Nichs Egg was ¡®constructor of machine tools¡¯, at the present stage, thetter still totally had the spare capacity to help expand the scale of those mass-production machines. In line with the principle to make the best possible use of men (and the same applied to the ball), Gawain arranged a big pile of production tasks for this ball without the slightest hesitation. The other party looked pretty pleased¡­ Watching the highly driven and enthusiastic Nichs Egg, Gawain¡¯s heart gradually settled. With such a hacker-level transmigrated egg aiding him, if he only considered the technology tree[1] without taking into ount the social form, he believed that he had made a revolution, not just substantial progress¡­ And amidst such a joyous mood, he noticed with sharp eyes that the old cksmith Hummel, who stood in the corner, still looked slightly dismal. However, Gawain ultimately did not speak up to counsel him. Hummel was an old cksmith after all, an old cksmith who had interacted with hammers and anvils for several decades. He believed in his own hammer and took great pride in it, just like how a knight trusted his own sword andbat skills. However, a metal-ball alien, a ¡®metal master¡¯ who was gifted with the ability to control metals, suddenly appeared andpletely crushed this old cksmith¡¯s confidence. This was perhaps still not the fatal blow because before the appearance of Nichs Egg, ¡®dwarf craftsmen¡¯, who greatly surpassed human cksmiths, already existed in this world. Hummel wasn¡¯t jarred by an entity whose ¡®skills¡¯ overwhelmed his own. What was truly troubling this cksmith was probably that he had somewhat realized what was toe in the future¡ª Using machines to drive huge hammers, it was a future where manualbor became increasingly insignificant, and it didn¡¯t seem to be that far from today. Hummel possessed a sharpness that was rare amongst theymen of this era. But how could Gawain put it now? Tell Hummel to adapt to his identity of ¡®steelworks manager¡¯ as soon as possible and stop constantly thinking of his own cksmith career? Or tell him that tradesmen would notpletely decline; even if another world where industrialization was highly advanced came about, cksmiths still owned an unshakable ce there for their livelihood? It was too early to tell Hummel all this now. He would have to be able to adapt to the changes of this world quicker because even swifter changes were about toe very soon. Gawain Cecil sighed inwardly and then broke the silence. ¡°The newly formed department needs a name. We¡¯ll call it Cecil Machine Manufacturing Facility for now. Nichs Egg, you will be the supervisor of the machines and the first director, an equal to Hummel who is the manager of the steelworks. In addition, you may select some people from that hundred craftsmen to serve as your long-term assistants, but the name list has to be handed to me for checking.¡± ¡°Alright. Having people assist me is bound to be faster than me, a ball, doing everything alone. They can help with the assembly.¡± Nichs Egg floated up and down and expressed his assent. On the way to leaving the machine manufacturing facility, Heidi looked towards Gawain again and again. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Gawain asked curiously. ¡°Nothing. It¡¯s just, I rarely see times when you are this happy.¡± Heidi revealed a warm smile. ¡°You¡¯re usually always very solemn, with a poker face, but you smiled many times today.¡± Gawain was taken aback. ¡°I¡¯m usually very solemn?¡± He¡¯d thought that his usual mental activity had been pretty intense. Moreover, after much honing from hanging out with Amber all day long, he was now almost half a professional joker. Though it often wasn¡¯t to the extent of losing his dignity as an ancestor, he was unlikely to have the image of a poker face, right? Unexpectedly, Heidi nodded very seriously. ¡°Perhaps you do not notice, but your usual expressions are really solemn.¡± Gawain instantly touched his own hairline with some worry. Following that, he rubbed his chin, as if absorbed in thought. ¡°Ten to one, it¡¯s the problem of having a square face and a full beard¡­¡± ¡°Ah?¡± Gawain immediately waved his hand. ¡°No, nothing.¡± Heidi subsequently still had many internal affairs to handle, so she bade Gawain farewell midway. Watching as Heidi¡¯s figure gradually disappeared from sight, the joyful expression on his face slowly disappeared, and a trace of gravity surfaced. He did not directly return to his tent. Instead, he made a slight turn on the way and came to a wooden hut located southwest of the camp. This wooden hut was bigger than the surrounding houses. There were evenrge nurseries in front of and behind the house. A wide variety of nts were being grown in them. Amongst them, over half were herbs with all kinds of efficacies, while the remaining were moremon nts that could serve as spellcasting materials after being processed. Just from those nurseries, one could determine the uniqueness of this wooden hut. This was the dwelling of a druid, Pittman, and also his workspace. ¡ª Though he appeared to be rather unreliable, this lodging and workce looked quite like how it ought to. Gawain stopped in front of the wooden hut and saw a sign hanging on the door. A few lines were written on it with elegant handwriting: ¡°Pittman¡¯s Apothecary Shop. Sells various kinds of herbs and finished alchemical potions. Sells druid talismans, changing-of-luck ornaments. Part-time antique appraising, divination (currently learning). Professional locksmith, roof repair, family chef (able to babysit children while at it, not epting those aged three years and under).¡± Gawain looked at that sign with an empty expression, very peaceful at heart. This little old man knew that the illiterate civilians couldn¡¯t understand the words on the sign at all yet was unrelenting in hanging this on his door. This could probably only be exined as a personal hobby? Gawain shook his head and stretched out his hand to knock on the door, but just as his hand was about to touch the wooden door, it had been opened from the inside. Pittman¡¯s wrinkly face appeared in sight. ¡°Ah, I¡¯ve been waiting for you for a long time.¡± Gawain faltered. ¡°You knew I wasing?¡± Could it be that this little old man really mastered his divination? In the end, Pittman shook his head. ¡°I was leaning on the window earlier and saw you walking here.¡± ¡°¡­¡± [1] technology tree ¨C in real-time strategy games, a hierarchical representation of technology of deterministic progress that a yer can make Chapter 118 - Theurgies and Magic Chapter 118: Theurgies and Magic Pittman invited Gawain into his wooden hut. This little old man that looked really old had a pair of eyes that were even more astute and lively than a young cunning merchant. He solicitously poured and served water while stealing looks at Gawain. ¡°Duke personally came to this shabby and dpidated wooden hut of mine to pay a visit. Have you encountered a difficult problem, or require my druid spells? Or are you finally interested in my changing-of-luck rites and divination?¡± Gawain casually surveyed the furnishings in the house. He found that the ce was very clean and tidy; the workbench for alchemical experiments and all kinds of containers for concocting potions were neatly ced in the working space in the northwestern corner. His living space was also very simple and uncluttered. The feeling waspletely different from the dirty and messy vibe on Pittman when he first arrived here. Hearing the little old man speak up, he ignored thetter part of the other party¡¯s words which was more promotion for his services and went straight to the point. ¡°I¡¯m very interested in your process of concocting alchemical potions and blessing them.¡± Pittman was surprised. ¡°Making potions and blessing spells? You personally made a trip here over such trifles?¡± ¡°I just happened to pass by, so I came to satisfy my curiosity.¡± Gawain waved his hand. ¡°Besides I recall speaking to you about increasing the volume of production of agricultural catalytic potions. How are the results?¡± Pittman¡¯s expression turned woeful. ¡°How could it be that easy? Your time is too¡­¡± Gawain waved his hand. ¡°It¡¯s okay even if there are no results for now. Just let me have a look at your progress.¡± Pittman then heaved a sigh of relief, the wrinkles all over his face heaping up. ¡°That¡¯s no problem. I was just about to start work.¡± While speaking, he walked towards the workspace that was used for mixing potions and began his preparations to concoct potions. In any case, making these potions was his daily job; he¡¯d take it as satisfying the interest of this Duke with a peculiar temper. Gawain followed behind the little old man, watching as he got busy with those potions and alchemy tools, yet even moreplicated thoughts were spinning in his mind. The Magic Powered Engine seeded. This was really something to be happy about; even the mature and steady Heidi was immersed in the joy of sess; Gawain was naturally no exception. However, there wasn¡¯t only joy in Gawain¡¯s heart. Surfacing together, there was doubt that had emerged previously but kept away temporarily ¡ª what exactly was magical power? What exactly were the rules of this world? The operation of the Magic Powered Engine undoubtedly demonstrated that logic and rules did exist. It also showed that all kinds of phenomena in this world were not independent of each other but were rted and able tobine to form a system. The Repulsion magic circles would propel the piston; the piston would drive the crankshaft and connecting rods; the sprocket wheel produced inertia[a]; inertia linked up all the work processes of the engine. Extending outwards, the engine¡¯s energy came from the Magic Web; the Magic Web¡¯s energy came from the environment¡­ Everything seemed to be in order,plete and closed. But where did the very first magical powere from? The Magic Web drew it from the natural environment? Then how about the magical power in the natural environment? Was it really inexhaustible, ubiquitous? Could it really be steadily supplied into the Magic Web andst forever? This world didn¡¯t even follow thew of conservation of energy[1]? Or perhaps, magical power actually had its own source, and its reserves were limited. Only, it was contained amongst everything in the universe in a manner that humankind could not observe nor calcte. Humankind stupidly made use of it, believing that it was unlimited, but perhaps, it might be drained one day? And before this question that was the most worrying, Gawain was too upied to consider what exactly the ¡®repulsion¡¯ produced by the magic circles was? To be honest, the moment he saw the Magic Powered Engine begin to spin, what appeared in Gawain¡¯s mind together with joy was instead, worry. Machine operation was a release of energy that was even more intuitive. Compared to the static magic circles on the rune furnaces, it was better able to make Gawain conscious of the existence of the process of ¡®energy consumption¡¯. However, he wasn¡¯t adapted to the reality ofpletely not being able to see the stored substance ¡ª he couldn¡¯t see the ¡®magical power fuel¡¯; he couldn¡¯t see the ¡®batteries¡¯; he couldn¡¯t see a fuse and a meter board measuring the energy expended if that actually existed. This gave him an empty feeling as if fearing that the Magic Powered Engine would spin and spin, then suddenly stop¡­ Even if the wireless electricity transmission on Earth had seeded, at the least, Gawain knew that fuels were burning in some power nt, but here¡­ there was only a Magic Web that was continuously filled out of thin air. The people of this world could perhaps be ustomed to this phenomenon, but he felt discontent. Gawain wanted to figure out the secret of the essence of magical power; he wanted to figure out why this world worked this way; he wanted to figure out why water could not get work done when it became steam yet could still change into its three states[2]; he wanted to figure out why electromaic induction was ineffective in this world, yet independent maic fields and electric fields still existed. In theory, ¡®light¡¯ which was a unique electromaic wave that also existed here (assuming that really was ¡®light¡¯)¡­ These contradictions gave him an immense sense of disjointedness. Many phenomena (and the theories behind them that originally ought to be closely connected to one another) appeared to be incoherent and fragmented here as if matter was no longer an existence of order but forcefully configured here by the so-called gods. They each presented all kinds of strange physicochemical properties, not because the microscopic world was supporting them, but because ¡®that was just how they should be¡¯¡­ These contradictions and the sense of disjointedness had originally been repressed by important affairs at one time or another and were forgotten in the back of Gawain¡¯s mind. However, at the moment the Magic Powered Engine really began operating ording to his conception, these thoughts uncontrobly emerged once again. But he knew, nothing could be aplished in a single effort. It was impossible if he wanted to get a direct understanding of this world¡¯s microscopic domain and fundamental principles. He needed to proceed step by step. If he wanted to understand the most basic truth, he had to start understanding the most basic phenomenon from experience and practice. For example, first observing the various types of magic in this world, as well as their mechanisms of effect. Both Heidi and Reba were formal mages (though their gifts were both only partial), but Gawain did not approach them. Instead, he came to Pittman because he knew one thing ¡ª druid magic was the most peculiar in this world. Its origin and transition seemed to be able to bring to light some secrets regarding magic. Because druid magic evolved from theurgies. Pittman finished preparing the materials required for the concoction of potions today, as well as tools for the druid rites. He worked while exining, ¡°Mixing alchemical potions is actually not particrly difficult. The materials required for the most-basic catalytic potion are all very cheap. Herbs are also avable everywhere. It is mainly time-consuming in theter stages of processing. For example, smoking, drying, powdering, and more. In this aspect, getting more manpower would be able to settle the problem.¡± As he spoke, he added the powdered butterfly bush seeds and peri petals into the heating container and then poured in pure water and a certain grass juice that he had prepared in advance. ¡°Amber exined thosebor systems that you invented to me. For example, splitting up production processes, liability systems, streamlined production¡­ To be honest, they are all incredible ideas. This way, we can break down theplicated working procedure of preparing alchemical potions and let them be done byymen. However, there would be no way around the most important part¡­¡± It began to bubble inside the heating container. A pungent scent wafted out. Pittman quickly added another new kind of potion into it to bnce out the potency of the mixture. ¡°The potion produced from the beginning processes is ordinary. It does not possess supernatural abilities. Even if it does, the effect would be very weak. If we want it to have miraculous power like magic, we have to inject magical power. And this process has to be done through the druid rites¡­¡± Pittman had put on the lid of the heating container. Through a bent copper tube, the rising gas from the container was guided into a condensing tube beside and condensed into beads of light green droplets. The little old man carefully collected this pale green juice, ultimately filling up a small ss. He put it on a small altar at the side. Gawain watched the little old man work with unblinking eyes. He saw Pittman ce four runes that represented the wind, water, fire, and earth elements in the four directions. These runes had been carved on oakwood pieces. Then, two crystals were set in the inner circle ¡ª they were verymon white crystals, the kind that was cheapest amongst natural crystals. Following that, he began chanting druid incantations that were extremely difficult to understand. Gawain immediately activated this magic-sensing ability. He saw the radiance of magical power gradually swell up around Pittman. This energy was guided into special geometric figures under the guidance of the runes. They trembled and worked around the half-finished potion, and the color of the potion slowly turned from the pale green into a dark green. When the change was about to bepleted, Pittman stopped his chanting and removed the two crystals. Now, he started reading aloud prayers rted to the God of Nature. ¡°Oh mighty gods of nature, protectors of lives, mighty God of Nature¡­ ah Heart of the Forest, guider of life, your pious believer hereby prays earnestly hoping for a response from you. May you from your oak¡­ palm¡­ let¡¯s still go with oak. May you confer d tidings from your oak throne. Let this potion be filled with the energy of life. Let it¡­ Oh, it¡¯s done?¡± Pittman lowered his head for a look. Confirming that the potion hadpletely transformed, he briskly ended the prayer that he almost couldn¡¯t make up anymore. He grinned as he removed the potion from the altar and handed it to Gawain for a look. ¡°Look at it, nt-growth catalytic potion fresh from the oven. It¡¯s still hot.¡± Gawain held the potion, feeling the skin of his face trembling, the kind of trembling that even a square face and full beard could not save. This little old man was fooling around with hisst prayer passage?! However, it was precisely that nonsensical prayer that would¡¯ve gotten a normal believer exterminated by his god 70-80 times thatpletely verified the thought in Gawain¡¯s heart. The druid theurgy of the past¡­ had indeed disappeared altogether. What remained in the world right now, was only druid magic. He set that little ss of potion that was still steaming aside and looked at Pittman¡¯s eyes. ¡°If I haven¡¯t remembered wrongly, your prayer from earlier is actually a section from Sacred Words of the Forest, the sacred book of the Heart of Forest faction. Am I right?¡± Pittman was a little surprised. ¡°You even know this?!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve read that book before.¡± Gawain waved his hand, indicating that this question wasn¡¯t important. ¡°What I want to say is ¡ª is druid magic really born out of theurgies?¡± [a]momentum? [1] Thew of conservation of energy states that the total energy of an isted system remains constant. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but only transformed or transferred from one form to another. [2] Solid, liquid, gas Chapter 119 - Druids Change of Conviction Chapter 119: Druids¡¯ Change of Conviction After hearing Gawain¡¯s words, Pittman raised his brows uncontrobly and said, ¡°There are only a rare few individuals who understand the druids¡¯ history so well.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not that versed in it, but it¡¯s no secret that druid spells are developed from nature theurgy. I can only say that the people of this era have very narrow-minded knowledge.¡± Gawain described indifferently, ¡°Back in the Gondor Empire era, many druid factions put on their signboards as the empire¡¯s holy hall of knowledge.¡± ¡°Hehe, I forgot again that I cannot judge you normally as you are an ancient figure from seven hundred years ago.¡± The little old man chuckled before gathering the tools meant for the concoction of medicine. ¡°You¡¯re right. Druid spells originated from ancient nature theurgy. In fact, the druids were from a kind of purist religion during the earlier stages. It was a religion that was simr to the current Church of Holy Light or the Sect of the God of War. But as time changed, many religions had declined or vanished. Those that could barely pass on¡­ were either evil cults or had a change in form like the druid religion.¡± ¡°There are plenty of druid factions ¡ª Heart of the Forest, Spirit of Nature, Wild Nature Faction, Rock Cave Faction, Element Faction¡­ These factions that I listed are therge-scale ones, and there are probably several dozen smaller-scaled factions.¡± Gawain spoke frankly, ¡°It is said that the splitting of the druid factions originated over three thousand years ago during the ¡®White Starfall¡¯. A huge internal change happened to the original druid religion after that incident. In just a short period of time, several factions were split up. Originally, all of you believed in a ¡®God of Nature¡¯ who didn¡¯t have a definite form. But after the White Starfall, this conviction had changed altogether¡­¡± Pittman might not look like a reliable druid, but his spells proved that he had received apleted druid inheritance. As such, he didn¡¯t feel any pressure from answering such questions regarding the general knowledge of his profession. ¡°The God of Nature has been split into many forms. Each faction dered that their deciphered form is the most correct. Some believed in the Spirit of the Forest. Some believed in the Spirit of Nature. Some even believed in beast spirits and the Spirit of Elements that had turned into divine existences¡­ This indeed isn¡¯t a secret. But after splitting up into different factions, the druid factions might have differences in philosophy, but we have never actually fought. The factions were at peace. Even before the ¡®Sacred Alliance¡¯ was implemented, all of the druid factions were at peace.¡± Gawain revealed an interested expression and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know the exact details. Can you tell me?¡± ¡°Every faction would have to follow a rule. Druids might have different paths, but we all originated from the same source. No matter what path we are on, druids will always be brothers and sisters.¡± Pittman stroked his bread and said, ¡°This isn¡¯t just a simple rule. It is the druid¡¯s rule. Before epting the inheritance, one would need to swear a harsh oath on one¡¯s soul.¡± Gawain rubbed his chin and silently recorded down this information before shifting the topic back to spells and theurgy. ¡°The druid religion¡¯s original nature theurgy has also transformed into the current druid spells during this process, right?¡± Pittman nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. It was slowlypleted over a long period of time after the White Starfall and the splitting of factions.¡± Gawain: ¡°When you were concocting medicine earlier and blessing the medicine at the final step, is it actually the remaining vestige of the original druid theurgy?¡± Pittman nodded with a pretentious smile but didn¡¯t say anything. This was the druid spell, this world¡¯s most special ¡®magic¡¯. They were probably the only magic that could talk clearly about their origins. But their origins were pointing towards a god. Three thousand years ago, the druids were originally a unified religion, but because of a subversive incident that was already considered a legend, the religion of the druids had been split into various factions. Furthermore, the theurgy that they possessed had actually been unimaginably changed into spells. Even now, these spells still contained the hints of the influence of the theurgy, like the words of blessing or the specific sacred symbols. But in fact, these ¡®theurgy parts¡¯ had already lost their practical functions. They were more like a cultural and a spiritual inheritance and entrustment. The proper druids would strictly follow the inheritance to reproduce the sacred steps that were already useless. But those improper druids ¡ª like Pittman ¡ª would choose to put in some random nonsense during the process of spellcasting to use up some time. But how did theurgy turn into magic? Those two powers were entirely different things. Theurgy originated from the gods and required reverent prayers to make one¡¯s spirit connect with a god¡¯s intent, allowing them to ¡®borrow¡¯ formidable power. On the other hand, magic originated from the spellcaster¡¯s power and knowledge of the world. The difference started from the sources. After going through many years of evolution, the druid spells already had their established and new magics. Just like the runes that Pittman prepared or the incantations he used, these were all ¡®natural miracles¡¯ that came from individual power. So, standard theurgy did have such processes. Thus, there were people who raised overly bold conjectures. Some schrs even believed that 3,000 years ago, the druids had used a certain forbidden ritual to steal the god¡¯s power. The ¡®natural miracles¡¯ that could only be done by theurgy had turned into spells that humans could utilize. The so-called White Starfall was not a meteor storm recorded in the history books but actually the God of Nature losing authority and falling from the divine realm¡­ The druids naturally wouldn¡¯t admit such an exnation, but Gawain had to acknowledge that¡­ the degree of credibility was rather high. Of course, he wouldn¡¯t mention such conjecture in front of Pittman and had casually said, ¡°Why do you feel that only druids are able to turn theurgy into spells sessfully? Why wouldn¡¯t clergies from other religions be able to do the same thing?¡± The little old man¡¯s face twitched. ¡°Who am I supposed to ask? Don¡¯t you already know of my real ability? My life had nearly ended just to learn the druid spells. How can I have the spare energy to research other¡ª?¡± ¡°Then why do you know cooking, fortune-telling, astrology, baby-sitting, and so many other things?¡± ¡°¡­Those are different¡­¡± Gawain didn¡¯t continue to pester Pittman on this question and made it as though he was mumbling to himself instead, ¡°It is said that a believer of the God of Holy Light had attempted to transform theurgy. He researched on the abilities of mages and attempted to activate Holy Light using the spellcasting methods¡­ As a result, he had been engulfed by the berserk Holy Light and was turned into a pile of ashes.¡± Pittmanughed and grunted. ¡°Ke, furthermore, this is an example that the Church of Holy Light intentionally proimed. It is used to warn those people that aren¡¯t respectful towards the God of Holy Light or those who attempted to steal the Holy Light.¡± ¡°The priest of the Church of Holy Light would be engulfed by Holy Light when they used magic to release the Holy Light miracle, but it would be fine for the druid religion¡¯s priests to use magic and release the natural miracles.¡± Gawain looked at those alchemy tools and the tform that was engraved with runes and a magic circle while shaking his head slightly. ¡°What do you feel is the greatest difference?¡± ¡°Because our god is broad-minded.¡± Pittman then made a serious religious gesture at his chest before saying, ¡°While the God of Holy Light is narrow-minded.¡± He was very stern and serious, but Gawain could most certainly say that this little old man didn¡¯t have any respect for the God of Nature. The druids¡¯ ability might have been viewed by others as ¡®half theurgy, half spell¡¯, but the so-called theurgy was merely referring to the sacred process. Everyone who knew the insider information would know that the druids no longer had the ability to release theurgy. In this world, when people lose the support of theurgy, the so-called conviction would turn into a kind of pure spiritual entrustment. The Spirit of Nature and various other spirits that the druids believed in were simply a deception for themselves. But was Pittman the type of person that would deceive himself? If he was, then he would at least be able to remember the words of blessing! Hence, Gawain believed that this person was a weirdo among the druids, and he would never believe that Pittman was a devout believer. Gawain continued to look at Pittman with a smile that wasn¡¯t a real smile until Pittman couldn¡¯t tolerate it anymore and spread out his hand. ¡°Of course, I still have an exnation¡­¡± Gawainughed. ¡°I just want to hear the opinion of you as a druid.¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t because humans stole the god¡¯s authority, but the god truncated a power that should belong to humans.¡± Pittman used a brief statement to describe something that would be enough to scare a whole group of people to death in this era. Of course, he would only dare to say such things to a feudal lord that didn¡¯t believe in religion and when he was far away from any church. After seeing that Gawain didn¡¯t have a great reaction and had nodded pensively instead, Pittman let out a breath before saying unhurriedly, ¡°You should know that apart from the druid theurgies that have already been transformed into spells, the theurgies of other religions are ¡®strict and self-locked¡¯. Only the corresponding religion¡¯s priests are able to cast theurgy with the precondition of a theurgic ritual thatplies with the doctrines. Furthermore, if any of the conditions do not match, even the simplest Holy Light spell would be impossible to release. Forcefully releasing it would result in the berserk and engulfment phenomenon that we mentioned earlier. Why is this so?¡± ¡°Three thousand years ago, the druids were still considered clergies, and we used the system of the Nature theurgy that is simr to the God of Holy Light and the God of War. Back then, when druids released theurgy, it was actually simr to other priests. They also had to follow strict rules. A slight deviation would cause the theurgy to lose control¡­ It was the so-called divine punishment. But after the legendary White Starfall incident, no one was able to execute theurgies anymore. In fact, the prayers weren¡¯t even being responded to. As a result, the druids were able to use a method to execute magic to produce the ¡®natural miracles¡¯ that should have vanished. Why do you feel it is so?¡± Gawain didn¡¯t utter a word but his heart gradually appeared with an answer: Because the management had disconnected¡­ When his heart shed with this thought, Gawain looked at Pittman with strange eyes. Pittman felt ufortable and contracted his neck. ¡°Your understanding doesn¡¯t seem like what a low-ranking druid, a semi-antique appraiser, a shoddy rogue, and a fake hermit should have,¡± Gawain said unhurriedly. ¡°I don¡¯t think even those schrs who are always thinking about the history of religion and magic would be able to say such things.¡± Pittman was instantly frightened and put on a bitter face. ¡°I know I shouldn¡¯t say it. Saying it will just be a disaster¡­¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say that I am going to do anything to you.¡± Gawain changed the topic and said, ¡°Everyone has their own secrets. You have, I have, even Amber has them too. It is no big deal.¡± ¡°Why did you suddenly involve Amber?¡± Pittman curled his lips and felt a little at ease. ¡°But when you mentioned that schrs who are always thinking about the history of religion and magic wouldn¡¯t be able to say such things¡­ I disagree.¡± While speaking, the little old man let out mischievousughter and said, ¡°The druids¡¯ history isn¡¯t a secret. Our theurgy and magic aren¡¯t secrets either. Ordinary people might know less due to their status and hierarchy, but those upper echelons of the various religions are able to look up all the information, and they are all intelligent people. How could they not think the same things as me?¡± ¡°The most intelligent people knew it clearly in their hearts, but no one spoke of it publicly.¡± ¡°After all, they aren¡¯t gods¡­¡± Chapter 120 - Foreign... Chapter 120: Foreign¡­ Having a conversation with Pittman wasn¡¯t Gawain¡¯s initial objective, but there were unexpected rewards. Gawain wasn¡¯t able to find out anything involved with the innate character of magic from the druids¡¯ ritual magic. Originally, he thought he could use his transmigrator¡¯s open-minded brain and Gawain Cecil¡¯s knowledge toprehend something after witnessing the druid magic from this ¡®magic weirdo¡¯. But the fact had proven that he had thought too much. On the other hand, he had heard Pittman¡¯s ¡®tiny bit of understanding¡¯ about the druids¡¯ theurgy and magic: ¡®it isn¡¯t because humans stole the god¡¯s authority, but the god truncated a power that should belong to humans.¡¯ To be honest, Gawain Cecil might be half a schr, but it was made up of mostly bluff. He might know plenty of things, but that was only because he had witnessed many things during the pioneering expedition and had arge number of friends. Much of the knowledge in his memories were considered extensive but not refined. Take the druids¡¯ history for example¡­ Gawain might know that the druids were a unified religion during 3,000 years ago, but after the ¡®White Starfall¡¯ incident, the religion had split up and transformed into atheistic factions. During the process, the nature theurgy had also transformed into the current druid spells. But for the details of this history, the memories that Gawain had inherited were obviously inferior to Pittman who had received the proper inheritance from the druids (although it still seemed very improper). Of course, the various druid factions viewed the knowledge of inheritance with great importance. As such the ¡®learning of history¡¯ was part of the fundamental lessons that druids needed to master. Furthermore, the druids¡¯ inheritance was very reliant on the elves. Their inheritance wasn¡¯t affected by the Dark Wave that happened 700 years ago. As such, the history of 3,000 years ago didn¡¯t allow Gawain the ¡®ancient figure¡¯ to have a special advantage over Pittman. Thus, there were things that Pittman would know, but Gawain might not know. It was because Pittman knew how the druid priests used theurgy 3,000 years ago and also because he knew the transformation process from theurgy to magic that Pittman was able toe up with a shocking verdict like, ¡®it isn¡¯t because humans stole the god¡¯s authority, but the god truncated a power that should belong to humans.¡¯ Of course, Gawain knew this verdict was only Pittman¡¯s one-sided words and naturally couldn¡¯t be taken as the whole truth, but in consideration of the god¡¯s train of thought¡­ it might be possible. ¡­ After sending Sir Byron out for several days, the n to increase the territory¡¯s poption had finally turned for the better. Just as Gawain predicted, aspared to recruiting refugees, hiring artisans, and announcing their wee of neers, the truly reliable and stable source of immigrants would be to purchase serfs and ve workers. But not everyone was so foolish; if a person had a chance to live elsewhere, would they choose to stay and work at the foot of the Dark Range? This ce was far away from civilization and close to the Gondor Wastnds. The new Cecil territory was simply constructed at the gates of hell. The southernnds had been regressing for a hundred years, and there was constant dissemination of dark stories among the people that dyed this ce with even deeper and more horrific colors. Everyone believed that this ce was a frightening wastnd. They felt that the old ancestor of the Cecil n would choose to pioneer in this ce because he had beenying in the coffin for too long, and his brain had already changed. Would someone with a normal brain choose toe to such a ce? Oh, someone posted some announcements along with a few people to yell out propaganda to dere the ce was safe and came with food, lodgings, and rewards. Who were they trying to fool? In this era, themoners were numbed beyond imagination, and their tolerance towards impoverished life was far beyond imagination too. They would rather stay in homes that had barely enough food and warmth than to take the risk and make a living in those rumored treacherous ces because they couldn¡¯t see or imagine what it was like to live in a remote ce. For most of the people, the risk and costs of leaving their homes were so high that they were unable to tolerate it. If it turned out to be a wrong choice, they would be consigned to eternal damnation. Thus, the first batch to arrive at the territory were the ves that Sir Byron and his subordinates had bought from the nearby territories. There were serfs, ve workers, contracted ves ¡ª all sorts of ves. Due to the ample funding, there were more than three hundred ves that were brought over for the first batch. There were many other ves that were on the way or in the cages with the ve traffickers. Gawain naturally didn¡¯t allow those ves to enter the camp directly and mix with the residents. He had already ordered people in advance to level out arge piece ofnd at the forest towards the western side of the territory. They had also constructedrge numbers of tents and simple fences. The ves that were transported from the dock would first be temporarily quarantined at the riverside to conduct a basic identity registration and health inspection. After recording their names and making sure their bodies were healthy, the soldiers would then bring the ves to the new camp. At this ce, the newly imported poption would stay in the independent camp for at least two months. During the day, they would be led by the foremen to the various workces and would work together with the residents of the territory. They would be able to personally experience and learn the basic order andws of thisnd. At nighttime, they would be sent back to their independent camp, and before they slept, they were required to listen to soldiers reading about ¡®Cecil n¡¯s basicws¡¯ and ¡®general order ofbor¡¯. It would allow them to understand the new personnel management system in thisnd and most importantly¡­ The way to obtain freedom. Gawain called this the ¡®buffer¡¯ process. After two months of adapting and learning, the ves would go through a simple observation test. It was actually for them to repeat the things that were taught to them on a daily basis and also to ask the other residents that had worked together with them to understand their work and whether they were adapting. If both factors reached a certain standard, the foreign ve would be officially epted into the new Cecil territory. If one of the factors didn¡¯t reach the standard¡­ they would return to the ¡®buffer camp¡¯ and continue to receive education. This buffer system that Gawain thought of was just at the prototype stage and was used to prevent arge influx of foreigners that might destroy the system he had painstakingly built. But Gawain knew this system had plenty of ws ¡ª be it the time required for the buffer, the content of the education training, or the evaluation standard and uracy afterward. Everything had to be slowly adjusted and perfected. But with this buffer process, it would prevent the risks of the situation going out of control. The White River¡¯s dock was busier than any of the previous days. A cargo ship hired from Tanzan Town had just unloaded a new batch of serfs and mining ve workers. The Cecil n warriors that were fully equipped with extraordinary equipment were monitoring with full concentration and maintaining order¡­ Although there was ack of ¡®gentility¡¯, those noisy serfs and ve workers would only get into the queue obediently and enter through the reserved opening in the dock¡¯s fence when the soldiers drew their weapons. Heidi led a group of literate people from the hundred-person aid team to record the basic information of the registered ves. When one of the ves walked away from Heidi, she couldn¡¯t help but rub her temples. That was already the third ¡®Sam¡¯ she had encountered. None of the ves had proper names, and no one would seriously give them names (including their parents). Only when a buyer was found would the ve traffickers give some random name, and what kind of proper names could those uneducated ve traffickerse up with? The better ones would give names like ¡®Sam¡¯, ¡®Holme¡¯; the bad ones would just give names like ¡®Fool¡¯, ¡®Tall Guy¡¯. Furthermore, most of the ves didn¡¯t clearly know their age or native homnd. When they were asked about their expertise, they weren¡¯t able to think of any skills but would reply ¡®strong¡¯, ¡®hardy¡¯, ¡®fast eater¡¯, and all sorts of answers. But Heidi still had to carry on with the registration of the people as most of this information was better recorded than not. It was fortunate that the old ancestor had foresight and had the idea to give these people serial numbers. Even if they had a set of names that appeared in high frequency, there was no worry of a repeat if they were given serial numbers. Furthermore, they only had to remember their own serial number right now, and they wouldn¡¯t possibly forget about the number, right? Heidi lowered her head and was sorting out some newly filled-up particrs. At this moment, a particrly tall figure stood in front of her and blocked out the sun. She lifted her head and saw that it was Gawain. She panicked and wanted to stand up. ¡°Ancestor, you¡¯re here!¡± ¡°You can just remain seated.¡± Gawain shook his hand and looked at the dock. He noticed there were much fewer people, and it seemed like today¡¯s registration work was nearing the end. ¡°How do you feel?¡± ¡°To be honest, I feel that the ¡®organization management¡¯ that you mentioned to me previously is getting increasingly necessary.¡± Heidi nearly wanted to cry as she said, ¡°I never imagined that writing down particrs would actually exhaust me to this extent¡­ How good would it be if such work could be handed to someone else?¡± ¡°General education and night sses have already started. There are more literate people on the territory now. Furthermore, I have already sent Sir Byron a letter to seek out secretaries and teachers. We will need to hire a few even if we need to pay them higher sries. The situation will improve.¡± ¡°I hope so.¡± Heidi massaged her waist by beating on it and said, ¡°You have asked me to n arge management organization, but around eighty percent of the positions are empty. Who knows how long I will need before the members are filled up?¡± Gawainughed before changing the topic. ¡°Are there only serfs and ve workers today?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, only serfs and ve workers.¡± Heidi took a nce at the paper in her hand and said, ¡°Ah no, there were refugees too¡­ a family of three. They probably had no other way to survive. They had the mentality that they would either die in the Dark Range or die of hunger outside the town and had boarded the ship that Sir Byron arranged. I have already arranged a dwelling for them ording to free-citizen standards.¡± Gawain frowned and said, ¡°Only three, huh¡­?¡± ¡°There is nothing that can be done.¡± Heidi let out a light sigh and said, ¡°Even those homeless refugees wouldn¡¯t willinglye to the Dark Range. They don¡¯t know the actual situation here and don¡¯t dare toe.¡± ¡°I have already asked Sir Byron to use his ¡®channels¡¯ to disseminate the information.¡± Gawain¡¯s brows quickly smoothed out, and he said, ¡°To many of the residents at the lowest rung of society, information disseminated from taverns and wanderers are much more reliable than information posted by the nobles. I believe once information is spread through those lesser channels, more refugees would be willing to try their luck in this ce.¡± Heidi blinked her eyes before her expression turned strange. ¡°Back when you headed to the royal capital, did you use the same kind of dissemination¡­ method?¡± She actually wanted to say ¡®trick¡¯, but when she considered that she was already of a certain age and if the old ancestor had to correct her words, it would be rather embarrassing. Therefore, she used a neutral way of speaking. ¡°Please call this ¡®influencing public opinion¡¯.¡± Gawain gave a serious rejoinder. Right at this moment, azy voice suddenly drifted through the air from his side. ¡°Your mouth is truly able toe up with all these strange and bizarre words, huh~~¡± Gawain didn¡¯t even need to turn his head around to know who was talking. ¡°Amber, can you use a normal method to travel? Do you always have to travel using Shadow Walk?¡± As soon as he spoke, Amber indeed appeared out of midair. The half-elf hopped out from the shadow state and didn¡¯t pay any attention to Gawain¡¯s lecture. ¡°Let me tell you, the camp is about to start the meal soon. I am here out of goodwill to ask you over to eat¡­¡± This fellow would only appear ording to the meal time. Gawain didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry as he looked at Amber, and just as he was about to say something, a mor echoed from a nearby distance. Gawain looked over while following the voice and saw thest ve at the registration who stood near another registration point. The mor came from the person responsible for recording the details. That recorder spoke loudly, ¡°Name. I am asking for your name¡­ Don¡¯t keep swaying around!¡± The ve in front of the recorder just stood there nkly as though he had some illness to maintain bnce as he constantly swayed his body and couldn¡¯t hear a single thing. The recorder¡¯s voice got louder, ¡°Hey, is there something wrong with your ears?! I am asking for your name! Or are you unable to understand themonnguage?!¡± The ve finally reacted. However, he looked at the recorder with turbid eyes. His swaying was getting more intense, and he seemingly started to tremble. When the recorder was getting stared at by the turbid and lifeless eyes, he couldn¡¯t help but get scared, ¡°What¡ªwhat is the meaning of this?! Soldiers, soldiers!¡± Right at this moment, Gawain suddenly sensed extremely unstable magic rapidly increasing in the ve¡¯s body! Chapter 121 - Oblivion Chapter 121: Oblivion The moment Gawain sensed the abrupt increase in magic energy from the ve, he realized the situation wasn¡¯t good. He rushed out and activated the Knight Charge skill while warning the recorder loudly as he had not realized it. ¡°Danger! Get down!¡± The recorder reacted slowly, and that ve¡¯s body had already swelled up drastically. An ominous red light was emitted from his flesh that was splitting open. Countless primal and malicious runes swiftly covered his skin. This pitiful person who had already lost his consciousness finally let out a painful yell, but just before his body turned into a bomb and exploded, Gawain finally made it. The metal glove that was glowing with white light suddenly swung in from the side, pushing this live bomb away from people. Immediately after, a blurry shadow shed beside Gawain. Amber appeared from the shadow and pulled that utterly stunned recorder to the ground violently. Meanwhile, the ve that was sent flying had swelled up to the limit and exploded like a balloon. All the flesh and bones were turned into lethal pellets that scattered in all directions. Even though the ve was already far away from people, some of the solid bones still smashed onto the wooden table of the registration entrance and left behind deep pits. If Amber hadn¡¯t pulled that recorder to the ground in time, this unlucky fellow would have at least been disfigured even if he didn¡¯t die. Only now, the others had finally reacted, and the soldiers on sentry duty a distance away ran towards this ce. Heidi immediately put up a magic barrier while activating the ¡®Detection¡¯ spell to check if there was any other danger. The recorder who had escaped disaster finally climbed out from under the table while trembling. His face was imprinted with an extremely clear shoe print. ¡°Lock down the site. Forbid any unrted personnel from entering or exiting.¡± Gawain took a nce back where the charred pit was left behind by the explosion and gave his orders with a loud voice. ¡°Guards at the dock, stop those ships and seize the ve traffickers¡­ Also, bring those newly registered ves back! Quickly!¡± With the clear and precise orders, everyone acted swiftly. Heidi ran rapidly to Gawain and examined his body anxiously and asked, ¡°Ancestor, are you alright?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. An explosion of that caliber isn¡¯t enough to injure me.¡± Gawain shook his hand and asked, ¡°Is there any remaining presence at the scene?¡± Heidi shook her head, and just as she wanted to say something, another voice traveled over from the nearby vicinity. ¡°What is going on? Are you people testing the art here?!¡± Gawain looked over to where the voice wasing from and saw it was Pittman running over. This druid was responsible for the inspection of the newly arrived ves to see if they were healthy. He and his newly recruited medical apprentices were just at the other side of the dock, and after hearing themotion, they immediately ran over. Amber was still in a panicked state and shouted, ¡°I don¡¯t know what is going on! Someone just suddenly exploded over here! Lucky I didn¡¯t die from fright!¡± ¡°What a pitiful ve. I suspect that someone used sorcery to create a living bomb.¡± Heidi exined with a gloomy face. She then gave a rough exnation for the incident earlier. ¡°¡­It is very simr to the spell Corpse Explosion. But that person was obviously alive before he exploded. He was actually able to move around.¡± After hearing Heidi¡¯s description, Pittman¡¯s face immediately turned dark. His eyes were filled with a certainplexity and deep restraining fear. He didn¡¯t say much and quickly walked towards the center of the explosion. Even though it was the scene of a human explosion, there wasn¡¯t much flesh and blood. The sorcery¡¯s activation had generated an extremely high temperature; furthermore, the temperature increased from inside to outside. All of the exploded remains had already been turned into carbon. In the vicinity of the charred pit, there wererge quantities of ck, solid shards. Pittman then squatted beside those carbonized remains. The wrinkles on his face were crunching much tighter than ever before. His expression was so serious that it was terrifying. The druid that was normally all smiles and always having an improper attitude had never behaved like this before. Even Amber had been frightened by his expression, but immediately after, the half-elf youngdy¡¯s attention fell onto the remains of the body that was beyond recognition. She turned her face away. ¡°It is truly¡­ deranged.¡± ¡°It seems like you know something.¡± Gawain walked in front of Pittman and squatted down while asking, ¡°Have you seen such sorcery before?¡± Pittman picked up a piece of the charred remains that was a fragment of distorted bone. He removed the ck carbon substance on the surface of the bone and chanted a few short and simple incantations. The bone immediately glowed with a green luster, but it onlysted for an instant before dissipating. Gawain looked at the remaining magical reaction from the bone and was astonished. ¡°Druid spell?!¡± Pittman nodded gently and said, ¡°Oblivion Association, also known as Judgment Day Association. Have you heard of them?¡± Gawain frowned and had a faint impression of the name, but he couldn¡¯t remember clearly. After working hard to recall, he finally responded, ¡°The fallen druid faction? The predecessor of ¡®Holy Spirit School¡¯?¡± ¡°As expected, you know them.¡± Pittman tossed the bone and said, ¡°This is their technique.¡± Amber looked at Gawain before looking at Pittman. Her mind was filled with question marks as she asked, ¡°What does the Oblivion Association do? Are they an evil cult?¡± ¡°They are indeed an evil cult.¡± Heidi had already walked over and overheard the trio¡¯s conversation. ¡°They were originally one of the druid factions and were named Holy Spirit School. They advocate that the God of Nature still cares for the world, continuing to fulfill the covenant and that the druids should restore harmony between all living things in nature. They were originally the druid faction with the most orthodox inheritance and the faction with the mostplete knowledge of the ancient druid religion. Seven hundred years ago, this faction had suddenly broken off rtions with the various orthodox factions. Nearly half of the members rushed into the Gondor Wastnds crazily and destroyed themselves. The remaining members had changed their name to ¡®Oblivion Association¡¯ and degraded into an evil cult. They were then evicted by the druidmunity¡­¡± Gawain knew this section of history better than Heidi. ¡°Strictly speaking, they had turned into a dark sect after the Sacred Alliance had been set up. Back then, there were plenty of religions, and many of them were in a hostile state. But the Sacred Alliance made all the religions renounce the hatred and swear that they would never fight one another. Naturally, many of the religions couldn¡¯t ept this, and those were the religions that turned into the so-called dark sects. But the Oblivion Association is very special. It was originally a druid faction, one of many. No one had expected a dark sect to actually appear from an organization of extraordinary figures that had transformed from an organization with divine rights¡­ At that time, a lot of people were shocked. ¡°The Holy Spirit School was the closest to the druids¡¯ original beliefs among all the druid factions. Even after White Starfall, they still maintained the original church structure and standard of conduct from 3,000 years ago. Even though there was no more theurgy, they were still an orthodox divine sect. Before the establishment of the Sacred Alliance, when the various religious leaders were trying tomunicate with their god at Ancestral Peak, the Holy Spirit School¡¯s leader had also been present.¡± Pittman supplemented Gawain¡¯s words. ¡°Therefore, it was rather surprising when they degraded like other dark sets.¡± ¡°When I died previously, the Oblivion Association was still a small organization.¡± Gawain¡¯s brows locked tightly as he said, ¡°I originally thought they would vanish after the massacre and suppression from seven hundred years ago¡­¡± ¡°The truth happened to be the opposite. They didn¡¯t just survive. They had turned into one of the most powerful dark sects,¡± Heidi spoke with a solemn and deep voice. ¡°Druids as a profession are very good at surviving in harsh conditions. Furthermore, the Oblivion Association is an extremely mysterious organization. Their method of inheritance is very obscure and strictly concealed. They seldom reveal themselves to the eyes of the world, but if they made a move, it would be an extremely horrific and mind-numbing attack¡­¡± Gawain¡¯s eyes flickered as he asked, ¡°Like throwing a living bomb into the newly constructed Cecil territory?¡± Gawain couldn¡¯t help but look at the carbonized shards on the ground while anger and sorrow surged in his heart at the same time. This was simply inhumane. Pittman stood up and looked at the surrounding wary soldiers who looked like they were waiting for an impending enemy. He shook his head and said, ¡°No, if it was really the Oblivion Association, it wouldn¡¯t be such a small-scale operation without an objective. They always had clear objectives, and their attacks woulde in waves¡­¡± Amber pulled her hair forcefully and asked, ¡°Why are all of you so familiar with the Oblivion Association except me?¡± Pittman looked at the half-elf while in an unpleasant mood and said, ¡°Because when you were young, you would always sleep when listening to history!¡± ¡°Nonsense! I¡¯m able to listen even when I¡¯m sleeping. You and my father definitely didn¡¯t talk to me about these things!¡± Gawain pushed Amber away before looking at Pittman with a stern expression. ¡°You¡¯re able to identify the magical reaction from the Oblivion Association, right?¡± ¡°Strictly speaking, I am able to identify the traces of druid spells.¡± Pittman nodded and said, ¡°You¡¯re worried that there are more living bombs hidden in those newly arrived ves?¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°I cannot help but worry.¡± ¡°Such precaution is correct.¡± Soon enough, all the ves that had already gone through health inspection and registration had all been brought back to undergo Pittman¡¯s magical reaction test. Those ships that finished unloading the ¡®goods¡¯ and were preparing to return had all been stopped. The ve traffickers on the ships were all made to stay for investigation. They had quickly located the original owner of the ¡®live bomb¡¯. Gawain immediately settled this matter at the wooden fence by the dock. Firstly, he asked Heidi to look through the documents on the origin of the serfs and ve workers delivered this time. The ve who exploded was a mining ve worker from Tanzan Town, and his name was Sam. Heidi exined the situation, ¡°This batch of ves was bought from various ces, including Viscount Leslie¡¯s territory, the northern Viscount Kant¡¯s territory, and Viscount Carol¡¯s territory. They were all gathered at Tanzan Town first. Sir Byron organized a collection point, and when enough ves were gathered to fill a few ships, they were all led by the ve traffickers to board the ships and delivered to this ce. The deceased is a native ve worker from Tanzan Town, and his original owner was a ve trafficker with the nickname ¡®Golden-Eyed Piegel¡¯. He has been seized.¡± At this moment, Pittman walked to Gawain by the fence. ¡°I have inspected all of them. The rest of the ves don¡¯t have any trace of sorcery. They¡¯re safe.¡± ¡°All of them are safe?¡± Gawain confirmed as he wasn¡¯t at ease. ¡°Yes,¡± Pittman replied with conviction, ¡°I am rather confident in my magical reaction perception.¡± Gawain rubbed the center of his brows and said, ¡°The Oblivion Association is an organization that wouldn¡¯t easily make a move¡­ They specially delivered a live bomb to my territory. What do their guys look like?¡± Gawain then lifted his head. ¡°Bring that ¡®Golden-Eyed¡¯ Whatever over. Also, check if the dead serf had any close friends or acquaintances and bring them over too. I want to understand the situation.¡± Chapter 122 - Trouble Chapter 122: Trouble The ve trafficker nicknamed ¡®Golden-Eyed Piegel¡¯ was brought over. He was a stout man with shrewd eyes, and he was like most of the ve traffickers in this era: his body was decorated with vulgar essories and meaningless sealed ribbons. ve traffickers were normally very rich, and their wealth would beparable to minor noble ns at times. However, in thews of various nations and most of the churches¡¯ traditional mindset, ve traffickers were people who had tainted their souls. As such, even the wealthiest ve traffickers wouldn¡¯t be permitted to possess the status of a noble. They weren¡¯t allowed to donate money and be a ¡®phony knight¡¯ or an ¡®honorary knight¡¯. Therefore, these wealthy people liked to disy on themselves a bunch of luxurious decorations and self-designed sealed ribbons to show off their status and also to find relief. Two other serfs were brought over with Piegel, a male and a female who were the elder brother and younger sister of the deceased serf ¡®Sam¡¯. The three siblings were sold together to this ce, but before they could even have a mouthful of hot soup, their brother had died on the dock. However, on the faces of the elder brother and the younger sister, their fear and anxiety had suppressed the mournful and grieving emotions they ought to have. It was sad to lose a brother, but the fear of the possible punishment that might descend on them was worth more. They knew clearly and acknowledged as fact that in the eyes of nobles, serfs weren¡¯t considered humans. A ve had just exploded on the dock, and to a noble, it was an unforgivable loss. He didn¡¯t just lose a ve, the ground had also been dirtied. Therefore, they were fearful and worried about the anger that would be vented on them. Furthermore, they believed that the feudal lord had called for them toe over to receive punishment. It would be fine if the two of them were requested to do the work of three individuals. They were more worried about getting whipped and getting starved. In this era, these two punishments might just take the lives of the ves thatmitted mistakes. The ve trafficker called ¡®Golden-Eyed Piegel¡¯ was also in fear, and he was even more terrified. Because he was the one who brought over the serf that had been transformed into a living bomb by sorcery. Being covered in gold and silver didn¡¯t bring this stout man any sense of security. He knew what his status was and knew that in justified situations, a duke could simply execute a ve trafficker, and no one would plead for him. ¡°Golden-Eyed Piegel?¡± Gawain asked. When Gawain spoke, the fatty whose entire body was covered with pieces of gold and silver was so frightened that he shivered. ¡°Are you the one that brought the serf Sam over?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ yes, my lord.¡± Piegel nodded while feeling terrified. ¡°But I absolutely do not have any malicious intent, my lord! It is also impossible for me to be associated with a sorcerer or an evil cult follower! I am an honest businessman, and I have never done anything¡­¡± Sir Philip used his sheathed longsword to knock on Piegel¡¯s face and said, ¡°You will only answer the things that are being asked!¡± Piegel quickly shut his mouth and looked down at the tip of his shoes while Gawain continued to ask, ¡°Before the deceased was brought over, who had he been in contact with? What did he eat? Did he behave strangely?¡± Pittman had already inspected the ve trafficker for a magical reaction and didn¡¯t discover any remaining presence of druid spells. Seeing his reaction, it wasn¡¯t likely for him to be a subordinate of an evil cult follower. It was possible that Piegel had been made use of, and Gawain would still have to determine that. Piegel wiped his sweat and replied, ¡°My¡ªmy lord. The serfs had been closed up in a dwelling for several days before they boarded the ship. All of them ate the same food, the same food¡ª¡± ¡°You better tell the truth.¡± Amber stood behind Gawain and was speaking in support while trying to intimidate by making use of Gawain¡¯s authority. As she spoke, she twirled the dagger in her hand. ¡°We have mages, a druid, and even a Shadow Grandmaster! We can even draw your soul out to interrogate you¡­ Don¡¯t invite trouble.¡± Gawain remained calm and cast a nce at the half-elf, but he didn¡¯t expose her nonsense. Piegel, on the other hand, hadrge beads of sweat that were constantly flowing down. His cold sweat was lined up into a single file like how a Korean Starcraft yer would direct his soldiers. To ordinary people who didn¡¯t understand magic, they weren¡¯t able to differentiate between each extraordinary profession. They wouldn¡¯t know which profession would be able to use soul magic. In their minds, the mysterious magic professions were probably omnipotent; therefore, Amber¡¯s random nonsense and threat were actually effective. ¡°Yes¡­ my lord, I am telling the truth!¡± Piegel frantically replied. ¡°Actually¡­ actually that serf Sam is a little special¡­¡± Gawain knocked on the table and responded, ¡°Special?¡± ¡°Yes. I was originally scheduled to deliver him to Viscount Andrew¡¯s castle to work,¡± Piegel said everything in his mind, ¡°but Sir Knight that you sent to the town had offered a better price to purchaserge numbers of various ves. I did not have a lot of ves, so¡­ so¡­¡± ¡°So you used the serfs that were scheduled for the castle to make up the numbers?¡± Gawain frowned and asked, ¡°Why were serfs being sent to the castle?¡± ¡°Sam was a diligent and agile serf. He didn¡¯t just do farm work, he also knew how to feed the horses and clean up the animal sheds. Viscount Andrew just happened to need a new servant¡­¡± Piegel rubbed his finger awkwardly and said, ¡°This was also an opportunity for Sam. The ves on my hands can be serfs, ve workers, or contracted ves. Once they entered feudalnds, they would be a serf forever. But if they were delivered into castles, they might be servants¡ª¡± ¡°But Sir Byron had offered four more silver coins, and you brought Sam back for the ve transport ships,¡± Gawain interrupted Piegel¡¯s words and turned to look at Sam¡¯s siblings. ¡°You may raise your heads. Don¡¯t be nervous. Before you came here, did your brother behave abnormally?¡± The elder brother seemed to be bolder and was first to reply. ¡°Yes. Recently, Sam had been constantly saying he was very tired, and he would frequently stop talking midway. Sometimes, he would even sleep while standing.¡± Gawain raised his head to look at Pittman, and thetter had a pensive expression. Subsequently, the old druid asked, ¡°When did this situation start?¡± The malnourished serf younger sister replied, ¡°Seven days¡­ or eight days ago. It wouldn¡¯t be more than ten days.¡± No one could expect them to remember the exact date. Gawain inquired Heidi who stood on his other side, ¡°When did Byron start announcing the information to purchase ves in Tanzan Town?¡± Heidi had a serious expression as she already thought of a possibility. ¡°Four days ago.¡± ¡°It would mean that serf Sam was already abnormal before Byron reached Tanzan Town. He might have already been controlled by sorcery back then, and he was originally supposed to be delivered to Viscount Andrew¡¯s castle¡­¡± Gawain spoke while observing the surroundings. ¡°It was just an ident for him to arrive in this ce.¡± Heidi took a deep breath. ¡°Our neighbor is probably in trouble.¡± ¡°His trouble will quickly turn into our trouble.¡± Gawain spoke slowly, ¡°The Oblivion Association originated from the druids. Their sorcery was developed from magic-of-life and nature energies. Living humans aren¡¯t just their magical materials, they are also carriers for sorcery diseases. Tanzan Town has too much poption, and we are too close to them as well. No matter the case, Sir Byron is still at Tanzan Town, and he hasn¡¯t discovered anything yet. We cannot leave him there.¡± Heidi looked at the territory¡¯s only druid and asked with concern, ¡°Pittman, do you think they will spread a disease in Tanzan Town? And deliver infected people into the castle to deal with the feudal lord¡­?¡± ¡°It is hard to say. The minds of evil cult followers are different from normal humans¡¯. Their minds are mainly made of rotten flesh and mud from the ditch.¡± Pittman then said with a grave expression, ¡°We need to n for the worst.¡± ¡°The kingdom¡¯s support will not arrive in time. We will have to do it ourselves.¡± Gawain stood up and said, ¡°We need to eliminate the source of the problem before things go out of control. But we don¡¯t have any method to confirm the number and strength of our enemy.¡± Pittman said, ¡°I can make an estimate. Sam was transformed into a living bomb by the sorcery spell ¡®Call of the Dead¡¯. ording to the power I detected back then and the remaining presence, the spellcaster is not over intermediate rank and might have just reached the standard of a grade-five dark druid. Furthermore, their numbers are small. The Oblivion Association seldom organizesrge-scale operations, especially for causing destruction to towns. They would usually send out one or two elite members and rely on crafty schemes and strange sorcery spells to create a huge amount of destruction.¡± Gawain muttered to himself, ¡°So we are probably facing one or two grade-five or inferior sorcerers. The number won¡¯t be a problem. The only thing we need to worry about is the strange spells of those dark druids. In worst case situations, Viscount Andrew might be controlled by sorcery as controlling living beings is also a dark-druid specialty.¡± After a brief silence, Gawain gestured to ¡®Golden-Eyed Piegel¡¯ who had nearly dehydrated from all his ¡®cold-sweat¡¯ perspiration. ¡°You can go. But I advise you not to go near Tanzan Town for the next little while. Head towards the north.¡± The ve trafficker trembled as he left, leaving behind a pair of serf siblings who lowered their heads and stood in ce. They were so nervous that they almost fainted. However, Gawain didn¡¯t know what they were thinking. Even if he had the inherited memories, even if he had stayed in this era for a few months, he still wasn¡¯t able to fully immerse and understand the thoughts of this world¡¯s people. He would never have guessed that the siblings were worried about receiving punishment. Gawain carried on with his own thoughts and consoled them, ¡°Your brother is already dead, and the dead cannot revive. [E/N: Well, one of them could.] My condolences. I have already asked someone to collect and prepare Sam¡¯s¡­ remains. He will be buried in a graveyard by the forest. The two of you should live well on thisnd and work hard to obtain your freedom. The Cecil n will protect your safety.¡± The siblings lifted their heads in astonishment and looked at Gawain as though they couldn¡¯t believe what they had heard. Despite Gawain¡¯s opinion, he was saying and doing everything ording to the simplest logic. The two serf siblings left while feeling bewildered. After they left, Amber couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°I thought you would just let them be free citizens aspensation for their brother¡¯s death.¡± Gawain looked at Amber with an amused expression and asked, ¡°Why would I do that?¡± ¡°Because you are benevolent.¡± Amber put on a face as though it was a matter of course. ¡°I know you¡¯re a good person, and isn¡¯t it normal for you to act benevolently?¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°I can act benevolently, but I cannot do it randomly. I cannot let them believe that the sacrifice of a rtive could be exchanged for their freedom. Especially not to serfs that don¡¯t know the inside story and allow them to think foolishly. Freedom must be strived for with their hands. I have already set this system in ce. Therefore, I must also follow the system. Only by doing so will there be order.¡± Amber looked at Gawain with surprise and said, ¡°Is that why you insist those ves go through the two-month ¡®buffer¡¯ period and for them to continue working as serfs and ve workers so that they can obtain freedom after they have worked enough, instead of just announcing you are freeing them their very?¡± ¡°¡­Actually, your understanding has plenty of problems, but it is generally okay.¡± Gawainughed and said, ¡°I indeed want them to realize that freedom doesn¡¯te so easily. But there might be a day when I will directly announce the abolition of very instead of making small changes like now.¡± Amber was dumbstruck. ¡°You actually have such thoughts?! Then¡­ when will it be?¡± ¡°When people are aware that the children of serfs and ve workers can also eliminate the King with theunch of a Fireball,¡± Gawain spoke without thinking. ¡°But for now, we still have to discuss the problem of Tanzan Town.¡± Chapter 123 - Crystal Grenade Chapter 123: Crystal Grenade There was nothing worth hesitating about the Tanzan Town operation from the very start. All kinds of signs indicated that the ws of the Oblivion Association had indeed entered the town, and Gawain, who had long gained an understanding of this dark sect, did not let any naive thoughts of ¡®it hadn¡¯t spread to their side, so he could rest easy¡¯ grow. He knew the ideology of this dark sect ¡ª everything will die; regardless of whichever race and whatever thing, all would ultimately see the day of perishing. And the so-called vigor and vitality were merely the paths and lights used to lead them towards death. They used twisted theories to exin the original nature ideologies of the druids and viewed death as the ultimate goal of life. On this point, they were even more extreme and insane than those notorious undead factions. They believed that the undead were also ¡®alive¡¯ and that the undead too should die; even the death gods that the undead factions worshipped should die. The extremity of their ideas could even give the other heretical cults a good scare. No one knew how the druid sect that originally worshiped life and nature had split up and degenerated to form such a dark organization. However, there was no doubt about one thing. Once the Oblivion Association started to work, it would certainly cause inconceivable panic and deaths. Tanzan Town was truly too close to the new Cecil territory. If those lunatics were really nning on creating an epidemic in the town and using Tanzan Town as a ¡®spell material¡¯ to conduct some evil rite, if there was even a little leeway, the new Cecil territory located downstream of the White River would be the second sacrifice. However, the Cecil territory had yet to have the ability to directly dispatch a contingent of troops to Tanzan Town to solve the problem right now. ¡ª In fact, Gawain wasn¡¯t intending on doing so either. At the moment, while the situation was still unknown, he decided to go scout with two or three other skilled people. The feudal lord personally going into a dangerous situation, this wasn¡¯t a wise n. But there was no choice; the high-endbat force on hand that Gawain could employ was too little. In the situation where intermediate heretic cult believers could be present in Tanzan Town, he had to take the field. The explosion incident that happened at the pier did not spread through the camp thanks to Gawain¡¯s timely lockdown of the news. Everything in the territory was operating normally. The steelworks was smelting and casting; the brick-kiln yard was baking bricks, and the ¡®cement¡¯ furnaces continued their production of explosive crystals. The newly arrived serfs and ves were relieving the fatigue from their journey in their new tents and were learning, with feelings of surprise and confusion, the new order and newws of thisnd. Meanwhile, Gawain was ready to leave for Tanzan Town. He brought Sir Philip and Amber as well as Pittman, who was more familiar with druid spells, while the territory would be temporarily left to the attendance of Heidi and Reba. Although the territory had been expanded by a lot and they had added arge amount of poption, a grade-three mage and a grade-three fireballuncher, together with a hundredbat soldiers, were enough to control and protect the rear. Even if they really were to meet with an emergency situation, there was also the metal-ball alien that they could get help from. Though Nichs Egg¡¯s personality appeared to be a little cowardly, in reality, hisbat ability was tiptop. As long as there were enough metals around, he could even perform Return of a Million Swords 1. And if there was really no way out, he could also fly up and give the invaders a Descent of Justice 1. Thus, Gawain was very at ease with regard to his home. By the White River, Gawain¡¯s gang of four were each checking their personal belongings as well as the conditions of the horses. They were going to ride fast to Tanzan Town; this was slightly faster than going upstream by ship, and on the way, they could take cover themselves in the forest if they encountered any situation so as to avoid alerting the heretic cult believers. Heidi saw them off by the riverbank. She appeared to be rather anxious and uneasy. ¡°Ancestor, please make sure to stay safe. Heretic cult believers are strange and merciless in their conduct. You must note to harm by their cunning plots.¡± Sir Philip who stood beside Gawain immediately patted his breastte, full of substantive fighting spirit. ¡°Please rest assured! I swear by a knight¡¯s honor to pledge my life to safeguard the Duke¡¯s safety!¡± ¡°Come on, it¡¯s not like you can beat me.¡± Gawain nced at this young man who let his hot-bloodedness get to his head at every asion. ¡°Moreover, a one-track minded personality like yours is the kind we fear the most when dealing with heretic cult believers. An honest man gets fooled most easily. Do you know that?¡± Sir Philip thought for a moment. ¡°Lord is right. I still have shorings. I still need more experience.¡± Gawain felt that this rascal didn¡¯t understand what he meant at all¡­ At this point, Heidi frowned and turned to look in the direction of the camp. ¡°Say, why isn¡¯t Rebaing?¡± Amber who was leaning against a horse and idly fiddling with her dagger lifted her head upon hearing her. ¡°She said she prepared something for us and told us to wait. But if we continue to wait, I fear the heretic cult believers will have already settled down in Tanzan Town.¡± There was strong resentment in her tone, but her main resentment was still due to being dragged to fight the heretic cult believers head-on. This made the Miss Half-Elf who was always cowardly and full of crap rather displeased. Though Gawain had exined several times that the task of fighting them head-on was left for himself, Amber and the others only needed to provide support¡­ And not long after Amber¡¯s voice fell, Reba¡¯s voice happened to sound from afar. ¡°Lord Ancestor! Lord Ancestor! I¡¯ming! I¡¯ming!¡± Gawain looked over, following the voice, and saw a grade-three fireballuncher dashing over from the distance. Reba held her iron staff in one hand and gripped a bag that looked rather heavy in the other; her entire run on jerking and bouncing steps. She ran like this at one go to Gawain and then stopped beside him, panting heavily. ¡°Sor¡­ Sorry¡­ I made you wait for all this while¡­¡± ¡°If we continued to wait, that bunch of heretic cult believers would have given birth to children in Tanzan Town!¡± Amber red with arms akimbo. ¡°What exactly were you fussing with?¡± ¡°I prepared something that mighte in handy for all of you.¡± Reba barely managed to catch her breath before opening the big bag in her hands and bringing the items out. ¡°I originally nned on submitting them to Lord Ancestor as the results of an experiment, but I didn¡¯t expect something like this to ur. It just so happens that we need a field test¡­¡± The bag was opened, and several curious gazesnded on the items that Reba brought out ¡ª they were uniformly sized, neat metal cases. Made using the mostmon iron, their forms were extremely well-defined; the size of one was slightly bigger than a cigarette case in Gawain¡¯s impression. A protruding piece of metal could be seen on the side of the case, seeming to be an iron strip inserted inside the case, whereas there was a raised structure on the top of the case that looked like it could be pressed down. Gawain seemed to be reminded of something, but he still didn¡¯t dare to be sure of it. ¡°This is¡­¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell me to think about how to dy detonations using the rune trigger?¡± Reba rattled on. ¡°Actually, I¡¯d already designed it, but the structure was very intricate. It wasn¡¯t easy to make, especially inrge amounts. But now that there is help¡ª¡± Gawain realized what she wanted to say before she had finished. ¡°Nichs Egg helped to work on these?¡± ¡°Mm, mm, Egg Egg made them!¡± Reba nodded fervently. ¡°I gave him the blueprints. He then made them all in a short while. If we had a little more time, he could have made a huge pile.¡± Blueprints¡­ A huge pile¡­ Gawain looked at the metal object in his hand. It was so perfect, so structured. The orderly lines and level surfaces even carried the unique aesthetics of Earth¡¯s industrial products. Moreover, there wasn¡¯t the slightest difference between the forms of every single one of them. If they had been left to ordinary cksmiths or even rune craftsmen, how long would it have taken for them to produce these? That metal-ball alien was indeed a hacker. His race was indeed a group of hackers. So long as the fundamental blueprint design wasplete and with a supply of basic raw materials, Nichs Egg was able to turn a blueprint into a product at the speed of light. If he were to be given two hundred metal-ball aliens, why would he think of achieving an industrial foundation? ¡ª He¡¯d directly leap into the space age, alright? However, Gawain quickly repressed the urge to ridicule like mad. He questioned Reba curiously, ¡°How exactly did you manage the dy?¡± ¡°Gears, a clockwork spring, and connecting rods.¡± Reba seemed to have long expected Gawain to ask about them, so she even specially prepared the unassembled dy mechanism. ¡°Look, it¡¯s this one. Very simple.¡± Gawain bowed his head for a look and was stunned. A stable and reliable reduction gear and escapement¡­ So this doofus was actually the one who had transmigrated! Heidi¡¯s expression was abnormally odd. ¡°How do you have these¡­ things in your mind?¡± ¡°The mechanical structure of the Magic Powered Engine that Lord Ancestor designed and when he told me about all kinds of principles of mechanics ¡ª I learned them conscientiously!¡± Reba batted her eyes, looking innocent. ¡°Besides, I¡¯ve always really liked these mechanisms and structures. Aunt, it¡¯s not like you didn¡¯t know.¡± Yeah, because she couldn¡¯t grasp other spells, she worked hard to study all sorts of magic mechanisms, attempting to use mechanics to make up for her regret in spells. Heidi remembered clearly even till now that when Reba¡¯s peers were busy drawing castles, flowers, knights, and princes on paper, how Reba had covered a wall in her bedroom with drawings of levers and driving wheels ¡ª as well as how she was chased and scurried all over the castle. Gawain did not have the time now to study the silly dear¡­ clever dear¡¯s brain circuits. Instead, he asked the most critical question, ¡°How¡¯s the reliability?¡± ¡°I already did several rounds of tests in different environments, including in high temperatures, in water, and throwing them to the ground. They were not affected at all. At the least, it will not explode in advance. This metal strip at the side is the safety lock. ¡ª You can only use it after pulling it out. ¡ª Then, press on this small lump on top. It will begin to tick away inside and explode after five seconds. In the situation where the safety lock isn¡¯t pulled out, unless you drop it from a height of tens of meters and the angle of the fall is perfect, it absolutely will not explode. This is because the rune trigger will be jammed on the safety lock. It will note into contact with the detonation magic circle inside the shell at all.¡± When faced with such a Reba, Gawain could only twitch the corner of his lips. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll praise you properly when we get back.¡± Then, carrying the experimental weapon ¡®crystal grenade¡¯ that had justpleted its product trial and had yet to experience a field test, Gawain andpany left the riverbank of the White River, disappearing from the sights of Heidi and Reba on fast horses. And only until the group disappeared did Reba cautiously peep at Heidi. ¡°Aunt, Lord Ancestor wasn¡¯t being sarcastic with what he said earlier, was he?¡± ¡°Why would it be sarcasm?¡± Heidi was stupefied in the moment. Reba scratched her hair. ¡°Don¡¯t you always say to me ¡®I¡¯ll teach you a proper lesson when we get home¡¯ in the past?¡± Heidi faltered; she could not help but smile and rub Reba¡¯s hair. ¡°Of course it¡¯s not sarcasm. We were all too narrow-minded in the past, such that we weren¡¯t able to see your talent.¡± ¡°¡­This isn¡¯t sarcasm too?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± Chapter 124 - A Child Chapter 124: A Child Racing on horseback from the new Cecil territory¡¯s White River pier, it was only a day¡¯s journey to Tanzan Town. In thest stretch of their journey, Gawain andpany bypassed the main roads and arrived near the stone bridge before Tanzan Town with the cover of the forest. Finally, theyid low at the southern side of the stone bridge and watched the Tanzan Gate opposite the bridge. ¡°Have you noticed? The town seems to be confined already.¡± Surveying the gates from afar, Pittman muttered in a soft voice, ¡°There are no pedestrians on the bridge. There is an abnormallyrge number of soldiers at the gate. There are many boats at the dock beside the town. It seems they are all being detained there.¡± The shadows beneath the nearby bushes contorted, and Amber¡¯s figure came out from there. ¡°I looked for a long while at the main road. I didn¡¯t see any caravans or travelers pass by. The town¡¯s confinement has probablysted for at least two days already¡­¡± ¡°It looks like the town had restricted entrances and exits right after Golden-Eyed Piegel¡¯s ship left.¡± Gawain analyzed. ¡°ording to the n, Byron was to stay behind in Tanzan Town and continue to recruit serfs. His movements would have been conspicuous, so it must have been difficult to get free after the confinement. No wonder there wasn¡¯t any news sent back.¡± Amber jinxed for a moment. ¡°He couldn¡¯t have met with a mishap already, could he?¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°Judging by the situation at the gates, the town has only restricted entrances and exits, the order inside is still normal. Byron is a former mercenary, and he¡¯s really shrewd. It¡¯s unlikely that he would stumble in such an environment.¡± ¡°Cough, cough. The problem is how we are going to enter.¡± Pittman coughed dryly. ¡°Two sides of Tanzan Town are rivers, and its back is a mountain. The only entrances are a stone bridge and a gate at the front, both right under the noses of the soldiers. ¡ª Are we just going to strut in?¡± Even someone as blunt as Sir Philip could not help but shake his head. ¡°Right now, we¡¯re unclear of the situation inside the town. If by any chance the heretic cult believers already have control over Viscount Andrew, we will definitely put those evildoers on alert by showing our faces.¡± As it turned out, this young knight was only old-fashioned and blunt; he wasn¡¯t a fool¡­ Gawain narrowed his eyes slightly. An HD 1 satellite imaging view immediately formed in his mind. ¡°There is a way through the Tanzan Mine. We can go around from the east of the town to the back. Moreover, this route directly brings us closer to the castle area.¡± Gawain opened his eyes. ¡°But crossing the river is still a difficult problem. This bridge is¡ª Who is it?!¡± Gawain suddenly sensed a weak and furtive aura moving about nearby. He immediately turned his head in that direction and shouted out. Only after he made a sound did Amber btedly sense an ¡®incongruous shadow¡¯ from the shifts in the surrounding shadows. She promptly drew out her pair of daggers and spun them before herself. ¡°Come out! We¡¯ve discovered you!¡± It was deadly quiet in the dense forest, but a momentter, the bushes under a certain tree suddenly swayed. Then, a dirty and messy little head appeared from behind the bushes. It was a small boy, with a head of matted, withered yellow hair that looked like it hadn¡¯t been trimmed in several years. He was dressed in a bup short-sleeved shirt and shorts that were both full of patches and holes. This was a typical peasant. Years of malnutrition had him skinny with a sallowplexion, along with stunted growth. Only, his bright eyes held the kind of glimmer and liveliness that adults of his ss did not have. However, this pair of big eyes were covered by a thinyer of mist, terror brimming out of them. He woodenly stood up from between the bushes, his body trembling slightly. He even seemed to have forgotten about escaping. ¡°It¡¯s a child?¡± Sir Philip frowned briefly. He never expected that what was ¡®hiding¡¯ in the forest and moving around sneakily was actually a child who looked a little older than ten years. Moreover, there weren¡¯t the slightest energy fluctuations on him at all. The article regarding helping the small and weak in the knights¡¯ code made his expression ease up a little. However, thebat training that knights received made him not dare to remove his hand from the hilt of his sword. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid¡ª¡ª Walk over slowly.¡± Yet the child abruptly let out a terrified ¡®ah¡¯, then turned and ran. ¡°You¡¯re holding such a big sword. It¡¯d only be weird if he didn¡¯t run.¡± Amber gave Philip a nce like she was looking at a fool. Following that, her figure flickered, and she blended into the shadows. Momentster, short cries sounded from the direction where the child ran in; then the tree shade before Gawain began to wriggle. Amber appeared from the shadows again, holding the child¡¯s cor. ¡ª A wicked level of talent with the shadows was just great: it was as if this rascal carried a dimension door with her when running. The child was easily brought back by Amber, and in the middle, he probably even experienced a brief tour of the shadow realm. Thispletely frightened him so out of his wits that he really forgot to run, but his fear was rising because of this, such that Gawain believed he was about to burst out in tears in the next second. However, this child only strained to keep a straight face, pursing his lips. Atst, he forcefully restrained his tears, only watching the strangers before him in great fear. ¡°Don¡¯t be scared,¡± Amber quickly consoled the child at this point. ¡°We aren¡¯t good people¡­¡± Gawain instantly gave this ultimate disgrace a re. ¡°Ah no, we aren¡¯t bad people.¡± Amber hurriedly corrected herself and then exined apologetically to Gawain, ¡°upational disease from the past, I¡¯ve yet to change it¡­¡± ¡°We won¡¯t hurt you.¡± Sir Philip pressed his hand on the boy¡¯s head. ¡°Look, I¡¯m a knight. I will protect you.¡± The small boy was initially so unnerved that he shivered, but after hearing Philip¡¯s words, he calmed down a little and nodded in hazy understanding. Gawain took this chance to speak up. ¡°Are you a child of a family that lives nearby? Why are you wandering in the forest?¡± Yet the small boy was greatly startled by Gawain ¡ª this burly chap with a two-meter build and even a square face ¡ª that he backed away repeatedly. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be scared. He is my feudal lord,¡± Sir Philip quickly reassured. ¡°He is an upright and kind good man.¡± At this point, Amber, noticing that the small boy hadn¡¯t said a word from the start to finish, could not help but mutter, ¡°He couldn¡¯t be a mute, could he?¡± Gawain was just about to warn her not to make blind ims without grounds but saw Pittman beside him frown briefly. Then, this old druid went forward, held the small boy¡¯s chin, opened his mouth and then took a careful look. ¡°His tongue has been cut off.¡± The old druid rxed his hold and said after a moment of silence. ¡°And it has been cut off for at least two years.¡± Gawain¡¯s nned words were instantly jammed in his chest. He didn¡¯t know what changes there were to his expression at that moment. He only knew that Amber abruptly shrunk her head when she looked toward him. He then suppressed his anger. ¡°He¡¯s such a young child. What wrong has he done to render his tongue being cut off?!¡± Even if it was the barbaric, backward medievalws, they could not slice off the tongue of a child aged 14 years old and lower. ¡ª Even the Church of the Blood God, which was notorious for dauntless cruelty, believed that a child of this age ¡®would do no real wrong innguage¡¯! Pittman shook his head. ¡°The technique of cutting was skilled, and there were signs of magic being used to treat it. He¡¯s not a criminal that was punished, but a dumb child servant, most likely a servant of a certain big merchant. Those big merchants often do this. They use dumb child servants as their personal servants because they can neither speak nor write. Unless these servants meet extraordinary beings who know soul magic, otherwise, they will never reveal their owner¡¯s secrets.¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± He was totally at a loss of what he should say right now. But before he could speak, the little mute who had his tongue cut off stirred first. ¡ª He suddenly stared at Sir Philip¡¯s breastte, then grabbed the young knight¡¯s arm while pointing to a certain spot on the breastte, and started shouting out loud with ¡°ah, ah¡±. Philip was bewildered for a moment. This young and promising knight had no experience associating with children at all. He opened both hands to indicate that hepletely did not understand what the other party meant, but Gawain noticed what the child was pointing to. ¡°You¡¯ve seen this emblem before?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Ah!¡± The little mute nodded repeatedly and pointed at the mark on Philip¡¯s breastte with even more force. That was the emblem of the Cecil n. Gawain was suddenly inspired and instantly connected certain matters. He immediately questioned closely, ¡°Where did you see it?¡± The little mute gestured wildly, ambiguous and unclear noisesing from his mouth, yet he waspletely unable tomunicate with the others. As such, he appeared to be very anxious. Finally, this child leaped onto a piece of rock near them and pointed in a certain direction from up high, gesturing desperately. Then, he jumped off, grabbed Gawain¡¯s arm, and shook it forcefully. Gawain asked, ¡°You know where it¡¯s at, and you want us to follow you?¡± The little mute nodded hard, an imploring expression on his face. Gawain exchanged nces with the others beside him. With almost no consideration, he decided to follow this child. Of course, he¡¯d thought of a lot: for example, could this be a trap set up by the heretic cult believers, or perhaps, could this child be doing this because he¡¯d been instigated and threatened? After all, those insane heretic cult believers were people capable of anything. But in any case ¡ª some dangers have to be faced, especially in such a situation where there was no alternative; following this child to check the specific circumstances was the only choice. They swiftly left the main gate of Tanzan Town, waded into the forest behind the small boy, and then doubled back a small stretch following the flow of the White River. As they walked, Gawain suddenly realized where this child was leading them to¡ª¡ª Down this path, there was only one ce that could be called a ndmark¡¯. That was the ¡®Goering Mill¡¯ located in the southwest outside of Tanzan Town. It was a watermill that¡¯d been there for some years. Right next to the White River, it was once a property of the Leslie n, but now, it¡¯d already been neglected for years and was abandoned. The area near the mill was imed by many vagrants, but now that things in the town were so tense, the rank thieves in the vicinity had probably run far away. Sure enough, not long after they followed the trail in the forest, they heard the sounds of river water hitting the riverbanks. And walking out of the forest, a traditional Anzu-style watermill appeared before their eyes. ¡°Ah¡ª¡ªAh!¡± The little mute lifted a finger to point in the direction of the mill and then pointed at the emblem on Philip¡¯s chest, indicating that the person with this emblem was right inside the mill. The four people surveyed the surrounding terrain; then each kept their guard up and walked towards the mill. Midway, they heard Sir Byron¡¯s loud and robust voice from inside the mill. ¡°You¡¯re back again! You¡¯re back again! How many times have I said! Get out of here. Go north along the river and find the people of the Cecil family. Go and seek protection from them! Or you can throw me out. Push me into an empty space and burn me in a bonfire! In short, don¡¯t stay with me! Are you not only a mute but also deaf?!¡± Chapter 125 - Sir Byrons Encounter Chapter 125: Sir Byron¡¯s Encounter Upon hearing the sonorous yells from the mill, an ¡®as expected¡¯ thought shed through Gawain¡¯s head; then he led the others to hurriedly run forward. The doors of the mill were pushed open and the sunlight outside spilled into this dim ce. In between the bright band of sunlight and the shadows of the stacks of rice straw, Sir Byron reclined crookedly while still shouting noisily in his resonant voice. ¡°If you were my chambein, I would definitely kick your stupid head! You brainless little rascal! Do you not want your life! You¡ª Duke?!¡± Sir Byron finally adapted to the light that suddenly shone in. He turned his head and looked towards the doors. A big and tall figure stood in that bright background; then his figure walked in, followed by three other people. The little mute was thest one to enter. ¡°You¡¯re still quite full of spirit,¡± Gawain greeted Sir Byron whoid in the pile of straw. ¡°We were making guesses about your fate earlier. We never expected that you¡¯d still have the energy to be swearing here ¡ª so loudly that you could be heard from tens of meters away.¡± As he spoke, he walked forward, but halfway through, he heard Byron cry out, ¡°Duke, don¡¯te near! I¡¯ve been cursed by the sorcery of the heretic cult believer! I don¡¯t know if this thing can spread to others!¡± Gawain¡¯s brows knitted into a frown. He could naturally guess and also tell that Sir Byron¡¯s condition wasn¡¯t right; otherwise, he was unlikely to be lying and shouting in this ce. But only after he had adapted to the dim lighting in the mill did he notice the peculiarity in this middle-aged knight¡¯s appearance. A kind of dark green line crept along Byron¡¯s skin. It was probably crawling all over most of his body already. Those thin lines could be seen on the parts of his arms that were uncovered, both hands, as well as his neck. Some of the lines had even extended near his eye sockets. They looked like venous vessels that had been exposed. And besides that, lots of wounds could be seen on his body, including a swollen half of his face. Sir Philip drew in a cold breath. ¡°Damn¡­ What happened?¡± ¡°I found the heretic cult believer, and he discovered me too.¡± Byron tugged on the corner of his lips, yet his body waspletely stiff. It seemed like the only part of his body that could work now was his brain. ¡°The details in the middle are a long story. Simply put, it was that I didn¡¯t win¡­ Duke, are you all here to investigate the issue of the heretic cult believers? How did you know that something had happened here?¡± ¡°A serf became a living bomb at our pier, the work of the Oblivion Association,¡± Gawain informed casually. ¡°Also, you had yet to send back any news, so we knew that something had gone wrong here. ¡ª First of all, lie there and don¡¯t move. There might be a cure.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t waste the effort. That heretic cult believer is really formidable. I can sense that his sorcery is not only eating away at my flesh but also corroding my consciousness. I¡¯m seeing seven to eight double images when I look at all of you now¡­¡± Pittman walked out from behind Gawain. He moved carelessly towards Byron while casually taunting. ¡°Stop your mindless imagination. Your double images are because your eyes are swollen from being hit. ¡ª¡ª This is just a simple neurotic curse.¡± As he exined, this old druid squatted down beside the middle-aged knight and started examining the spread of the power of the curse, whereas Gawain who stood behind him instantly heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing that. ¡°He can still be saved?¡± ¡°Regardless of how savagely Oblivion has grown, it¡¯d still emerged from druids, especially the curse spells. You could almost always find corresponding druid exorcism spells for them.¡± Pittman brought out incense and ceremonial wood carvings from the bag he carried while saying, ¡°To be honest, if I really were to go against this person who used this spell, I probably wouldn¡¯t be his match, but that may not be the case for the curse he left behind. It seems like this person really despises you, Mr. Knight.¡± Byron was stunned for a moment when he heard that. With a gaze that looked like he had seen the vicissitudes of life, he sighed lightly. ¡°The fellow probably started looking down on me when he sent me flying¡­¡± Judging by this, he was definitely fine. After confirming that the curse could be undone and that Pittman had the ability to curb any spread of the corrosion, Gawain squatted down beside Byron. ¡°What exactly is the situation inside Tanzan Town? The town has been confined. We can¡¯t sneak in at all.¡± ¡°I will have to start from three days ago.¡± Sir Byron inhaled deeply and slowly recounted, ¡°Before that, everything was normal. Nothing happened in the town. Only Viscount Andrew buying a batch of ves was considered news. But three days ago, a confinement order suddenly came from the castle. It imed that a heretic cult believer was found to have wormed his way into the town, and they were temporarily prohibiting everyone from entering or leaving the town. You must know that at that point, I¡¯d already started contacting the second batch of ve traders and was in the midst of liaising with a couple of merchant ships. The confinement order would cause great trouble, so I went to the castle, intending on getting Viscount Andrew to issue me a charter. This waspletely legal and very normal¡­ In the end, I was unlucky and discovered traces of the heretic cult believer. ¡°The confinement order was indeed sent out from the castle. A heretic cult believer had also sneaked into the town. However, in reality, this entire matter was a conspiracy. The heretic cult believer was right in the castle and personally controlled Viscount Andrew to sign and issue the confinement order. When I walked into the hall in the castle, I¡¯d sensed a foul aura. When I was conversing with Viscount Andrew, I heard a concealed whisper mixed in his voice that did not belong to him. I realized that things were wrong and was prepared to do a righteous retreat just like a dignified knight. ¡ª¡ª In the end, halfway through my retreat, I was found by a fellow draped in ck robes. The heretic cult believer probably had not gainedplete control over the whole castle and Viscount Andrew, so he had carelessly let me in. Of course, he could not allow me to leave again¡­¡± Gawain ignored those shameless parts told by this dignified knight and asked with a frown, ¡°How did you escape out here?¡± Previously, ording to Pittman¡¯s estimation, he knew that the person who sneaked into Tanzan Town was highly likely to be a grade-four to grade-five Oblivion Association believer, and his capabilities were already at the intermediate level. Since Sir Byron was also a grade-four knight, there might not seem to be a big gap in terms of ability and grade whenpared to that Oblivion Association believer, who was also an expert in operating in small countryside areas. However, in a real battle, a heretic cult believer who possessed all sorts of strange sorceries and specialized in positionalbat was often much more powerful than a knight of the same grade. It was perhaps understandable that Byron could only temporarily preserve his life and make an escape in that encounter. However, at that point, he was already deep in the castle, and the castle had be half a hideout for that heretic cult believer. It was more difficult toprehend how he had escaped the castle in such a situation. Pittman had begun the exorcism rite. He used incense and druid spells to neutralize the foul powers inside Sir Byron¡¯s body while pretending to piously murmur useless things to the gods of nature. Byron¡¯splexion saw an evident improvement. He used more effort and went on, ¡°When we were fighting, I was struck by the heretic cult believer¡¯s magic and fell into a cave behind the castle. There was a pool inside the cave. I managed to keep my life because of it, and I found out that the pool was connected to an underground passageway. ¡ª It turned out that Tanzan Town also had a tunnel system underground. The heretic cult believer probably thought that I had fallen to my death, or maybe he had something else to be busy with, so he did not give chase. Whereas I crawled for a day and a night underground before I found the correct way out¡­ The exit was right beside this mill.¡± Gawain and others stared speechless at one another. Amber could not help butment, ¡°That was really lucky¡­ so lucky that it seemed fake.¡± ¡°There are many tunnel systems under the grounds of the south. Most were constructed under my charge. For example, the passagewaywork under the Cecil territory. But I was unaware of the underground tunnels here in Tanzan Town.¡± Gawain frowned. ¡°¡­Perhaps, the descendants had constructed them after I died for the first time.¡± Sir Philip mused, ¡°If there exists this tunnel, we can perhaps steal into Viscount Andrew¡¯s castle along this tunnel?¡± ¡°It sounds like a good idea.¡± Gawain nodded and then looked towards Byron. ¡°After that? ¡ª What¡¯s with this child too?¡± The mute child who led the group was quietly standing near the straw stacks, looking in their direction with a curious and slightly guarded gaze. Byron nced at this child with aplicated expression and then let out a light sigh. ¡°When I got out of the tunnel, I realized that the curse on my body had taken effect. I originally wanted to return to the territory to report the situation, but I was worried that the curse would spread, so I prepared to find a ce and wait for death alone¡­ Actually, there was no way out other than waiting to die. At that time, my movements were already a problem. I wouldn¡¯t be able to walk to the territory at all. But I never expected that while I was semi-conscious, I¡¯d walked to this mill by myself and was saved by this child. ¡°He¡¯s a mute, most likely a ve of the boss of a certain chamber ofmerce. He was stranded outside the town by that absurd confinement order. Iid here for two days, and he would get food and water for me. Otherwise, I probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to hold on till now at all.¡± Pittman finished with his useless murmurs to the gods of nature. He lifted his head and nced at Byron. ¡°The first stir we heard from you here was you scolding him.¡± ¡°I had no choice. The curse in my body has started to go out of control.¡± The middle-aged knight tugged on the corner of his lips to reveal a very ugly smile. ¡°At the start, I could still barely manage to suppress it. Butter on, I increasingly felt that it would infect others, yet this child didn¡¯t understand this point at all¡­ I chased him away several times, exined to him what a curse was. Once, I even wanted to crawl outside and drown myself in the river. However, just when I arrived by the river, I recalled that it was the Cecil territory downstream. ¡ª In the end, while I was hesitating by the river, this child found me. He pulled me back here by forcefully dragging me.¡± ¡°One can¡¯t tell that he¡¯s pretty strong.¡± Pittmanpleted the exorcism rite. He turned to look at the little mute while packing up his ceremonial tools and casuallymented, ¡°He looks small and thin.¡± With that, the old druid stood up and nodded lightly to Gawain. ¡°The curse is no problem now.¡± Gawain looked towards Byron. ¡°Are you still able to stand and lead the way?¡± ¡°Although I really want to continue lying down longer,¡±¡ªSir Byron moved his arm¡ª¡±it seems like finishing off the threat of that heretic cult believer is the most crucial thing at this point. No problem, I feel that I¡¯ve recovered 50-60%.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°Alright, take a brief rest. We can make use of the underground tunnel that you found to steal into the town.¡± ¡°But we still have a problem,¡± Amber suddenly chimed in then. She pointed to the mute child standing beside the straw stacks. ¡°What do we do with this child?¡± ¡°We certainly cannot bring him in.¡± Gawain frowned. ¡°But if we leave him just like that¡­¡± He pondered for a moment, feeling that he could not leave this mute child behind just like that. He approached the child and squatted down. Thetter was so frightened that he took half a step back but still kept his head up, eyes staring fixedly at Gawain. ¡°We are going to go handle some matters inside,¡± Gawain looked at the child¡¯s eyes and spoke slowly. ¡°Can you wait here for three days? If we return within three days, you¡¯lle with us. If we do not, you should walk south along the river to a campsite beside the river and seek shelter from the people there.¡± Following that, he took out a talisman from his chest and stuffed it into the child¡¯s hand. ¡°With this, they will take you in.¡± The mute child took the talisman and slowly nodded. Chapter 126 - What Exactly Is Buried and Hidden in This Land Chapter 126: What Exactly Is Buried and Hidden in This Land ¡°This is the entrance.¡± After resting and reorganizing, Sir Byron who had recovered some strength had led Gawain and the group to the forest that was nearby the Goering Mill. They then looked for the tunnel entrance at the bulging slope. The entrance wasn¡¯trge and was hidden between the rocks and tree roots at the bottom of the slope. Furthermore, the outside had been covered by an overgrowth of vines and dead leaves. If Sir Byron didn¡¯t guide them, anyone that walked through this ce would definitely overlook it. When Byron left the tunnel back then, he destroyed a portion of the nts that were covering the entrance. Afterward, he did some work to cover the entrance again, but there were still traces that someone had entered and exited from here. Pittman squatted down in front of the entrance and observed the situation inside before giving a judgment. ¡°This ce isn¡¯t supposed to be an entrance. It was probably an earthquake or some giantwood roots that opened up a crevice, connecting this cave to the underground tunnel.¡± While talking, the old man chuckled and said without thinking, ¡°It seems like the southern underground is truly buried with plenty of things.¡± Gawain instantly felt that the old fellow was implying something and responded, ¡°You have included me inside those things too!¡± Pittman forced out augh before taking out a small magic crystal. He poured in a little magic to make the crystal emit a bright and constant radiance before throwing it into the cave. He then made a ¡®you go first¡¯ gesture to Gawain and said, ¡°This is the moment for you to make a move.¡± Gawain shrugged his shoulders and stopped Sir Philip who wanted to jump down first. Subsequently, Gawain jumped down. He felt he had stepped on ayer of loose, moist leaves and branches that were decaying and rotting. The surrounding was a narrow and cramped space of soil and rocks. The magic crystal thatnded on the ground had illuminated the surroundings, allowing Gawain to see deeper. There was a winding and downward slope ahead, and there were no signs of man-made works. It was more like the old druid¡¯s analysis: this cave was probably created by natural elements that connected with the man-made tunnel. Gawain picked up the magic crystal and waved it twice as an indication that it was safe at the bottom. He then started to walk forward. A momentter, Amber¡¯s presence caught up. The half-elf thief was obviously like a fish in water when she entered the underground space. She was twirling her precious dagger cheerfully and looking around curiously. ¡°It is constantly extending downward.¡± ¡°If it really is those bat tunnels¡¯ dug back then, it would definitely go very deep,¡± Gawain casually said. ¡°After all, the Dark Wave¡¯s presence would seep in from the surface regrly. If they didn¡¯t dig deeper, the refugees inside the tunnel would be easily invaded.¡± The downward slope persisted for a small section, and the surroundings started to be spacious and dry. Gawain noticed that the soil and natural rock shards were starting to lessen on both sides of the tunnel. They were reced by man-made support beams, bricks, and firm walls processed by earth-element spells. As they continued to advance, the surface of the ground was getting smoother, and it didn¡¯t slope downward anymore. Looking at the surrounding scene, Gawain¡¯s brows started to clench together. Amber quickly noticed something abnormal and stopped to fiddle with her dagger. She ran to a nearby wall and examined the material and the patterns on the wall. Soon after, she ran back to Gawain¡¯s side while feeling bewildered. ¡°This isn¡¯t right¡­ The style of this ce is different from the tunnels that we used to escape from your tomb¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. They are different. These aren¡¯t the underground works that I took charge of constructing in the south back then.¡± Gawain lifted the magic crystal and illuminated the surrounding walls and the surface of the ground. ¡°No wonder¡­ When Sir Byron mentioned that there were underground tunnels beneath Tanzan Town, I felt that it was strange. Because back then, there wasn¡¯t any development n in this region. Even after I died for a long time, no one probably developed it¡­ So, who would construct tunnels in this ce¡­?¡± Amber frowned and said, ¡°After taking a closer look, it is rather simr to the ancient fortress at the Dark Range?¡± Gawain was finally enlightened, and he realized the source of the familiar and fuzzy memories. This underground tunnel¡¯s construction style and materials used were very simr to the giant ancient fortress at the Dark Range! Sir Byron was also greatly surprised. He examined the surroundings and was bewildered. ¡°It really¡­ looks very simr. Back then I was dizzy due to the torment of the curse and actually couldn¡¯t see it!¡± ¡°An underground facility left behind since the Meteoric Era, there is actually one here too¡­¡± Another climax surged in Gawain¡¯s heart. ¡°So that ancient fortress at the Dark Range is actually a portion of arge scale ruin? Or is it¡­¡± His mind emerged with a very bold thought, ¡®Could the hidden fortress at the Dark Range be connected to this underground tunnel?!¡¯ ¡®These ancient tunnels would cross over the northernnds, cross over the White River and the forest north of the mountain. They are actually all connected?!¡¯ But the bold conjecture in Gawain¡¯s mind didn¡¯t persist for long. He quickly shook his head as he felt that it wasn¡¯t really possible. Even if the Gondor Empire was extremely wealthy and powerful, their productivity would be limited. The distance from the Dark Range to this ce wasn¡¯t just far, there were alsoplicated terrains like mountains and rivers. How could it be that easy to construct a facility of such a scale? To be honest, if the Gondor Empire was determined to connect this entirend, it was actually possible to construct this ¡®underground city¡¯ in the vicinity of the Dark Range if they used the entire nation¡¯s strength. But Gawain couldn¡¯t understand what thing would be so worth it for them to put in such insane investment. Furthermore, it was a hidden construction that none of the Gondor Empire¡¯s citizens and their descendants knew about¡­ Could it be¡­ the human body experiment that Nichs Egg mentioned and those so-called ¡®divine evils¡¯? ¡°Hey! Hey, hey! What are you thinking about?¡± A voice by the side of Gawain¡¯s ear had interrupted his thoughts. He regained his senses and saw Amber reaching out her ws and waving them in front of his eyes. The half-elf youngdy¡¯s face then leaned over. ¡°You are distracted in such a situation?¡± ¡°No, nothing.¡± Gawain quickly pulled back his attention and set his conjectures aside for the moment as it wasn¡¯t the time to think about them right now. ¡°Judging from our position, we should be under the White River¡¯s bed.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Amber looked with disbelief as the ¡®rocks¡¯ above were still dry and firm, without a trace of water. She couldn¡¯t hear any sound of water flowing at all. ¡°Heavens¡­ this ce is really deep. How can those people dig a tunnel under the riverbed¡ª?¡± ¡°I am more curious about how he was able to determine the location so urately,¡± Pittman sneaked a nce at Gawain while muttering. Amber¡¯s ears pricked up, and she immediately opened her mouth. ¡°Do you need to ask? He has been buried for over seven hundred years. He is already a professional¡­ Hey, pain pain pain!¡± Gawain pinched Amber¡¯s ear and ignored her afterwards, while gesturing for Sir Byron to continue leading the way. When Gawain looked at the teamposition he had brought along, his heart suddenly felt a chill¡­ A half-elf thief who was the shame of all living things, a druid who was adept at simmering and selling fake medicine, a slick old knight who could sound righteous while on the run. Among the five, there were three individuals that didn¡¯t quite fit in. It seemed like apart from Gawain who could use his square face to stabilize morale, the solemn and silent Sir Philip, who had been opening the path, was the only person with a clear conscience in this Cecil n¡¯s expeditionary group¡­ While Gawain was pondering, Sir Philip suddenly turned around and asked Byron in an especially serious tone, ¡°That¡¯s right, Byron. You previously mentioned the ¡®Righteous Retreat¡¯. Is it a knight skill that I do not know?¡± Everyone: ¡°¡­¡± Gawain sighed in his heart. ¡®He is a rare nice fellow, but he ends up as a passive support role¡­¡¯ As they got closer to Tanzan Town, everyone gradually stopped their conversations. ording to Gawain¡¯s cheat-like mental map and his ability to analyze terrains, Gawain was able to make a rough judgment of his current position at any moment. He found out that this long underground tunnel wasn¡¯t actually straight. There were plenty of bends and forks during the journey. After ignoring those copsed and wrong routes, he realized they had detoured a little to the eastern part of Tanzan Town. This ce just happened to be right under the Tanzan Mine. The terrain of Tanzan Town had been mentioned before. On the eastern side, there was the giant Tanzan mine. On the western side were two tributaries of the White River. The entire town was almost triangle-shaped, and Viscount Andrew¡¯s castle was situated in the eastern part of the town and was connected to the Tanzan Mine by a basically t piece ofnd. In fact, the castle¡¯s main construction materials basically came from the mine. The Tanzan Mine didn¡¯t just produce iron ores and many types of crystal ores, it also produced superior stone materials. There was a reason why everyone was so envious of Leslie n¡¯s wealth. At this moment, Gawain and the team were walking in an ancient tunnel right under the mine. His mind appeared with an immediate thought: ¡®Does Viscount Andrew know the existence of the ancient tunnel?¡¯ ¡­He probably didn¡¯t know. The iron and crystal ores from the Tanzan Mine weren¡¯t mined from deep ore veins and were within the mountain itself. When excavating an ore tunnel, there wasn¡¯t a need to dig downward. With this era¡¯s productivity, it wasn¡¯t a joke when they said it wasn¡¯t ¡®necessary¡¯ to dig deep into the underground. No one would do such a strenuous and unrewarding task. Furthermore, if Viscount Andrew had dug into this ancient tunnel¡­ it wasn¡¯t possible for there to be no information on the outside. As the ce with thergest poption center and the center of trade of the nearby vicinity, Tanzan Town wasn¡¯t a ce that was suited for keeping a secret. It was different from the Dark Range where even birds didn¡¯t wish to defecate there. The terrain ahead had started to go upward. The air got moist; his skin could feel the obvious airflow; there were faint sounds that echoed from the front. These were all tell-tale signs that an exit was very near. Soon enough, they walked out of the tunnel and saw the location where Sir Byron fell down. It was a wide and precipitous cave; the bottom of the cave had umted groundwater and turned into a pool. The exit of the tunnel was beside the pool. It might be called an exit, but it was actually a crevice in the rock. It was obvious that this wasn¡¯t a normal entrance either and that it had cracked open due to the changes in the geology or some other reason. It was unknown where the actual entrances of the tunnel were as they had probably copsed. After seeing there wasn¡¯t any serious water and wind corrosion at the rock crevice by the side of the pool, Gawain couldn¡¯t help but turn to question Philip, ¡°Has there been any earthquake in the recent years?¡± ¡°No.¡± Sir Philip shook his head but immediately frowned and then pondered. ¡°But I heard from residents of Tanzan Town that they would asionally hear strange wailing sounds from under the mine. The townsfolk said that those were the spirits of the ve workers who died in the mine haunting the ce. But Viscount Andrew had sent spirit mediums and warlocks here multiple times and didn¡¯t discover the source of the strange sounds.¡± ¡°Is that so¡­¡± Gawain declined toment and looked up at the top of the cave. There were overgrown vines and there were giant tree roots that extended from the side. The entrance of the cave must have been covered and concealed previously, and arge hole had been opened up. Sir Byron¡¯s luck was truly great, and he should really thank the goddess of fate for his survival. If this world had such a goddess¡­ ¡°After going up from here, we will see the eastern walls of the castle,¡± Byron said. ¡°The cave entrance is nearly vertical, and it is all loose soil. It won¡¯t be easy to climb up.¡± ¡°It is up to the professional now!¡± Pittman walked over. The little old manughed mischievously while he took out a tender green branch from his belongings and brandished the tree branch like a magic wand. Runes were constantly drawn in the air, and the tree branch rapidly lost all life energy. It had turned from a tender green branch that was full of vitality into a withered branch. Rustling sounds echoed from the top. The vines at the entrance of the cave had reacted to the druid spell and rapidly extended down! Chapter 127 - Frenzied Noise Chapter 127: Frenzied Noise The sun had already set, and the horizon was only left with an extremely extensive arc of light. With the assistance of Amber¡¯s shadow magic, the group made it across the eastern wall of Viscount Andrew¡¯s castle and arrived inside it through an old tower¡¯s stairs. They made use of the shadows to conceal themselves on the second floor¡¯s balcony. They looked at the empty courtyard and the hallway opposite the courtyard. This castle was like most of the noble ns¡¯ castles within the Anzu Kingdom. It had a square structure that was made ofyers. The outermostyer was the perimeter wall; the nextyer consisted of stables, servant rooms, junk rooms, and the external hallway, forming amunal area. Further inside would be the inner hallway and the feudal lord¡¯s mansion which was the residential region. The regions would be connected using thick and firm passages. In various ces of the castle, there were sentries ced in hidden and open ces. At the four corners of the castle were the tallest points, and there were archer towers, bell towers meant to issue warnings, and the fire beacon tform. It wasn¡¯t a veryfortable living condition and most of the structure looked like a military stronghold. This ce was the front line for the southern territories to resist the Dark Wave, and this construction style had been passed down after each generation. But after centuries of peace, many of the southern territories¡¯ residences started to change, and the people preferred to reside infortable and bright manors. But it was obvious Viscount Andrew didn¡¯t really mind the living conditions. His castle still maintained the ¡®ancient style¡¯ to a certain degree. But in this castle that was like a military fort, Gawain didn¡¯t see the guards that were supposed to be patrolling or standing guard. Even the central courtyard of the castle was empty. ¡°Is there no one anywhere?¡± Amber widened her eyes and looked down curiously. Her talents for shadow allowed her to see clearly in dark environments. ¡°Furthermore, it seems like no one did any pruning in the courtyard¡­ The weeds and shrubs are growing so much until they are going to cover the path.¡± Just like Amber said, the castle courtyard was empty, but the nts were flourishing. Just a few days before, this ce still had the normal order, but now, when Gawain took a nce, it felt as though this castle was already abandoned for months or even a year. The thriving nts were growing insanely and had covered the paths and the walls. Some of the vines had already crept to the main building¡¯s door. ¡°Byron, you have yet to fully recover. Wait here for us,¡± Gawain turned to speak with the middle-aged knight. ¡°I will give you three ¡®crystal grenades¡¯ for protection. Do you remember how to use it?¡± The middle-aged knight with grizzled hair involuntarily turned his neck and said, ¡°It truly doesn¡¯t feel good to be treated as a burden.¡± Gawainughed and patted the shoulder armor of the knight who was normally improper. ¡°You have already made a great contribution and fought bravely. At this kind of moment, I do not wish for my knight to die because of recklessness.¡± Gawain spoke from the bottom of his heart although he had also secretly ridiculed this unreliable ¡®unconventional knight¡¯ who had the background of a mercenary. However, for this incident, Byron had indeed exhibited enough bravery and resolution. It wasn¡¯t necessary for him to take further risks with his frail body. Perhaps Sir Philip, who had a particrly staunch knight¡¯s spirit, would have insisted on fighting to the death alongside Gawain, but Byron wasn¡¯t such an inflexible person. Therefore, the middle-aged knight nodded and received the three grenades handed over by Gawain. He had a ratherplicated expression when he looked at this exquisite ¡®magical product¡¯ and said, ¡°Tsk Tsk¡­ Even children can learn how to use this thing¡­¡± A momentter, Gawain and the group used the cover of the dusky sky to sneak into the castle¡¯s courtyard. Along the way, they didn¡¯t encounter any guards, evil-cultckeys, or magical traps. Thisrge castle looked as though it was really abandoned. It was empty, quiet, and eerie. Sir Philip grasped the sword in his hand and followed behind Gawain quietly. He then suddenly scrunched his nose and whispered, ¡°This ce is filled with the presence of evil.¡± Amber couldn¡¯t help but roll her eyes at this young knight who was normally foolish and inflexible while saying, ¡°You aren¡¯t going to suddenly shout out ¡®Oh Holy Light, this evil deserves a fight¡¯ before rushing out and hacking around, right? You aren¡¯t a pdin.¡± ¡°Shh.¡± Gawain silently interrupted Amber¡¯s ramblings and said, ¡°Don¡¯t forget that Philip is a believer of Kehr.¡± Amber¡¯s eyes opened a little bigger, and she immediately pursed her lips without uttering another sound. Kehr was the god of warriors and knights and was also the God of War. Among the main gods, he was a powerful god whose strength was only inferior to the God of Holy Light. He protected all brave warriors and blessedbat. Even though he wasn¡¯t the God of Holy Light, his divine power was also against sphemy and had the power to detect evil. His believers would receive additional support when searching for an evil cult follower. The support might not be superior to orthodox Holy Light clerics or pdins, but it still made one stronger than normal. Philip was a devout believer of Kehr, and even if he wasn¡¯t a priest, his devout conviction allowed him to have sharper senses for the evil cult follower¡¯s presence that upied this castle. Gawain didn¡¯t believe in gods and naturally didn¡¯t receive any support from them. But his body was automatically emitting alert signals. He grasped the Sword of Pioneers and looked at those lush nts, shrubs, and decorative trees in the courtyard with vignce. ¡°These nts are excessively lush. Something is probably wrong with them.¡± Pittman gripped a bunch of ironwood seeds in his hand and inspected the surroundings as he didn¡¯t dare to recklessly release any druid spell. Just like how he easily detected the Oblivion Association follower¡¯s spells which were of the same source and origin as his, the evil cult follower with his druid spells would also be able to instantly detect Pittman if he cast a spell. Unless there was a confrontation, he wouldn¡¯t dare to take such a risk. They started to pass through the courtyard and approached the main building in Viscount Andrew¡¯s castle. That was the ce that the evil cult follower was probably hiding. A faintly discernible ¡®veil¡¯ of dusk enveloped the figures of the group. Amber was walking in the centermost position of the group; she used her shocking talents in shadow to create a group stealth effect for everyone. Had it not been for this hacker-like fellow in the group, Gawain wouldn¡¯t choose to save time and risk entering this castle by sneaking in. The sun had already gone below the horizon, and the only remaining splendor had been gradually engulfed by darkness. The starlights started to appear, and when they appeared initially, a chilly night wind blew across the courtyard. These lush nts that seemed to have grown without restraint for an entire year had started to sway in the wind. They emitted rustling sounds, and within those sounds were countless muffled murmurings. Goosebumps instantly formed on Amber¡¯s skin. Due to the curtain of the night, her shadow power was now enhanced, and her vision was transforming toward the direction of the ¡®extraordinary¡¯. Things that she neglected during daylight had suddenly entered her vision. The half-elf youngdy was so frightened that she nearly eximed¡­ Before she could so, Gawain had already covered her mouth. ¡°I saw it too,¡± Gawain whispered. In the courtyard, under the lush and thriving nts, in between those roots and vines, there were things. The closest shrub that swayed in the night wind had revealed a pale hand within the roots. That hand was buried in the soil and was spasming slightly. The weed at the side exposed half a face that was buried, and the eye of that face was half-closed and half-opened. The utterly chapped lips were still opening and closing. There was a half-dead oak at the side of the path that had a swell at the roots. The shape of this swelling resembled a head, and a pair of eyes could be seen in between the tree bark. The swelling was dry, yellowish, and rigid, just like the half-dead oak. The entire courtyard¡¯s nts had buried human body parts, and the owners of those body parts were obviously still alive! ¡°In the name of the God of War!¡± Sir Philip suppressed his voice and eximed softly, ¡°What kind of demented activity is this?!¡± Amber took two deep breaths and peeled off Gawain¡¯s hand before asking in a soft and terrified voice, ¡°These people¡­ Are they still alive or dead?!¡± ¡°Most of them should still be considered alive. But it is hard to say how long they will continue to live.¡± Pittman clenched the spellcasting seeds in his hand. ¡°No wonder we didn¡¯t see any guards or attendants¡­ They are all buried in the central courtyard!¡± ¡°Be extra careful not to touch those nts.¡± The old druid added another statement, ¡°They are the eyes of the evil cult follower!¡± ¡°Why did the evil cult follower bury these people here for?¡± Amber endured the disgust and frowned while asking, ¡°Are they extracting their life energy?¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯m afraid not.¡± Pittman shook his head and said, ¡°The extraction of life energy doesn¡¯t need such a troublesome ritual. The evil cult follower controlled these people in a half-alive and half-dead state. Furthermore, he is maintaining their dazed consciousness¡­ I suspect he is extracting these people¡¯s thoughts.¡± ¡°Extracting thoughts?!¡± Amber was rmed as she asked, ¡°Are the Oblivion Association capable of this?!¡± ¡°If they were dealing with people with extraordinary powers, it definitely wouldn¡¯t be so easy. But these are ordinary people who don¡¯t have any resistance against abilities.¡± Pittman sighed before saying, ¡°From the looks of it, that evil cult follower doesn¡¯t just want to kill these people. He has an objective, and he is gathering information¡­¡± As they were talking, they had already walked, with extreme caution, across the courtyard filled with frenzied nts. They arrived at the door of the castle¡¯s main lobby. In front of them was arge oak door that was engraved with the Leslie n¡¯s crest. The crest seemed to be flowing with fresh blood and had a dark red glow. Gawain didn¡¯t directly use his hand to touch that obviously abnormal door. Instead, he used the Sword of Pioneers to push the door open slowly and silently. Subsequently, he stepped inside with 120% vignce. The instant he stepped across the door, an extremely unbearable noise suddenly swept over from an unknown source! It felt like ten thousand different voices were sting at his ears, like ten thousand individuals yelling at the same time, like ten thousand chaotic musical instruments performing at the same time, or like two drunk Ambers rambling by his ears¡­ Gawain felt that his body had rusted as it was particrly difficult to even turn his head. He had quickly noticed that the noise didn¡¯te from outside; it wasing from his mind. While that noise was trying to drive him insane, Gawain could see the castle hallway with the dark red carpet suddenly extending in front of his eyes. The walls that were hung with portraits of the generations of Leslie n¡¯s ancestors were rapidly getting further without limits. Everything in the surrounding had suddenly turned expansive, and a dark starry sky had reced the scene within the castle. Those chaotic noises had finally fused into a clear and discernable voice, and it was constantly howling, ¡°Oblivion is going to be extinct! Oblivion is going to be extinct! Oblivion is going to be extinct!¡± Gawain might be enveloped by the noises and illusion, but he realized that his thoughts were actually abnormally clear. The intelligible howlings continued, and his mind had involuntarily produced a rather clear thought. ¡°That¡¯s right. Because of the increase in entropy¡­ What is going on?¡± ¡°Oblivion is going to be¡­¡± Before Gawain could react to what was going on, the frenzied noise and illusion of the dark starry sky suddenly vanished like a puff of smoke. Chapter 128 - Heretics Chapter 128: Heretics All the noise and illusions vanished instantly. Before Gawain realized what was going on, the sight before his eyes had returned to normal. The corridor of the castle stretched out in front of him. A dark red carpet wasid on the ground, while the portraits of Viscount Andrew¡¯s ancestors hung from the walls on both sides of the carpet. Charged magic crystals were mounted in between the portraits. These crystals emitted a constant glow, but it was as if there was something disrupting the transmission of the rays of light. Though they appeared to be bright, the slightly further spots were unusually dim. Gawain instinctively turned back for a nce but saw Sir Philip and the others who happened to be striding forward and crossing the door. Their movements were natural and not in the least abnormal. ¡ª It seemed he was the only one affected. Besides, those illusions that he saw earlier onlysted a moment; no one else had noticed. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Amber caught the change in Gawain¡¯s expression and asked in a low voice. Gawain kept a sharp lookout of their surroundings while replying. ¡°I seemed to have encountered an illusion earlier, but it onlysted a split second.¡± ¡°There is indeed magic dissipating here, most likely the aura left behind by the heretic cult believer. Aftering into contact with such a powerhouse like yourself ¡ª who¡¯s beyond its grade ¡ª it broke down by itself,¡± Pittman analyzed softly. ¡°We must be careful. There might be a magic trap here.¡± Gawain frowned. ¡°Are you able to sense the heretic cult believer¡¯s general position?¡± ¡°He¡¯s very cautious. Either that or his power is odd.¡± Pittman shook his head. ¡°I can sense remnants of twisted druid magic all over this area, but not one of the auras are ¡®alive¡¯¡­¡± Sir Philip gripped his longsword tightly. He rested the sword handle against his chest and briefly recited the name of Kehr, the god of knights and warriors. He disyed a theurgy-like ability through such a method. Then, he looked towards the end of the corridor. ¡°The auras are gathering at that side.¡± That was the direction of the feudal lord¡¯s meeting chamber. Gawain exchanged nces with Amber and the others; then, with Gawain taking the lead, druid Pittman at the back, Philip and Amber keeping guard on the sides, the four carefully edged down the corridor. The portraits hanging on the walls on the two sides radiated a pale glow in the light cast by the altered magic crystals. The ancestors of the Leslie n hung on the walls, indifferently watching the visit of uninvited guests. Those nched eyeballs were like dead fishes, making Amber involuntarily feel a cold shiver down her spine. On the contrary, Gawain merely cast those portraits a nce. That was only due to the mild alteration created by the magic environment, absolutely undeserving of worry. Besides, who hadn¡¯t been hung on the wall before? The door of the meeting chamber was simrly left ajar; a dim light leaked out from inside. However, when they drew nearer, both Pittman and Philip could not sense a definite aura of a heretic cult believer. Gawain scanned the wooden door decorated with luxurious metal threads and carved with the heraldry of the Leslie n. After confirming that there weren¡¯t any potential dangers such as traps and whatnot with the door itself and behind it, he carefully pushed it open. The feudal lord¡¯s meeting chamber was deserted. The magic crystals on the vault and the columns all around created a murky glow; the tables and chairs in the middle of the hall had been moved away, only leaving the velvet high-back chair on the tform at the front of the hall. That was the feudal lord¡¯s seat. Tanzan Town¡¯s feudal lord, Viscount Andrew, was seated in that high-back chair. Behind him hung the portraits of the Leslie n¡¯s earliest generations of ancestors to be conferred a title of nobility, while he breathed with difficulty under the gazes of those ancestors. This man who was originally tall and skinny had be emaciated to the point of being shriveled. His blood and flesh seemed to have withered, skin sticking tightly to his bones, like a pale and desated living dead. He leaned against the back of the chair; his head swayed on his shoulders, while his eyes fixed on the roof without a focus as he struggled to breathe while murmuring something under his breath. The magic crystals located on the two sides of the chair emitted a white light, casting Andrew¡¯s long and hazily cast shadow on the ground. This viscount seemed to havepletely lost his ability to move freely. Gawain grasped the Sword of Pioneers tightly, leading Philip and Pittman to walk into the hall. The trio guarded against their surroundings while moving towards Viscount Andrew. However, it was as if the Viscount was totally unaware of the three people¡¯s approach; he merely stared nkly at the vault, muddled soundsing from his mouth. ¡°His mind has been trapped.¡± Pittman immediately decided. ¡°But it¡¯s not severe. ¡ª I can release his curse, but the heretic cult believer is very likely to notice. Be prepared.¡± Gawain nodded lightly. ¡°Do it.¡± Pittman presently ced his hand on Viscount Andrew¡¯s forehead, while his other hand brought out a small bottle from his chest. He used his mouth to bite off the wooden cork at the mouth of the bottle then dripped a few drops of the liquid onto the top of the Viscount¡¯s head. A strange yet strong flower fragrance diffused from those few drops of liquid and created an intense exorcism effect alongside the druid spell. The sorcery that bound Viscount Andrew¡¯s mind was affected and began to loosen bit by bit. All of a sudden, Viscount Andrew¡¯s eyelids lifted for a moment. He regained soberness from the chaos and looked towards Gawain who stood before him. His eyes abruptly widened as a hoarse and horrific voice choked out of his throat. ¡°He¡¯s in my shadows!¡± And almost in the exact moment the Viscount¡¯s words fell, the shadow that he cast on the ground began to contort. The magic crystals on the back of the chair shattered with a bang. The shadow on the ground grew all at once, a pitch-ck figure leaped out of it and charged right at Gawain¡¯s face. However, it was as if Gawain had long expected this; even before Viscount Andrew made a sound to warn him, he was already in a position to jump back. Before the shadow had rushed out, he had grabbed Pittman and jumped away from the tform. Sir Philip followed closely. The shadow instantly missed, and before he could reform his posture, a shadow on the ground warped once again. A leg wearing ankle-length leather boots flew out andnded a kick on the back of this figure. ¡°And I am in your shadows!¡± The figure was abruptly kicked out of shadow state and fell from the tform in a miserable state, but he disintegrated with a bang into drifting ashes, then was wrapped in a wind, and rushed to the other end of the hall before re-condensing into an entity with unknown features draped in ck robes. Meanwhile Amberpletely leaped out of the shadows and swiftly scurried behind Gawain. Gawain looked at the figure dressed in ck robes with a vague smile. ¡°A mage insisting on running out to assassinate a knight wearing full armor instead of hiding in obscure corners or throwing lightning balls from afar. Is the Oblivion Association all full of fresh styles like yours?¡± The person in ck robes who failed in his sneak attack was unable to control his surprise. ¡°You actually weren¡¯t affected by the Sound of Truth?!¡± ¡°Sound of Truth? You¡¯re referring to the magic you left on the door? The one that would cause the first person to open the door and enter to have his head full of noise?¡± Gawain asked curiously. ¡°Ah, I indeed heard something. ¡ª Pity, just as I was about to chat with it, the sound vanished. Did I make it go crazy with one sentence?¡± The figure seemed to sink into immense fury upon hearing Gawain. His hood swayed and a vicious curse came from the shadow. ¡°Viting thew that all things will ultimately die, heretic who returned to the mortal world from the kingdom of the dead, you truly shouldn¡¯t remain in this world!¡± And as his words fell, everyone present heard a series of dense breaking and shattering soundsing from outside the hall! The windows of the meeting chamber were smashed with a rattle; the doors here and there were also crushed or sent flying by a powerful force. Thick branches and vines broke through all windows and doors and charged into this hall. The vegetation that had torn into the hall tossed and turned on the ground, apanied by creaks; they became distorted and deformed and then stood up like humans. ¡ª They were treants 1 over two meters tall. Moreover, it was entirely different from the treants that druids summoned in normal circumstances. ¡ª Their branches and leaves were deformed and rotten, with countless cuts cracked open on their surfaces and poisonous sap flowing out of the cuts which emitted a pungent stench. Just like what was known to the world: When the druids of the Oblivion Association renounced their faith in life and nature, the power of ¡®life¡¯ disappeared from their spells. These treants began tounch a fierce attack on Gawain andpany. ¡°Their cores are in the balls of ck rotten leaves!¡± Pittman swiftly threw out several magic seeds while shouting loudly, ¡°Don¡¯t let the poisonous sap stter into your eyes!¡± The magic seeds radiated a green brilliance uponnding on the ground. Then, under the eleration of druid magic, they rapidly took root and grew into tough vines or brambles with thorns to restrain those treants that were sweeping in from all directions. Gawain could not help but give Pittman a deep look; then he retracted his gaze and swung his longsword to hack off a treant¡¯s arm. Amber and Philip were also engaged in fighting those dposed treants. Amidst this chaotic and intense battle, Gawain¡¯s attention was focused on that heretic cult believer in ck robes throughout. Other than releasing treants that he¡¯d probably prepared long in advance into y, that ck figure never truly participated in the battle even till now. He only looked on from afar, appearing to be silent and dark ¡ª yet he had been willing to strike. Gawain Cecil instantly understood what was the matter. ¡ª This heretic cult believer knew about Gawain Cecil. He knew who he was; he knew how reputed this ¡®resurrected legend¡¯ was. Although he spoke very arrogantly at the start, he was clearly timid ¡ª and slow to strike; perhaps it was because he really didn¡¯t dare to. Yet, he directed the treants to fight instead of fleeing in a haste. This showed that he had most likely guessed that ¡®Gawain Cecil was in a phase of weakness after resurrecting¡¯! He was observing, judging specifically what power this ¡®legend¡¯ had after resurrection. This was undoubtedly taking a risk ¡ª and there should absolutely be something worth him taking this risk here. Thoughts fleeted through Gawain¡¯s mind. In a brief extent of two or three sword shes, he had thought of a lot. Although he still didn¡¯t know the exact channels with which this heretic cult believer had gotten information about himself, and how much he had understood or inferred; neither did he know what exactly the heretic cult believer sought to obtain from this ce. It certainly did not stop him from setting up a trap to finish him off as soon as possible. Within seconds of consideration, he thrust his sword into the magical power core of a treant. However, when he was pulling the sword out, he intentionally made his hand tremble for a moment, appearing as if his strength had suddenly dropped. Footnotes: Ch 128 Footnote 1 Treants ¨C humanoid trees. Chapter 129 - Hidden Weapon of Justice Chapter 129: Hidden Weapon of Justice Gawain wasn¡¯t sure if his acting was up to standard, but he believed that the heretic cult believer would definitely be taken in. This was because he was indeed in a weak state; he indeed did not possess the capabilities of a true legend ¡ª no acting was required in this aspect at all! For Gawain who was clear about his ability, pretending that hisbat capabilities were failing was far easier than pretending to be in his prime 700 years ago. As expected, while he intentionally disyed ack of physical strength and a decline in his body¡¯s coordination, the figure shrouded in ck robes moved concurrently. There was the revtion of an aura, an aura where he had finally confirmed his will to fight and to step in for a head-on battle. Through his peripheral vision, Gawain saw the heretic cult believer¡¯s ck robes jerk. The arm hidden under it lifted in his direction. ¡ª An evident surge of fluctuations of magical power then gathered in his hand. Gawain had been awaiting this moment long ago, but he did not attack. Instead, he pretended to have his bnce thrown off by the dposed treants, taking a few steps towards the heretic cult believer in a stagger. He closed the distance, but to his opponent, this was an act of sending himself into the striking range of his magic. The mutated and obscure druid spell instantly took form, and a grayish-green ball of light containing decay forces flew out from beneath the heretic cult believer¡¯s long robes. Gawain hadpletely locked on to the trajectory of this ball of light. He did not dodge at all and instead put up his knight protective aura the moment the ball of light struck him while activating Knight Charge at the same time. ¡®Corrosion magic ball¡¯ drew a silent trajectory across the air andnded firmly on Gawain¡¯s shoulder armor. However, a translucent energy fluctuation rippled on the shoulder armor at the same time, dissolving all the power of the magic ball into nothingness. Meanwhile, in the blink of an eye, Gawain transformed into a streak of white light and raised his sword, aiming to slice off the heretic cult believer¡¯s head. The heretic cult believer evidently faltered for a moment. However, he had already fallen into this trap. ¡ª Just like any other spellcasting profession, there was a dy in magical power after a druid spell was cast. After his previous magic became invalid, his consciousness was currently in ceaseless turbulence. Facing the knight that was charging at him at this very moment, he was unable to cast even the simplest shielding spell. But just as Gawain thought this heretic cult believer would use the protective article that he carried on him to forcefully resist this sh of his, he saw the fellow do a stunning maneuver that he¡¯d never expected¡ª¡ª This figure in ck robes abruptly took half a step back to dodge the downward strike and then arched backward, barely avoiding Gawain¡¯s horizontal sweep that followed after. Next, he rolled on the ground with not a hair¡¯s breadth in between, spun about, and got to his feet with a handle propped on the ground. At the same time, his other hand moved to his waist and drew out a gleaming single-handed sword with a swoosh. ng! He blocked Gawain¡¯s third attack! At this moment, Gawain¡¯s eyeballs were about to fall out with how wide his eyes were. But he had no time to be in doubt because this heretic cult believer had dodged the most dangerous attacks. He was currently reforming his state, and once he allowed this fellow skilled in both magic andbat to sessfully do so, he might no longer be easy to handle. Therefore, Gawain directly infused his knight aura into the Sword of Pioneers. The edge of his de burned at a high temperature of close to a thousand degrees Celsius, while both his hands pressed down with force. Although the heretic cult believer¡¯s blocking had been impressive, the gap in their grades was really too big after all; he persevered for merely two seconds before he had to risk injuring his left arm, to tumble and avoid that scorching hot edge of the de that had almost set him ame. Gawain gave chase; the Sword of Pioneers continuously hacked like a blood-red smooth knife, leaving warped heated arcs in the air one after another, while the heretic cult believer barely held in there as he wielded the single-handed sword. Then, something that left Gawain even more shocked happened ¡ª this fellow fully dressed in ck had forcefullye to a temporary tie with him using extreme and ingenious sword techniques. What exactly was this thing¡¯s background?! What happened to the agreed fact of him being only a grade-five heretic cult believer? What happened to the agreed fact that Oblivion Association consisted of all druid mages?! The heretic cult believer¡¯s single-handed sword technique was so superb that it was unbelievable. Moreover, Gawain quickly realized that this was truly pure sword technique; not one bit of supernatural powers belonging to a knight or warrior existed. Every strike of his was perfect and well-controlled whether it was in defense or offense. Hepletely relied on skilled techniques and fighting experience to resist Gawain¡¯s attacks. There was no protective aura, nor was there infused magical power or supernatural abilities. He had held out till now with simply the skill of his sword techniques! There actually existed a swordsman in this world who used no supernatural powers and purely polished his skill to umte experience? Then what was with this fellow¡¯s druid spells? Or was it that the Oblivion Association had some other profession that was unknown to the world? Gawain had a mind full of question marks, but the heretic cult believer pitched against him was already miserable. Despite persisting for such a long time with his superb sword techniques, the gap in their grades was difficult to neglect. In fact, if this figure in ck robes had been holding an ordinary steel sword instead of a single-handed sword that had been blessed, he probably would¡¯ve been hacked into two by Gawain in the first few bouts, man and sword together. With several sessive attacks, Gawain drove his opponent into a corner. He decided to stop pondering what was going on with the other party¡¯s sword technique. Rather, he directly utilized the magical power in his body, raising the Sword of Pioneers high up at the same time, releasing ¡®Unbreakable Storm¡¯ that only high-level knights could grasp. As the dark red de swung down, a ring light exploded in the air. Amidst the radiance, the de suddenly divided into countless des. A sea of shining reflections of the des came showering down like torrential rain, and every de carried a powerful impulse wave. In the middle of the zing ¡®Unbreakable Storm¡¯, the castle¡¯s solid floor was crushed like fine sand, rolled up, wrapped in the impulse waves, and swept towards the heretic cult believer who hadpletely lost his chance to cast a spell or to block this attack. The figure in ck seemed to have given up on resisting as well. He stood nkly until the des of Unbreakable Storm and impact waves tore him and the surrounding rocks into fragments and continued to charge toward the wall of the meeting chamber, with the impact waves showing no sign of slowing down. Amongst the deafening re of rocks being crushed, the castle¡¯s solid rock wall had a big hole busted into it. The impulse waves kept pushing into the night outside before they gradually dissipated. Momentster, the few rotten treants still standing in the hall halted in their movements. Their arms dropped like robots that had lost their instructions. Following that, they swayed a little and their cores that glowed with a dark red light extinguished. Those dead branches and rotted leaves that had long lost their lives fell down and covered the ground. These distorted things that had vited thews of nature transformed back into their original state. Amber leaped out of the shadow state, dropped onto her butt on the ground, and panted hard. ¡°Hoo¡­ Hoo¡­ I¡¯m dead tired¡­¡± Sir Philip was also panting heavily. Those decayed treants that were created from magic were as difficult to deal with as ordinary novice knights, but he could not bring himself to behave as embarrassingly as Amber did. Thus, he only used his sword to support his body and looked at Gawain with an admiring gaze. ¡°Lord, that heretic cult believer has been killed by you.¡± However, Gawain didn¡¯t look too d. He moved to stand beside the big hole with a frown and bowed his head to examine those charred fragments left behind after the heretic cult believer was smashed to pieces. Due to the astonishing heat of the Sword of Pioneers, these remains had been severely carbonized; no traces of blood and flesh could be seen at all. ¡°Not quite right¡­ I have a nagging sense that the ending isn¡¯t quite right¡­¡± Pittman walked over, stooped down, picked up a fragment, and then slowly crushed it in his hand. Momentster, his expression darkened as expected. ¡°This is burnt tree bark ¡ª sorcery of the fallen druids. That fellow escaped!¡± ¡­ At the same time, on a roof near the veranda of Viscount Andrew¡¯s castle, a cluster of abnormally grown, exceptionally thriving vines started to wriggle; then a huge bundle swelled up in the middle of those vines. Apanied by a nauseating sound that resembled the flow of sticky fluids, the bundle tore apart, and a figure in ck robes wormed pathetically out of it. This ck figure was the Oblivion Association believer who narrowly escaped. His entire body gave out a charred odor, his left arm bloody and weakly hanging by his side. The robes on him were also torn and tattered; his hood was even gone, revealing the face of a thin and pale middle-aged man with messy, short brown hair. That ¡®single-handed sword¡¯ was still held in his right hand, but this expensive super gear was only left with a small section of it. Cursing lowly, the heretic cult believer put this small section of the broken sword away and staggered forward, intending to quickly flee this ce before that terrifying opponent realized. However, he had merely taken two steps when he suddenly lifted his head and looked at the corner not far out. Sir Byron stood there, also happening to have raised his head and staring bewilderedly at the heretic cult believer who crawled from a cluster of vines and seemed to be gravely injured. The two stared at each other for a few moments; no one reacted. However, the daze onlysted a twinkling of an eye. The heretic cult believer quickly came back to his senses and lifted a finger to point at this knight who had somehow survived. Fighting against the stabbing pain in his head, he forced himself to start chanting an incantation, preparing to finish off this person who stood in his way. Meanwhile, Sir Byron had also recovered from his daze. He reached into his chest, pulled something out, fiddled with it, and tossed it to his opponent. ¡°Take my hidden weapon of justice!¡± As a dignified knight, even when throwing a hidden weapon, he had to call out. Yet the heretic cult believer only smiled in contempt, easily catching the ¡®hidden weapon¡¯ that Byron had thrown at him. ¡ª Though he was seriously injured, he wasn¡¯t at the point of being sessfully plotted against by a grade-four knight. Besides, this grade-four knight had been hit by his sorcery curse not long ago; he was currently in a weak state too! ¡°You¡¯ve thought too highly of yourself.¡± The heretic cult believer held the object that Byron threw over. He did not sense the slightest toxicity or magic aura working, so he wasn¡¯t worried at all. ¡°That¡¯s alright too. I¡¯ll use you to replenish my life¡­ Hmm?¡± He suddenly heard a ticking sound from his hand¡­ Byron saw clearly that the heretic cult believer had reacted at thest moment. The crystal grenadepletely operated on mechanics before it exploded. There was indeed no magic reaction in it, but the aura magical power of the storage crystals could still be sensed if one did so carefully. An intermediate supernatural powerhouse would definitely realize that there was something with this object after being on guard, yet his reaction was still a dyed one. Despite already throwing the grenade out and the radiance of a shielding spell floating around him, the rune trigger had been pressed down, the explosive magic circle had been activated. mes burst in his bare hand, fireballs blowing up inches from his face; clearly highlighted were blistering red mes and res, as well as a sense of bewilderedness. Nevertheless, he was a supernatural powerhouse who had reached the intermediate level after all. Even if he was severely injured, the protective articles, as well as the toughness of his own body, still existed. At the moment the crystal grenade exploded, bright lights shed in many parts of this heretic cult believer¡¯s body. The remaining few defense articles that he had were automatically activated and warded off the most fatal damage. Eventually, his entire right arm turned to pieces in the explosion, but the rest of his body leaped out with the help of the impact and vanished in the boundless dark night in the blink of an eye. Chapter 130 - The Viscount Who Escaped from Calamity Chapter 130: The Viscount Who Escaped from Cmity After going through a fierce battle, the castle¡¯s meeting chamber was destroyed beyond recognition. Those treants had destroyed all the doors and windows; the venom secreted from their bodies had made the originally luxurious and delicate carpets emit pungent smells. Gawain¡¯s final attack had shattered the entire ground at the southeast corner of the meeting chamber. There was arge hole that had been opened on the wall that extended to the ceiling. No matter how one looked, the room had to be repaired. Inparison to the Leslie n¡¯s losses in this cmity, Gawain felt stifled and tormented as that evil cult follower had actually escaped. The Oblivion Association was a heretic sect that was formed by a corrupted druid faction. Their sorcery was truly hard to defend against. Pittman immediately prepared a ritual spell to track the presence of that evil cult follower. ording to Pittman, there were plenty of restrictions in order to execute an escape spell in such an emergency, especially when druids weren¡¯t adept at escaping. Their discement spells would require the nts¡¯ energy; hence, it was possible that the evil cult follower was still nearby. There was a high chance that he might still be within the castle after his discement. When the old druid had just retrieved the leaves and balms that could be used for spellcasting, there was a loud sound that echoed from the darkness of the night. It was the sound of the crystal grenade¡¯s explosion. The position¡­ seemed to be where Sir Byron was! Gawain¡¯s face instantly changed as he was suddenly aware of what had happened. ¡°Quickly! To the external hallway!¡± By the time they rushed to Byron¡¯s location, the evil cult follower had already vanished. They could only see vines that were torn to pieces due to the explosion and traces of blood and flesh on the ground. Standing at the side of the wall was the middle-aged knight who had a helpless expression. Gawain looked at Byron and said, ¡°You better tell me that the evil cult follower has been sted into smithereens by the crystal grenade, and what remains of him is on the ground¡­¡± Byron spread his hands and said helplessly, ¡°If you wish to hear that, then I shall say it ordingly.¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± ¡°On the ground is indeed a portion of that person. But I didn¡¯t think that a magic professional would actually have such a firm body,¡± Byron exined what had happened earlier. ¡°¡­Subsequently, the grenade exploded, but that person¡¯s reaction was truly too fast. Putting aside the fact that he could instantly push the grenade away, he had plenty of life-saving items on him. Ultimately, only an arm had been severed by the explosion, while he escaped into the forest behind the castle and vanished. I wanted to track him, but once he entered the forest, his presence had vanished.¡± ¡°He is a druid after all.¡± Gawain frowned. The situation at Byron¡¯s side was truly filled with twists and turns. Firstly, the evil cult follower had unexpectedly encountered the weakened Byron; subsequently, the ignorant cult follower had caught the handheld version of the me Burst spell with his bare hands. Immediately after, he suffered the me Burst at point-nk range but still managed to escape¡­ One could only say that the evil cult follower had a tenacious life and was destined to survive this night. Gawain knew clearly he had already severely injured the evil cult follower. During the situation earlier, even if an escape spell was used, the evil cult follower couldn¡¯t havepletely evaded ¡®Unbreakable Storm¡¯. He really hadn¡¯t expected that grade-five Oblivion Association follower to be proficient in both magic and martial arts; he was even a pay-to-win warrior. He actually reserved life-saving items for such situations¡­ This was the way rich people yed. ¡°It is impossible to catch up.¡± Pittman looked at the forest behind the castle with regretful eyes. The forest grew along the western slopes of the Tanzan Mine and was connected with a remote forest. ¡°If a druid enters a forest, it is hopeless to find them even with our current team.¡± ¡°We have allowed a danger to escape,¡± Sir Philipmented with a stern tone. ¡°No, ording to the Oblivion Association¡¯s habit, once their operation fails in a region and they have exposed themselves, they wouldn¡¯t act again within a short period of time unless the objective is important enough for them to sacrifice the association members.¡± Pittman shook his head and said, ¡°An evil-cult druid that isn¡¯t specialized inbat couldn¡¯t survive and develop until today by being reckless.¡± ¡°No matter what, at least we have eliminated the danger here.¡± Gawain sighed and suppressed the unhappiness in his heart. He then quickly instructed, ¡°Pittman, go to the central courtyard, and think of a method to undo the magic on those victims. Save as many as you can. Byron and Philip, the two of you will go and help too.¡± Human life had higher value than anything else. The trio didn¡¯t hesitate after receiving the orders and immediately nodded before leaving. ¡°The two of us will return to the hall.¡± Gawain looked at Amber and stated, ¡°The pitiful Viscount Andrew is still left in the cold.¡± While speaking, Gawain turned his head and prepared to leave the roof. Right before he was going to take a step forward, there was a glimmer in the darkness that attracted his attention. Gawain immediately stopped and examined the ce where the glimmer came from. Soon enough, he found something in a pile of wilting vines and leaves. It was a small charred and severed finger, and there was an exquisite ring on the finger. It was obviously something left behind by the ck-robed evil cult follower. ¡°Hey, do you also have the habit of looting corpses? I thought an upright person like you¡ª¡± Amber leaned over curiously, and in the midst of her speech, she was attracted by the item in Gawain¡¯s hand. ¡°Eh? A ring? And it isn¡¯t broken?!¡± Gawain didn¡¯t need to put in a lot of effort to take off the ring from the carbonized finger. Half the surface of the ring was ckened, but the other half was still glistening with a bright silver glimmer. In theory, this ¡®essory¡¯ should have been broken during the explosion of the crystal grenade just as Amber mentioned, but it was still wless! After slightly wiping it, it was rather bright! Gawain looked at the ring and frowned slightly as he felt this ring was vaguely familiar. Soon enough, he recalled where he had seen something simr. Gawain took off his glove. His hand was wearing the exact same ring! That¡¯s right, this was¡­ ¡°Dang! A token of love?!¡± Amber instantly eximed loudly. ¡°You actually have the same ring as that evil cult follower! What rtionship do you have with him?!¡± ¡°Do you not believe I will use my sword to smash you into the ground if you keep rambling on? I will smash you so deep into the ground that you will never be able toe out!¡± Gawain red at Amber before he lowered his head and put the rings together. ¡°It seems like it is indeed the Mithril Ring¡­¡± ¡°Mithril Ring?¡± Amber vaguely recalled where Gawain¡¯s ring came from. She recalled the trip to the royal capital a few months ago and recalled the Mithril Vault agent called My Little Pony (ahem, Melita Ponia). Amber might not have met with the agent (she was sent flying during the encounter, and since they didn¡¯t see each other¡¯s face, it should be considered as them not having met), but Amber had seen the ring that Gawain obtained from the agent. ¡°Mithril Vault?!¡± She immediately reacted and said, ¡°You are saying that the evil cult follower might possibly be the same as you and is also a ¡®VIP¡¯ of the Mithril Vault?!¡± ¡°Those rings aren¡¯t randomly distributed, and if it isn¡¯t an important item, it is impossible for an evil cult follower to bring it along when taking revenge on society.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°It seems like¡­ Mithril Vault¡¯s business is very extensive.¡± Amber was dumbstruck as she said, ¡°Aren¡¯t they afraid those evil cult followers would turn them into ¡®undead¡¯ too?!¡± Gawainughed indifferently and said, ¡°They even dared to ept orders from the Sovereign of Elementals. What else could they be afraid of?¡± Immediately after, Gawain continued to search through for any remains that the evil cult follower had left behind. Apart from the ring on the finger, there was nothing else. The other items had all been blown into smithereens. Subsequently, the duo returned to the hall where they battled. The feudal lord of Tanzan Town, Viscount Andrew, was still waiting in the same ce. In reality, he wasn¡¯t able to go anywhere else either. He ¡ª who originally didn¡¯t have any extraordinary strength and had relied on magical medicine to forcefully obtain some magic ¡ª had been corroded and tormented by the corrupted druid for so many days. Viscount Andrew¡¯s magic resistance and constitution were basically the same as an ordinary human¡¯s. In fact, due to the frequent overdose of drugs, he was actually weaker. Even if he was no longer under the influence of sorcery, his powerless limbs wouldn¡¯t allow him to move anywhere. He could only sit on his chair in a paralyzed state while watching a group of people fighting and dismantling half his hall. He then watched them leave before seeing Gawain and Amber return again. The only thing worth rejoicing was that the aftershocks from the battle didn¡¯t reach him, allowing the viscount to still be unscathed. ¡°The evil cult follower escaped.¡± Gawain walked in front of Viscount Andrew and spoke without concealing anything. ¡°But he probably won¡¯t return¡­ at least, not for some time.¡± The viscount who had escaped cmity struggled to turn his eyeballs and took a few deep breaths. He didn¡¯t conceal his joyous yet anxious expressions, but he still spoke weakly, ¡°Thank you for your rescue¡­ Your Grace, right now, I feel that getting to know you was the best decision I have ever made in my life¡­ Cough, cough¡­ I¡¯m famished. Could you get some food for me?¡± Gawain shook his head and took out a small crystal bottle and said, ¡°Even though I wish to give you a good sumptuous meal, it is better for you to drink this first.¡± Viscount Andrew looked at the small bottle with doubts and asked, ¡°This¡­?¡± ¡°This is medicine concocted by my territory¡¯s druid. It will replenish your stamina and also repair your internal organs.¡± Gawain pulled the cork off the bottle and brought it to the mouth of Viscount Andrew who couldn¡¯t even hold the bottle himself. ¡°Your entire body¡¯s organs are failing, and if you eat now, it will only allow you to take yourst breath. You have to drink the medicine to get through this first.¡± Pittman might have sold plenty of useless ¡®luck ointments¡¯ on the territory, but the medicines that he concocted were all rather practical and useful. After drinking the stamina medicine, Viscount Andrew¡¯splexion was obviously much better. Gawain then questioned, ¡°About that evil cult follower, do you have any information for me? Why would you be targeted by the Oblivion Association for no reason?¡± Viscount Andrew worked hard to twitch his face as it looked like he was trying to make a bitter smile but was unable to do so. He could only sigh and said, ¡°This is all because I dug up something I shouldn¡¯t have.¡± ¡°You dug up something you shouldn¡¯t have?¡± Gawain frowned and asked, ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°I dug out a shard of the Eternal Stone te¡­¡± Chapter 131 - Eternal Stone Slate Chapter 131: Eternal Stone te People said that going to the border of life and death couldpletely change a person. Some also said that after escaping death, a person would be much more open-minded. As for those two points, Gawain believed that Viscount Andrew had experienced it deeply. When Viscount Andrew was ced under control with magic by the evil cult follower, he had always been awake. His consciousness was trapped in a constantly weakening body, and he had been receiving the unending corruption and torment of the evil cult follower¡¯s hysterical thoughts. He watched as ¡®he¡¯ imposed martialw for the entire city; he watched as his family and servants were captured by the evil cult follower; he watched as the glorious n castle sank into darkness and perversion. During these few days that felt like one hundred torturous years, he was aware that the king at the horizon couldn¡¯t save him; the little church that was said to be blessed by god couldn¡¯t save him; even the centuries of the Leslie n¡¯s glorious inheritance couldn¡¯t save him. The person who finally saved him was the ancient duke from 700 years ago, who had rushed down the White River. Fate was truly something that was never clear and defined. His bold ¡®investment¡¯ a few months ago had actually been repaid in a totally unexpected method¡­ with his life. In the meeting chamber that had arge hole, Viscount Andrew who had recovered some strength was seated in his spacious chair. He smiled bitterly and spoke the truth about what had invited the cmity. ¡°A new crystal ore vein had been discovered in the mine. Therefore, I sent someone to excavate a new mining tunnel. During the process of excavation, the tunnel copsed, and the foreman reported that there was a huge space under the mine¡­¡± Gawain¡¯s heart jolted as he heard until this point. It turns out that Viscount Andrew has discovered those secrets under my territory? But Gawain¡¯s previous judgment wasn¡¯t wrong either. This viscount didn¡¯t know about the existence of those Gondor ruins, and he had only recently discovered something new under the mine¡­ Viscount Andrew¡¯s narration continued. ¡°It is an ancient ruin. There are ancient, rock-like walls and support structures. Its spaciousness is like the corridor in the pce and isn¡¯t like a narrow and cramped tunnel. Most of it had copsed and had been buried, but there are ces that are wlessly preserved. I sent men to investigate the ruin, and they discovered a room that was tightly locked. The room¡¯s magic seal had lost its effect. Therefore, my territory¡¯s mages easily undid the mechanisms in the room. Afterward, we found some ancient relics¡­ Among them was a shard of the Eternal Stone te.¡± Gawain was familiar with the Eternal Stone te. It was said that all secrets in regards to the gods in this world had originated from that mysterious Eternal Stone te. During ancient times, when mortals had yet to get in touch with miracles, the Eternal Stone te was aplete piece. Afterward, the predecessors of humans and the other races had discovered the stone te. The moment they made contact with it, knowledge of gods had surged into the minds of those people. It included theurgy inheritances, spirit tablet positioning, names of gods, clerical professions, and many others. The first batch of predecessors who made contact with the Eternal Stone te had be the first of the mortals to be ¡®enlightened¡¯, turning them into the first generation popes and saints. Shortly after, the Eternal Stone te had been split into pieces. It was almost a divine blessing from the gods as they didn¡¯t wish for the mortals to receive power more than what the mortals could endure. The stone te that contained endless power had been shattered into countless shards and scattered in the mortal realm. Years after the incident, a few of the major factions that sprang to power rapidly had found shards of the stone te. Those factions included the strongest ¡ª Sect of the God of War, Church of Holy Light, and Church of the Three Goddesses of Fertility. They viewed the shards of the stone te as sacred objects and preserved them in their respective sacred grounds. Only the highest-ranking members of the factions would be able to ess the stone te and have a chance to obtain enlightenment. Even though the stone te was shattered, there was plenty of remaining power. When mortals touched it, they couldprehend knowledge that involved the gods. Furthermore, those orthodox and powerful factions were able to maintain superiority for hundreds or thousands of years,rgely due to those shards of the stone te. ording to each religion¡¯s ability, the ¡®sacred knowledge¡¯ had been collected by the major factions. Most of the shards of the stone te were within the control of the powerful factions. Gawain knew clearly that the factions had only collected thergest shards of the stone te. Heavens knew how many little shards and fragments of the stone te had been scattered in the world. A portion of those shards was secretly kept by those middle- or small-scale factions. There were also shards that were in the hands of kings, dukes, and even collectors. However, those smaller shards contained a minuscule amount of the ¡®divine blessing¡¯, and it wasn¡¯t enough to increase the grade of a person¡¯s theurgy or for someone to obtain aplete knowledge of god. It was also why they were allowed to remain among the people and weren¡¯t desperately sought after by the various major factions. Gawain didn¡¯t expect for Viscount Andrew to actually be so fortunate (or unfortunate) to find one of the shards of the Eternal Stone te that was scattered outside. Immediately after, he associated it with the ancient fortress in the Dark Range and also with the experiments mentioned by Nichs Egg that were conducted a thousand years ago. He guessed that it might be those ¡®locally excavated samples¡¯ and something involving those ¡®divine evils¡¯. It meant that the shard of the stone te was discovered by the Gondor Empire¡¯s Master Mages, and they had buried them in the underground ruin? Could it be that the locally excavated samples mentioned by the researchers were actually the shards of the Eternal Stone te? No, it shouldn¡¯t be. The Eternal Stone te might be precious, but the Gondor Empire was at the pinnacle at that time, and the major factions wouldn¡¯t dare to directly confront the authority of the empire. Gawain didn¡¯t believe the emperor during the Meteoric Era would y with the shards of the Eternal Stone te like some collection walnuts[1]. Then it meant that the shard of the Eternal Stone te was only a portion of the things buried underground¡­ Gawain¡¯s mind might be spinning rapidly with plenty of thoughts, but it was only for an instant. He revealed a perfectly surprised look and said to Viscount Andrew, ¡°So the evil cult follower targeted the Eternal Stone te on your hands¡­ It¡¯s true. The Oblivion Association had transformed from the druid religion, and they have maintained their twisted convictions. It is normal for them to have a predisposition to these god¡¯s artifacts. But how did they obtain this information?¡± ¡°My butler.¡± After staying silent for a moment, Viscount Andrew smiled bitterly and said, ¡°I should have known when he looked for various magic medicines for me and from the disy of his understanding of mysterious knowledge. He was already a member of the Oblivion Association!¡± Gawain was startled for a moment before he quickly recalled who the butler was. Mainly because he recalled that Amber had stolen his watch that it had made a truly deep impression. At the side, Amber rubbed her chin and muttered, ¡°It seems like I don¡¯t have to return the watch to him.¡± Viscount Andrew didn¡¯t have a talent for magic and didn¡¯t have talent for any of the extraordinary professions like knight or warlock. Yet, he had to ensure he possessed the fundamental ¡®qualification for the extraordinary¡¯. As such, he had always been very interested in magic medicine, mysterious rituals, and anything that could increase extraordinary power. His butler who had served him for many years was someone erudite in mysterious knowledge. During normal times, he would always be able to locate effective magic medicines, and that had allowed him to obtain Viscount Andrew¡¯s trust. Who would have expected that the butler who never revealed any w for decades was actually ackey of the Oblivion Association? It was a pity that thisckey had already fled. Before the evil cult follower had gotten the initial control of the castle, the butler had already vanished. ording to the fragments of information, Gawain guessed that the ¡®butler¡¯ might be an ¡®external member¡¯ that was specially nurtured by the Oblivion Association. They didn¡¯t possess extraordinary talent but had knowledge of the mysteries. It would allow them to obtain the trust of nobles easily, and the nobles would be less vignt toward them. Once the followers of the Oblivion Association made their move, these external members would flee rapidly. They might change their faces to infiltrate other nobles or might be switched over to deeper ranks within the association¡­ Gawain was truly worried that such a scenario wasn¡¯t a special case. Viscount Andrew wasn¡¯t from a prestigious noble n that could affect the kingdom¡¯s situation, but the Oblivion Association had developed to such a massive scale that it spread throughout the kingdom. This evil cult wouldn¡¯t specially nt a spy at the borders of the Anzu Kingdom for decades. The only exnation would be that nting spies in noble ns was a norm. What kind of monster had this corrupted druid faction developed into since ancient times?! Soon enough, Gawain found out why the evil cult follower had controlled Viscount Andrew ¡ª to proim martialw. ¡°I told him that the Eternal Stone te had been delivered to the King as a tribute and had already been transported out of the castle.¡± As Viscount Andrew spoke slowly, he revealed a pleased smile and said, ¡°His sorcery could control my body and my tongue, but he couldn¡¯t control my mind. He could make me read the speech he had arranged, but he didn¡¯t have any method to make me say what I knew in my heart. Therefore, he didn¡¯t know where I hid the stone te and had no choice but to proim martialw and make use of my name to search through all the houses. However, before finding the stone te, he didn¡¯t dare to let me die¡­¡± So that was the reason¡­ Gawain nodded as he understood what had happened. The corrupted druid indeed had sorcery to control people¡¯s movements and words, but it wasn¡¯t the spirit control spell but the superficial nervous-system control spell. It was a variant of the druids¡¯ animal control spell. When facing such a spell, as long as one had a tenacious willpower and resisted it, the evil cult follower wouldn¡¯t be able to extract any information. Gawain just didn¡¯t expect Viscount Andrew who looked like an overdosed sick person would possess such tenacious willpower. ¡°So that evil cult follower had buried everyone in the castle at the central courtyard to extract their thoughts and also to find out the location of the stone te shard¡­¡± Amber had also reacted and looked at the sickly viscount with astonishment. ¡°But those people didn¡¯t know where the shard was, and you were the only person who knew about this matter, meaning that¡­ Did you not send out that thing at all?¡± ¡°Of course I didn¡¯t send it out.¡± Viscount Andrew struggled tough. Even though he was weak, he still raised his head and said, ¡°I am the heir of the Leslie n. Even if I starve to death, die in a foreign ce, or am thrown out of this ce, I will not yield to an evil cult follower!¡± Although this statement had a subtle familiar feeling, Gawain still looked at this weak traditional noble with respect. This was a noble of this era. He was indeed clich¨¦ andgging behind and acted foolishly in the eyes of his god, but at the same time, he possessed the so-called ¡®noble spirit¡¯. This spirit supported a near unreasonable pride, and the pride didn¡¯t allow him to lower his head to the evil cult follower even if he was afraid of death. ¡°Where exactly did you hide the shard of the Eternal Stone te?¡± Gawain couldn¡¯t help but ask curiously. ¡°Ha¡­ Haha¡­¡± Viscount Andrewughed delightedly, so much so that he coughed violently. ¡°It had always been under the eyes of that fellow! Right underneath his eyes!¡± While speaking, the viscount struggled to stand from the chair and lifted the thick seat cushion. ¡°That fool had opened up my treasure vault, rummaged through my magical material room, searched my bedroom and attic, pried open every single locked chest and cupboard, but he never ever expected me to just put it under my ass and sit on it!!¡± When the thick seat cushion was lifted, Gawain immediately saw it. Itid quietly on the seat and was only the size of a palm. The thickness was less than half a centimeter¡­ and it waspletely different from Gawain¡¯s imagination. This so-called Eternal ¡®Stone te¡¯ wasn¡¯t a piece of stone te at all. It was an extremely t, smooth, light-golden metallic te that had mysterious patterns on it. [1] collection walnuts ¨C Chinese collection walnuts are like things to y around that are said to improve blood cirction Chapter 132 - Gains Chapter 132: Gains ¡°This is the shard of the Eternal Stone te?¡± Looking at the metal fragment before him that was only as big as his palm, Gawain could not help but reveal a surprised look. ¡°Yes, the Eternal Stone te ¡ª I didn¡¯t think it would actually look like this.¡± Viscount Andrew shook his head weakly. ¡°The shards of the Eternal Stone te are worshiped in secret by the various big sects. Other persons or factions who have gotten the fragments have decided to not disy them carelessly, so I waspletely oblivious as to what I¡¯d dug out at first. However, my men soon found remains of textual descriptions in the ruins. Only then did I dare to be sure that this metal piece protected byyers andyers of magical equipment was the legendary Eternal Stone te fragment¡­¡± At this point, Viscount Andrew could not help shaking his head and sighing. ¡°Many of the magical equipment in the remnants have stopped operating, but only those used to protect this piece of tablet fragment¡­ Those gears remained operating up to this day. To get my hands on it, I paid a huge price, but I never expected that it was the start of an even bigger price only after it came into my hands¡­¡± Gawain was reminded of a saying from his previous life on Earth: The precious stonends its innocent possessor in jail[1]. He picked up the ¡®stone te fragment¡¯ (say, could this thing still be called a ¡®stone¡¯ te?) and confirmed that it was indeed of a metallic material. Such a faint-gold-colored metal did not belong to any magic-conducting material ormon material known to him; instead, it was more like some unknown alloy. Its front was extremely smooth as if a thinyer of enamel covered it, and under the ¡®enamel¡¯ wereplicated, detailed patterns. The back of it had some grooves that he couldn¡¯t tell the functions of; there was even a small piece of crystal mounted in one of the grooves. And on the edge of the metal te was a neat and regr fracture. It looked like a connectingtch, turning the whole fragment into a geometric solid with aplex structure. Instead of saying that this had ¡®broken off¡¯ from a whole, Gawain suspected more that the so-called Eternal Stone te was pieced together byrge amounts of such geometric pieces, like a certain puzzle¡­ It was indeed very interesting. He turned this fragment here and there as he examined it and said thoughtfully, ¡°It is said that mortals will receive the revtions of the gods aftering into contact with the Eternal Stone te. So why is there absolutely no effect when I¡¯m holding it?¡± ¡°Merely touching it is of no use. You still need tomunicate with it using spiritual power,¡± Viscount Andrew exined slowly. ¡°But my supernatural abilities are insignificant. Even inmunication, all I can hear are some indistinct murmurs. I can¡¯t get any knowledge at all. But if it¡¯s you¡­ Perhaps gaining powers directly from it is possible.¡± Gawain nodded his head but had no intention of using his spiritual power tomunicate at all. In fact, he had deep misgivings and fear for this thing. The Eternal Stone te, the legendary object that brought belief in the gods to the mortal world. The first generation of mortal schrs had created such a big pile of religions precisely because they hade into contact with the Eternal Stone Tablet and also gained the power to use theurgies. This might have seemed like a blessing to theymen of this world, but Gawain could not help but suspect that this item possessed mind-controlling, brainwashing, and instition powers or the likes of. What if he failed in themunication and had his mind taken over by the consciousness of those gods? Even if they didn¡¯t upy his mind, leaving behind the illness of hearing those gods asionally murmuring nonsense in his consciousness henceforth was a big no-no too! ¡°I¡¯d ask that you take this fragment with you,¡± Viscount Andrew suddenly said. ¡°Whether to keep it yourself, present it to the King, or hand it over to a church that you believe in and wish to be on friendly terms with, anything is fine.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± Gawain raised his brow for a moment. ¡°You ought to know the value of this object. Even if you don¡¯t dare to continue keeping it, personally handing it to the King or a church could give you a lot of benefits in exchange.¡± ¡°I no longer want anything more to do with this.¡± Viscount Andrew burst out with energy and shook his head hard. ¡°Even if I were to hand it over, I do not wish to do so through my hands. ¡ª And if it wasn¡¯t for you today, it would¡¯ve been impossible for me to have survived. Just take this as a gift.¡± Gawain showed a vague smile. ¡°But we really can¡¯t be sure whether it¡¯s a gift or a gue¡­¡± Despite saying so, he put the Eternal Stone te fragment away without hesitation. This object was indeed a ticking bomb. It was able to pressure a dark organization like the Oblivion Association to make a reckless move against the nobility of the kingdom. Yet this object was also a treasure. It possibly contained the secrets of all the gods and could even allow Gawain to get a brief glimpse of a hint of the truth of this world. In any case, Gawain was unable to turn a blind eye to it. In the situation where the Oblivion Association had already failed, he could be sure that no one would be trying to obtain this object for the time being. Besides, time was needed for news to spread; it would be difficult for outsiders to find out in time that this piece of ¡®stone¡¯ te fragment was already in his hands. During this slightly safer period of time, Gawain was going to study this mysterious fragment. His identity as a ¡®famed legend¡¯ was also a strong safeguard in retaining this stone te fragment. ¡ª Although the Cecil territory was extremely weak right now, in this era, the reputation of a legendary powerhouse was, more often than not, a greater deterrent than having a powerful and prosperous aristocratic n. Gawain did not mind borrowing his own influence in this aspect. Of course, he had also considered the pitfalls in doing so. Hence, if the situation was truly critical, he wouldn¡¯t mind handing this object over to the King or a church. ¡ª While knowledge of the gods was indeed valuable to some people, it was unlikely to be able to convert into the forces of production that he needed. In the future, he could use this shard to exchange for other gains; as long as the gains were enough, it would be worth it. But this would definitely be the choice he would take only in the situation where there were no other alternatives. Pittman and the two knights who went to the courtyard to save people had also returned to the meeting chamber a whileter. ¡°The powers of the heretic cult believer have begun to fade away. It wasn¡¯t difficult to release the magic on those poor men.¡± The old druid exined how he was able to take care of that extensive sorcery this quickly. ¡°The two knights and I rescued a portion of the people and then got those in slightly better conditions among the rescued people to also help. Together with the means to control the vegetation, we managed to dig out all the people buried in the ground. However, those who had lost their lives still made up a significant number. A third of them could not be saved. Amongst the remaining living ones, a good deal of them have received severe damage to their minds. While some could recover, I¡¯m afraid some will forever be in a trance.¡± ¡°This is truly a grievous loss.¡± Gawain nced at Viscount Andrew with sympathy. Andrew could only manage a bitter smile as he shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ll probably have to spend a fortune to deal with the aftermath¡­ But I¡¯m still alive. Things will get better somehow. Right now, what I¡¯m most grateful for is that my two sons went elsewhere in the territory a few days ago to collect rent. Their procrastination is considered to have saved their lives. But my little daughter¡­¡± ¡°Your daughter is still alive,¡± Sir Philip informed. ¡°But the poor girl had suffered serious damage to her mind. She¡¯s now in a crazy state. Perhaps only the gods would know if there¡¯s a possibility for recovery.¡± ¡°It¡¯s enough that she¡¯s alive, it¡¯s enough that she¡¯s alive¡­¡± Viscount Andrew said with aplicated expression. This aristocrat who was once elegant, confident, and proud had aged at least twenty years in this one night. Right now, his voice was exhausted and tired. Even though there were many things that could be considered good news, they were unable to sustain this body and mind that were exhausted. However, he still put in an effort to lift his head and look towards Gawain who was standing at a side. ¡°Anyhow, I want to thank you for your sor. The Leslie n is greatly indebted to you and your knights. ¡ª If you have any needs, feel free to mention it.¡± Clearly, he too knew that it was quite unkind to give that troublesome stone te fragment away as a gift¡­ ¡°Giving mutual help and protection was a rule that Charlie and I had set for the aristocrats of Anzu seven hundred years ago. I was merely fulfilling what I¡¯d said back in those years,¡± Gawain spoke with an especially strong sense of righteousness. ¡°I will not take advantage of this opportunity to profit from your misfortunes, but since we have the chance to have a talk, perhaps we can strengthen our cooperation.¡± ¡°Cooperation?¡± Viscount Andrew repeated this word. ¡°You should know, the new Cecil territory is currently being constructed. Weck all sorts of supplies, and most of them are purchased from Tanzan Town.¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°At present, what we¡¯recking most are storage crystals and various magic-conducting materials, and the Tanzan Mine has a massive crystal mineral vein.¡± Seeing that Viscount Andrew¡¯s expression was slightly rigid, Gawain Cecil went on, ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous, I¡¯m only asking if I can buy them. ¡ª I only hope to be able to purchaserge amounts of all kinds of crystal magic materials at a favorable price from now on. We don¡¯t require quality. Even crystals of the lowest grade will do. We only ask for ample amounts. You don¡¯t have to worry about any losses. You must know, our insufficiency of supplies is huge. The amount that the new Cecil territory wants to purchase will definitely be enough to swallow up a big batch of your crystal output. Even if the price is slightly cheaper, your profits would exceed what you earn after having to pay to transport those crystals in smaller batches to other territories and searching for markets there. If you agree, I will wait till things have settled down here before sending someone to negotiate the prices.¡± Viscount Andrew rxed and nodded lightly while listening. He began to recognize that this was a win-win idea. The Cecil territory would getrge amounts of cheap magic-conducting materials, and Tanzan Town wouldn¡¯t have to worry about markets for the crystals and could even swiftly raise the funds needed to repair the castle and for other aftercare work. As for how the Cecil n who was poor and broke not long ago suddenly became wealthy and even started making coins recently¡­ Viscount Andrew was absolutely uninterested. Regardless of whether they had found a gold mine in the Dark Range or if this old ancestor from 700 years ago had dug out his true lifetime savings[2], it had nothing to do with him. As a Viscount living at the border with a flexible mindset, Andrew Leslie was always very open-minded and very good at grasping the things that were truly beneficial to himself. As a matter-of-fact, he had correctly guessed a part of the truth. ¡ª Gawain had indeed dug out lifetime savings; only, it was the lifetime savings of the entire Anzu Kingdom. Seeing Viscount Andrew nod, Gawain went on, ¡°Second, poption. I hope that you can help me publicize news of the Cecil territory taking in refugees. If you have refugees here and you do not want them, you may send them over as well. In short, a surplus of poption in any form, as long as they aren¡¯t people who vite thew andmit crimes, I want them all. I won¡¯t ask for a specific number in this aspect. Just do what you can.¡± Viscount Andrew agreed even more readily this time. He didn¡¯t think there was any problem with directing people to the Cecil territory at all. In fact, this was a good chance for him to clear the ¡®useless people¡¯ in his territory. After all, there were too many wanderers gathering in the slums, and they could not yield any worth at all. ¡°One more thing.¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°I hope to hire some people who are literate and have mathematical knowledge. No, no, I¡¯m not referring to those schr-level people. Their apprentices would do. ¡ª I want a batch of such people. Whether they are serving as recorders or copyists, the only requirement is being able to read and count and having ample patience.¡± [1] This means that owning a treasure gets a person in trouble because of other people¡¯s greed. [2] The Chinese term used for this literally trantes to ¡®capital to buy a coffin¡¯; it refers to money that people save for their funeral expenses and, usually, thest of their savings. Chapter 133 - Returning Home Chapter 133: Returning Home Regarding Gawain¡¯s third request, Viscount Andrew agreed with equal readiness. Although he didn¡¯t know why Gawain wanted to bring so many people who were literate in words and numbers to his territory, he wasn¡¯t too interested in that. In his heart, that was the most insignificant request amongst the three. Although literate people were the minority, to the prosperous Tanzan Town, finding such a group of people who were educated yet down and out wasn¡¯t that difficult. He could easily pull out a number of them from the chambers ofmerce and churches. Long-term purchase of magic materials at a low price, gathering people, recruiting middle- to low-level intellectuals; after he was done with these three matters, Gawain then seemed to casually mention those ancient remains that Viscount Andrew had dug out from under his own territory. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I do know about those remnants that you mentioned.¡± Gawain did not mention the same remnants existing in the Dark Range but directly used his ¡®ancient-person identity¡¯ to open the conversation. ¡°You know, I was active seven hundred years ago ¡ª that was when the Gondor Empire was still thriving. ording to the empire¡¯s history that I¡¯ve grasped, the ruins that appeared in this area are highly likely to be the ¡®outpost research station¡¯ left behind from the Meteoric Era of the Gondor Empire, and most likely, the middle toter period of that era. Viscount Andrew clearly wasn¡¯t an ignorant person (in fact, other than a weirdo like Reba, there was barely anyone amongst the kingdom¡¯s aristocrats who was bad at history). He immediately revealed a surprised expression. ¡°Isn¡¯t that about a thousand years ago?! Those ancient magical mechanisms inside were actually still operating!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Ancient ruins from a thousand years before. The magical equipment inside was still usable. This isn¡¯t something unimaginable for the Gondor Empire in those years. Compared to those magical mechanisms, the Eternal Stone Tablet fragment that was also sealed in the remnants is more worrying.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°Even the Gondor Empire then was considerably concerned with the Eternal Stone te. They would not leave such an important ¡®sacred object¡¯ in the abandoned research station and disregard it without any reason.¡± Viscount Andrew¡¯s brows gradually knitted tightly. He had detected the significance in Gawain¡¯s words and only spoke up after a long while, ¡°I had thought I discovered a mountain of treasures. Only now did I realize that the Leslie n had been sitting on a volcano for generations¡­¡± Then he lifted his head to look at Gawain, his expression extremely solemn and serious. ¡°I know what you mean, and I also know that you¡¯re the person who knows the Gondor Empire best. ¡ª I¡¯m afraid not a single schr in this generation can surpass your knowledge and experience in this aspect. So I hope to be able to receive your guidance in the matters regarding the underground ruins.¡± Gawain wore a small smile. This was truly a sensible decision; this Viscount clearly hadn¡¯t let that possible ¡®treasure¡¯ go to his head ¡ª or rather, he had been carried away by it, but after having gone through so much and learning the truth behind the remnants, he hadpletely calmed down. A fragment of the Eternal Stone te had caused great turmoil here, and something more dangerous and more frightening than the Eternal Stone te might still be sealed in those remnants. No one needed to say this; the people present here at this very moment could probably all imagine it. Oh, Amber who stood beside him might not. She was currently looking at the roof in a daze, pondering about something. It most likely had something to do with dinner. ¡°I suggest you explore those crypts and corridors with greater caution, but no matter what unfamiliar items you find, it¡¯s best that youe and consult me with them,¡± Gawain said while nodding. ¡°Of course, you could also call a halt to the exploration. That is the safer option. In short, those things are in your territory. You can deal with them however you like.¡± At present, it was gettingte. The party decided to stay in this castle that was gradually putting a magic atrocity behind them. Early morning the next day, Gawain bade farewell to Viscount Andrew and left the ce with the others. Watching the heralds who were running along the streets of the town loudly announcing the new orders from the Feudal Lord¡¯s castle, Gawain lightly heaved a sigh of relief. In the foreseeable future, Viscount Andrew would probably be exceptionally busy. Due to the aftermath of the heretic cult believer¡¯s attack, a brief few days were enough to umte inconceivable havoc, and this disorder wouldn¡¯t be easy to handle. The confinement ban needed to be removed; big merchants and mine owners had to be cated; the people who died in this crisis also had to be buried¡­ But all those were not his affairs to be concerned about. The party left Tanzan Town. Looking back at the town gates that were again wide open, Amber could not help but turn and give Gawain a curious nce. ¡°Say, you¡¯re really honest. That Viscount Andrew is in his weakest time, and you were holding his life in your hands. To be honest, to the craftiest aristocrats, seizing the chance to gobble up the Leslie n¡¯s properties was a possibility, yet you actually didn¡¯t take advantage of this fish in troubled water?¡± Gawain looked at Amber and revealed a meaningful smile. ¡°No, you don¡¯t understand. I have already taken advantage.¡± Amber frowned as she surveyed Gawain for a long time. ¡°You didn¡¯t sleep wellst night huh? You¡¯re speaking gibberish?¡± Yet Gawain only smiled and did not exin fully. ¡°First, we¡¯ll make a trip back to Goering Mill¡±¡ªhe lifted his hand to point in the southeast direction¡ª¡±and pick up that little mute. He¡¯s the person who saved Sir Byron.¡± Sir Byron looked toward Gawain, slightly moved. ¡°Thank you for your benevolence, but that child is very likely the ¡®asset¡¯ of a certain wealthy merchant in Tanzan Town. If we take him away directly¡­¡± Gawain waved his hand. ¡°I¡¯ve mentioned this matter to Viscount Andrew already. He will search for the child¡¯s owner and help us redeem the child¡¯s freedom. All these are trivial issues. There¡¯s no need to be bothered.¡± In the dpidated and abandoned Goering Mill, they saw that mute child once again. The mute childpletely remembered Gawain¡¯s instructions to him before he left. He¡¯d stayed in the mill for the past day and night awaiting their return. When Byron and Gawain ¡ª these two sturdy figures ¡ª first climbed out of the forest, this child had a small campfire in the empty space before the mill and was conscientiously roasting a bunch of unknown dried fruits that he had picked from the forest. Upon seeing Gawain andpany return safe and sound, the mute child instantly let out a ¡®cheer¡¯ and then ran over to them happily. He stretched out his hand before Sir Byron; in his hand was a bunch of freshly roasted dried fruits. ¡°It seems that he likes you a lot.¡± Amber grinningly gave the middle-aged knight a nce. ¡°He even left food for you.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never been a person who¡¯s well-liked by children.¡± Byron took the dried fruits and used his other hand to scratch his own hair, feeling rather embarrassed. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on either.¡± Sir Philip mused for a moment and then asked Byron very seriously, ¡°I remember you¡¯ve yet to get married?¡± ¡°What¡¯s with not-being-married?!¡± Byron gave Philip a look. ¡°I¡¯m different from you, the kind of person who has a group of girls sticking themselves to you wherever you go¡­¡± ¡°Being ugly isn¡¯t a sin. You don¡¯t have to mind that,¡± Philip consoled Byron bluntly and solemnly and went on before the other party could blow up. ¡°Why don¡¯t you adopt this child and let him be your sessor?¡± Byron was instantly stunned then and there. ¡°Ah?¡± ¡°This is perfectly reasonable and fair,¡± Sir Philip said with a sober look. ¡°Firstly, he saved your life. As a knight, you cannot let down this kindness. Secondly, this child has many excellent qualities ¡ª he¡¯s brave, kind, upright, and seems bright. Although he is very thin and weak right now, the weakness of his body can thoroughly be remedied through postnatal cultivation. Of course, his physical disability is a problem. At this stage, regenerating magic would already be ineffective on him. Hence, if he wants to enter the aristocrat circle hereafter, he probably¡ª¡± ¡°Alright, alright, alright, that¡¯s enough, that¡¯s enough.¡± Byron cut Philip short in the middle of his long-winded speech. ¡°It¡¯s not like I said no. Moreover, before all of you came¡­ I already had all these in mind.¡± As he spoke, heughed in a rather self-mocking manner. ¡°I had thought then that if I survived this time, I would bring this child back to the territory ¡ª but I truly didn¡¯t expect to survive.¡± With that, he turned towards Gawain. His expression turned solemn as he prepared to follow the customary procedure of a knight adopting a child ¡ª present the request to his feudal lord and take an oath again. However, before he could speak, Gawain had nodded with a smile. ¡°I approve. Why don¡¯t you ask this child and see what he thinks?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve heard all that we said earlier?¡± Byron lowered his head, awkwardly trying his best to adjust his expression to a friendly one, then forced out a smile, and asked the mute child, ¡°I am willing to adopt you. Are you willing?¡± The mute child lifted his head and looked around dazedly at all these adults before dropping his head and nodding slowly. ¡­ Riding the fast horses that they¡¯d previously tied up near the mill, Gawain andpany used a day¡¯s time to arrive back at the new Cecil territory. Heidi and Reba¡¯s hanging hearts were finally eased. Reba especially so ¡ª in fact, Gawain even suspected that this silly girl hadn¡¯t been worried about him at all. Upon receiving news that her Ancestor was back, the first thing this youngdy did after rushing over was to tug on him and have him tell her stories of venturing to battle against the heretic cult believer in the castle. Moreover, Heidi had been standing right beside her then. Her Aunt had red so hard that she was almost cramped, yet Reba didn¡¯t sense anything at all. ¡ª He could only conclude that the doofus¡¯s skull was extremely hard; she could never be aware of the atmosphere before she received a beating. But with regards to Reba¡¯s change in behavior that was difficult to read, Gawain only gave a hearty smile. ¡ª It was most likely that in this girl¡¯s heart, her legendary ancestor that resurrected from 700 years ago was truly all-powerful. A mere heretic cult believer wasn¡¯t worth worrying about at all. Moreover, her super formidable ancestor had headed out to battle with the crystal grenade that she took great pride in. At the mention of the crystal grenade, Gawain felt that he still ought to praise the doofus. Thus, after returning to his tent, the first thing he did was to pat Reba¡¯s head with a gentle smile. ¡°Your crystal grenade really yed a great role.¡± ¡°Really?!¡± Reba¡¯s eyes were instantly full of light. ¡°You all used them?!¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°We only used one ¡ª but it was precisely that one that directly blew off an entire arm of the heretic cult believer. This was a grade-five fallen druid.¡± Naturally, there were many specific factors in between this. For example, that heretic cult believer was already injured then: for example, he wasn¡¯t able to release an even stronger shielding spell in time; for example, he had held the explosive in his own hand¡­ But at any rate, one fact would never change¡ª The crystal grenade that even children could learn to ignite was able to injure the body of a grade-five supernatural powerhouse. This had Reba cheering loudly, such that her cheers could even be heard from a great distance outside the tent. Byron and Philip, who were walking outside the tent, heard the cheers of their Viscountess and could not help but exchange a nce. ¡°Seems like our Lady has been praised.¡± Byron grinned. ¡°Recently, she has been wreathed in smiles every day.¡± ¡°She was also beaming every day in the past.¡± Philip was rather expressionless. He only looked down at the little mute following beside Byron. ¡°Compared to anything else, you should bring your ¡®adopted child¡¯ to go bathe and get a change of clothes. From today onward, he is a member of the Cecil territory and also the child of a knight. Thus, he needs to take note of his image.¡± Byron revealed a face of woe. ¡°Sigh¡­ who would have expected that at my age, I wouldn¡¯t even have a wife? Instead, I¡¯ve got to first learn how to look after a child¡­¡± Meanwhile, on Gawain¡¯s end, Reba and Heidi left after reporting the condition of the territory in the past two days. Gawain bowed his head and looked at the two items that he had just ced on his desk. One was the Eternal Stone te fragment, another¡­ was the Mithril Ring that he had gotten from the heretic cult believer. An Oblivion Association heretic was actually a major client of the Mithril Vault, huh¡­? Perhaps it was time to contact Miss My Little Pony. Chapter 134 - What the Hell Did I Hear?! Chapter 134: What the Hell Did I Hear?! About that piece of Eternal Stone te, Gawain had yet to think of how to start studying it for now. However, with regard to that heretic cult believer wearing a Mithril Ring, Gawain felt that there was a need to find out more from the agent from Mithril Vault. After all, she¡¯d promised back then that as a major client of Mithril Vault, he could approach her anytime to ask questions ¡ª why not make use of it? Besides, the territory needs to develop, and Mithril Vaulting in might be a boost to his region. Gawain would not let anything that could generate help for him slip. He gently stroked his own Mithril Ring and infused magical power into it ording to how Melita had told him to back then. Following the rocking of spiritual power, he felt a delicate magic in the ring getting activated. The metal began to feel warm, and an unusual magic fluctuation was released from it. Looking at the ring that was shimmering, he couldn¡¯t help but ponder in his mind ¡ª what was the theory behind this thing again? He still could not confirm whether this world was able to use electromaic waves formunication purposes (it was most likely a no), but the telmunication using magic already existed. This was an ancient yet mysterious skill; it could let the originally sealed up magic circles achieve information exchange with the outside. Despite being single function and due to the loss of native spell molds resulting in a ck box[1], the grade of this spell went as high as grade four. Even Heidi could not use it. If she had to, she would have to do so with the support of magic circles and the like. Magicalmunication was limited by many factors: the ability of the spellcaster, the quality of the spell materials, interference from the magic environment; even the difference in day and night would affect the range and results. The most powerful magicalmunication device was the ¡®Eye of the Stars¡¯ artifact atop the Sacred Stars Temple. It allowed that floating city to transmit information to the entire Silver Empire. However, as for what was the specific principle behind it, even those silver elves could not figure it out. Gawain had always felt that such magic that could transmit information over a long range perhaps had something to do with the nature of this world¡¯s ¡®magical environment¡¯. Yet the spell mold and magic-circle mold of themunication spell were a kind of ¡®ck box¡¯. It was something passed down from the ancient times; people knew the hows but not the whys of it. All these years, they had yet to seed in optimizing it, nor could they figure out the effect mechanism of those runes. In addition, as they had copied the drawings blindly for so many years, probably no one knew how the original looked like anymore. Yet this small Mithril Ring actually possessed the ability tomunicate using magic. The technological strength of Mithril Vault seemed to be very exceptional¡­ All these random thoughts spun in Gawain¡¯s mind. All of a sudden, he felt the ring vibrate for a moment. Following that, a slightly distorted voice of a youngdy came from it. ¡°This is Melita Ponia. Duke Gawain Cecil, I am very pleased to hear from you. It seems like you have a use for Mithril Vault.¡± This thingamajig even came with a vibration alert? Gawain faltered for a moment and raised the ring to his lips. ¡°I would like to inquire about a matter.¡± ¡°Ah, as a VIP customer of the Mithril Vault, all advisory services are free. What would you like to ask?¡± ¡°When the Mithril Vault selects its major customers¡­ are there filtering criteria?¡± ¡°Filtering criteria?¡± The person on the other end of the ring seemed to be stumped for a moment before she replied, ¡°Of course there are filtering criteria. It isn¡¯t that easy to be a VIP client. However, this involves a veryplicated review process. To exin it¡ª¡± Gawain cut off Melita. ¡°No need to exin in detail. I just want to know. Can a heretic cult believer be a VIP customer?¡± ¡°Heretic cult believer? That depends on what kind of heretic it is.¡± Melita¡¯s voice was very calm. ¡°Sometimes, heretic cult believers are even more generous than kings in their payments. As businessmen, we always wee such generous clients¡ª¡± ¡°Heretic cult believer from the Oblivion Association.¡± Melita¡¯s voice instantly jammed. After dazing for a second, she asserted curtly, ¡°The Oblivion Association is not included! We do not do business with them!¡± Gawain was slightly surprised and pressed on, ¡°Why?¡± ¡°The Oblivion Association is the craziest bunch amongst all heretic cult believers. Their ideology results in a zero possibility of them cooperating with any other organization ¡ª everything will die. In their eyes, everything is to be destroyed, including other heretic sects. ¡ª In fact, there are only two or three dark organizations in the whole world as insane as the Oblivion Association and would have dealings with them. They include the Sons of the Storm, who soak in the sea all day announcing that there would ultimatelye a day when the world is engulfed by boundless distortion, and those Eternal Sleepers who put everything in their dreams. Only their philosophies are close to that of the Oblivion Association and have simrly intense self-destructive inclinations. That¡¯s why they were able toe together. Which of the remaining normal people would associate with those lunatics?¡± After the hurried and lengthy exnation, Melita added, ¡°Of course, peripheral members of the Oblivion Association having business dealings with the Mithril Vault with their identities concealed remains a possibility. After all, as a living organization, they do need to develop and operate, but they absolutely wouldn¡¯t be able to be big clients of Mithril Vault ¡ª they won¡¯t pass those strict assessments at all. They would definitely be exposed.¡± ¡°But I have a Mithril Ring representing the identity of an important client here. I got it from a heretic cult believer of the Oblivion Association.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t¡­¡± Melita probably wanted to say that this wasn¡¯t possible. However, midway through, she realized that whether this was possible or not, it was probably true. Hence, she corrected, ¡°Have you confirmed the authenticity of the ring? The model of the Mithril Ring isn¡¯t special. Perhaps someone made a counterfeit¡­¡± ¡°The material quality is the same as the real one. It¡¯s a bit too high to be a counterfeit. As for whether the interior is real¡­ This thing has identity recognition. I have no way of inspecting it.¡± Gawain fiddled with the ring from the heretic cult believer with his other hand and casually suggested, ¡°Could it be stolen by the heretic cult believer from someone else?¡± ¡°If that ring is real, then it¡¯s impossible that it was stolen.¡± Melita¡¯s tone became somber. ¡°From the beginning, the design of the Mithril Ring took into consideration the risk of it being stolen by people with evil designs. Thus, it has the function of identity recognition. When it leaves the original owner, its functions would immediately be locked and can no longer be used. If the stealer takes the ring to a Mithril Vault branch to swindle, the agent of the vault will immediately distinguish the state of the ring using a secret magic¡­ In short, stealing and snatching it renders it useless. And for a magic article that automatically bes ineffective after it is stolen, it is impossible that the inherently guarded heretic cult believer would boldly and assuredly carry it on him.¡± Gawain rubbed the ring in his hands. ¡°In other words, a heretic cult believer of the Oblivion Association has really be one of your major clients.¡± ¡°Or, the reverse is valid too¡­ A certain big figure has fallen to be a heretic cult believer.¡± Melita¡¯s voice became very solemn. ¡°Duke Cecil, I will personallye to you to confirm this matter. I will pay a visit within the next few days.¡± Although he knew that the Mithril Vault was infinitely resourceful, Gawain still asked offhandedly, ¡°You know how toe to me?¡± Melita¡¯s voice seemed to contain a hint of a smile. ¡°Of course ¡ª as your exclusive agent, I¡¯ve been paying attention to your movements all this time.¡± Gawain got goosebumps all over upon hearing that. ¡ª Why does this sound so awkward¡­? After establishing that Miss My Little Pony would personallye over to examine the situation, Gawain did not n on discussing much else through the magicmunication. He casually continued with a few words of courtesy before deciding to end themunication. ¡°We¡¯ll talk about the details when you arrive. If there¡¯s nothing else, I¡¯m going to be hanging up first.¡± Melita¡¯s exmation instantly sounded from the ring. ¡°You¡¯re passing away again?![2]¡± ¡°¡­I mean, to end the call!¡± The bulging veins on Gawain¡¯s temples only eased after cutting off the magicmunication. Following that, he let out a breath and hid the heretic cult believer¡¯s Mithril Ring away before his eyesnded on the Eternal Stone te fragment on the desk. Till now, he had not risked building any spiritual connection with this ¡®stone te¡¯. Although he knew that this thingamajig would not cause any real damage to his body (after all, so many believers in this world were alive and kicking), but it was really too hard to tell if his mind would be affected after engaging with the Eternal Stone te. After Veronica¡¯s visit, Gawain was now more guarded against the gods of this world, especially when he saw ¡®Priest Sandy¡¯ who looked absolutely normal to others but was like a special effect shadow in his eyes. It added an ounce of doubt to the guardedness that he was normally inclined to. He knew that he was a transmigrator from an alternate world. Although his body was an original from this side, his soul wasn¡¯t. Perhaps it was the deviation in his soul that caused the female priest topletely be a holographic projection in his eyes. Did this mean that his ¡®visual field¡¯ could see some things that theymen of this world could not? And the powers of the Eternal Stone te were highly likely to be directly used on the soul. By then, would a major problem happen to him, the peculiar soul? With these thoughts, he unwittingly turned this palm-sized metal piece here and there. Suddenly, his gazended on those crystals mounted irregrly on the back of the metal piece. Those crystals formed aplicated pattern with the grooves on the metal piece. Initially, Gawain had thought that they were a certain type of magic circles, but after careful observation, he realized that those lines and the magic circles that he knew of were twopletely different things. Now, his attention had shifted away from those lines that could not be analyzed and entirely to those crystals of unknown material. Yet he found the material of those crystals a little familiar. After observing for a good while, he was struck by a sudden thought and swiftly got up to bring several pieces of crystals over. An intact one and a few other broken pieces ¡ª they were the mysterious crystals that he had brought out from the capital in the past, the ones that allowed him to rebuild a connection with the ¡®satellite¡¯. After aparison, he finally confirmed one thing: those little crystals set in the back of the Eternal Stone te¡­ werepletely identical in terms of material and outer appearance as those mysterious crystals that Gawain Cecil had left behind! Immense surprise and doubt flooded him at the same time. ¡ª The Eternal Stone te was actually rted to these crystals? And these crystals could help him rebuild his connection to the satellite in the sky¡­ So did the Eternal Stone te have something to do with those satellites? He pondered while unconsciously fiddling with those crystals and the Eternal Stone te fragment mounted with crystals. And as he wasn¡¯t paying attention, those tiny crystals set in the ¡®stone te¡¯ were slowly glowing. Gawain finally noticed the lights. His first reaction was to quickly hold the crystals and Eternal Stone te fragment far away, but before he could do so in time, an unexpected dizziness froze all his movements. The feeling in his four limbs became sluggish and numb; it felt as if his five senses were leaving him. Gawain felt that his thoughts seemed to have left his body. He could still see and hear his surroundings, yet it felt like those visions and sounds did not belong to him. He felt his consciousness first float upwards and then sink down boundlessly, immersing into a kind of strange ethereal state. And in this process, the indistinct auditory hallucinations became increasingly clear¡­ Finally, he ¡®heard¡¯ many odd ¡®messages¡¯ emerge in his mind: ¡°¡­Annihtion squad¡­ rejoin¡­ report battle results¡­¡± ¡°Confirmed that God of mes has no signs of life. Annihtion bomb entered, over.¡± ¡°¡­Observed that¡­ the dome of Holy Light copsed. The God of Holy Light no longer has any signs of life¡­ awaiting orders, over.¡± ¡°Observed that¡­ the Sacred Temple of Mysteries is disintegrating¡­ Goddess of Magic and Mysteries escaped. The Sixth Hunting Legion left port¡­¡± ¡°God of Storms no longer has signs of life¡­ beginning to destroy the Storms Sanctuary, over.¡± ¡°The Eighth Heavy Bombing Fleet arrived at allocated coordinates¡­ beginning to bomb the Kingdom of Shadows, over.¡± ¡°¡­Bombing fleet¡­ currently dismantling the Temple of the Dead¡­ Observed that the pale barrier is breaking down¡­¡± ¡°¡­Confirmed that the Reaper has no signs of life. Currently heading to the God of War¡¯s territory, over¡­¡± ¡°¡­God of Nature no longer has signs of life, over.¡± An extremely chaotic and spinning sensation appeared at the same time and jolted Gawain from his ¡®immersed state¡¯. He left such an odd state with his face bathed in perspiration. It was soon followed with a dumbstruck expression and with horror filling his mind¡ª¡ª Damn, what the hell did I just hear?! What. The. Hell. Did. I. Hear?! [1] ck box ¨C in science,puting, and engineering, a ck box is a device, system, or object which can be viewed in terms of inputs and outputs without knowledge of its internal workings. [2] In response to ¡®hanging up¡¯ (¡®gua le¡¯). ¡®Gua¡¯ means hang, while ¡®le¡¯ indicates that the action has been done. Extended in meaning now to also mean ¡®failing¡¯ or ¡®end¡¯, for example, hanging up calls, disconnecting, hanging in video games, or failing an exam. Originally, it referred to death by hanging or beheading. It came from Cantonese, sounding very simr to Cantonese pronunciation of ¡®dead¡¯, ¡®doomed¡¯ Chapter 135 - Gawains Perception Problems Chapter 135: Gawain¡¯s Perception Problems For a good five minutes, Gawain did not return to his senses. And after he recovered from his daze, he stared nkly at the Eternal Stone te fragment before his eyes, sinking into a prolonged what-the-f*ck state. A huge amount of information echoed in his mind. The thoughts filling his mind jumped around like a drunk Amber. At this moment, Gawain felt like there were innumerable words stuck in his throat, but precisely because they were jammed too firmly, he couldn¡¯t even get a word out in the end. He could only be sure of one thing: he had heard those things without a doubt. There was still a mild dizziness that the ¡®immersed state¡¯ caused that allowed him to be especially certain of this. So these were the contents recorded in the Eternal Stone te? This was the knowledge about the gods? Gawain looked at the faint gold metal te like he had seen a ghost. He could not help but shake his head the moment this thought emerged in his mind ¡ª impossible; it was impossible that these were what the mortal schrs who first created religion heard in the Eternal Stone te. After hearing all this, which person with a pit in his brain would create a sect for this bunch of gods who sounded like they¡¯d been killed! He soon began considering if this was an abominable joke or a certain audacious hoax. But what was the point in such a joke? Who would create such a hoax? What kind of person, with what aims, would cook up such contents? And most importantly ¡ª¡ª in such a primitive and backward medieval society, which person with an imagination greater than the skies could make up a term like ¡®heavy bombing fleet¡¯?! Gawain frowned as he pondered about the significance behind the information carried by this Eternal Stone te and was deeply skeptical whether those normal believers had heard the same thing aftering into contact with these stone te shards. After thinking for a good while, he finally made a decision and called to the outside of this tent. ¡°Betty! Go get Philip, Heidi, and Amber here.¡± A whileter, the three people arrived in Gawain¡¯s tent. Gawain looked at the three people before him, the three of them were, amongst the people he knew, the people who had their own beliefs and who he could trust the most in the territory. And they happened to be able to represent three different kinds of believers ¡ª Philip was a pious believer of the God of War sect, and he¡¯d even been baptized; Heidi was an official believer of the Goddess of Magic, but the degree of her faith was rtively shallower, while Amber was a mad believer of the Goddess of the Night and Shadows. The three mental states of mortals after they¡¯ve started believing in gods could more or less be found in these three people¡­ Gawain put the Eternal Stone te fragment on the desk and pushed it forward. ¡°All of you should know what this is.¡± ¡°The Eternal Stone te fragment,¡± Amber replied like it was only natural and right. ¡°I watched you keep this thing in your chest then.¡± As Heidi wasn¡¯t present at that time, she was looking with great curiosity at the faint gold metal te. However, she¡¯d learned about the matter regarding the Eternal Stone te fragment previously, so she wasn¡¯t too surprised now. She only watched her own ancestor curiously, unsure of what Gawain had in mind. ¡°All of you, interact with it.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°Touch it with your spiritual power. ¡ª Philip, you first.¡± Gawain wasn¡¯t worried about the ¡®stone te¡¯ being harmful as he had already tried it personally. Other than some terrifying information records, it would not have any long-term effects on the body. Moreover, even if Heidi and the rest really heard the knowledge of the gods when they interacted with it, as this fragment was very small, it was unlikely to brainwash the three of them into bing some fanatic ¡ª otherwise, those kings, aristocrats, and big merchants who treated the stone te shards as collector¡¯s items would have long be fanatics. Philip revealed a surprised and hesitating expression. ¡°Lord, are you¡­ really sure? You want to give me such a chance?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure, but I have one thing to remind all of you about.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°Regardless of what you see and hear after interacting with the shard, remain calm. Even if you hear things that conflict with your beliefs¡­ don¡¯t be too agitated because this thing might be fake.¡± He gave a heads-up in advance in case Sir Philip who was devout to his faith had his values copse after listening to those things that he shouldn¡¯t hear. Sir Philip moved closer to the stone te fragment while asking curiously, ¡°It might be fake?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell. Try interacting with it first.¡± Sir Philip nodded. cing his hand on the stone te fragment, he pushed his own spiritual power and attempted to connect with the fragment. Almost instantly, Gawain sensed a subtle change in the aura of this young knight. A vast, ancient and mysterious power force seemed to envelop him, ¡®exalting¡¯ his entire being, yet such an aura could in fact just be a delusion. This was because Gawain did not sense any changes in Philip¡¯s powers. Moreover, that unusual aura only appeared for a moment before it promptly vanished. A momentter, Sir Philip opened his eyes. He nced at the stone te fragment with an astonished and excited expression and then stepped back slightly. Joy covered his face as he said, ¡°Lord, I seemed to have heard the voice of the God of War. There was a kind of¡­ indescribable enlightenment and revtion surging into my heart. I feel like I¡¯ve received a certain blessing. Such a blessing might be the greatest help when polishing mybat skills henceforth!¡± Gawain raised a brow. ¡°That¡¯s all?¡± ¡°Yes, this is a very unspeakable feeling.¡± Sir Philip nodded calmly then questioned curiously, ¡°But Lord, you said earlier that this might be fake¡­ Could what I felt be an illusion?¡± ¡°I only said it could possibly be fake, but judging by your reaction, ten to one, it¡¯s real.¡± Gawain¡¯s mood was changing, but he did not show it in his expression; he only looked toward Heidi. ¡°Come and give it a try.¡± Heidi nodded and also walked forward to rest her hand on the Eternal Stone te fragment. This time, Gawain also felt a subtle change in Heidi¡¯s aura. However, such a change was even milder and briefer. Heidi also opened her eyes faster. ¡°Ancestor, I feel like I caught a glimpse of some secrets about magic. I also have a vague sense of enlightenment, but it wasn¡¯t as evident and profound as Sir Philip described. Also, I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s an illusion, but this stone te seems to be rejecting my¡­ interaction. I wanted to probe about a certain spell mold with the help of the enlightenment, but the force of the stone te fragment suddenly avoided me, and there seemed to be a voice that told me to refrain from continuing to interact with it¡­¡± ¡°It actively avoided?¡± Gawain repeated in surprise, instantly feeling that this situation had gotten a little moreplicated. How was the Goddess of Magic different from the other gods? Was her inheritance not carried out through the Eternal Stone te? As he mused, his eyesnded on Amber. Before he spoke, Miss Half-Elf had rushed forward eagerly. ¡°Hey, hey, me, it¡¯s my turn! All of you made it sound so incredible. Is this thing really that formidable?¡± Before she finished speaking, she had already pressed her hand on the surface of the fragment, then closed her eyes, suppressed her strength, and began to build a connection with this metal te. Moments after, her brows knitted tightly together; her hand also started exerting more and more force. Her face was flushed red, and even the desk was swaying slightly. Gawain quickly spoke upon seeing that, ¡°Telling you to use your spiritual power to connect isn¡¯t equivalent to telling you to use force. ¡ª If you press this thing into the desk, are you going to be the one digging it out?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no reaction!¡± Amber opened her eyes instantly and removed her hand in exceptional dismay. ¡°I used spiritual power! But there wasn¡¯t any reaction at all. I didn¡¯t hear nor sense anything¡­ Say, you two are putting on a show to fool the two of us, aren¡¯t you?¡± Sir Philip eximed, ¡°How could that be! I could clearly sense a very evident enlightenment!¡± Heidi also frowned. ¡°I sensed it too though it was very weak¡­¡± Amber stared suspiciously at the two people before her, then at the metal te on the desk. ¡°Could it be that there¡¯s a limit to this thing¡¯s energy? Coming into contact with it once is equivalent to weakening it once, so it got weaker and weaker with the two of you, and when it came to me, there was no longer a reaction?¡± Gawain instantly felt that what the girl said made sense too, so he had Sir Philip try again then and there. However, the oue was aplete counter to Amber¡¯s guess ¡ª Sir Philip was shrouded in that miraculous aura once again. Gawain even suspected that if he continued interacting with the stone te fragment for a while longer, he would be ascending and bing an immortal¡­ ¡°It seems that Amber ¡ª you really have no way of resonating with the stone te.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°Perhaps it has to do with the degree of one¡¯s piousness. Philip is a devout believer. Heidi is an ordinary believer, and you are a craz¡­ shallow believer. This is probably the reason. Say, are you really a believer of the Goddess of the Shadows?¡± ¡°Yes! Why not!¡± Amber instantly bulged her eyes, like she was very displeased with Gawain¡¯s questioning. ¡°I¡¯ve believed in the Goddess for more than ten years, alright! Let me tell you, although I¡¯ve never been baptized nor have I entered a church before, I do pray properly when I remember to. Besides, the Goddess had chatted with me several times¡­¡± Heidi examined Amber up and down several times with great questioning. ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s not an illusion you had from drinking too much shadow potion?¡± Amber was instantly on her toes. ¡°Don¡¯t think you can spout nonsense because you¡¯ve got big boobs!¡± ¡°Cough, cough. Could the two of you stop arguing once you meet? And it¡¯s always over trivial things.¡± Gawain cut the two off with a hand wave as they were giving him a headache. ¡°Alright, alright, I have nothing else here. Go get back to your respective duties. I still have to give this some good thought.¡± The trio who were full of doubts left the tent, leaving Gawain to stare at the stone te fragment on his desk and sink into deep thought. ording to the reactions of Philip and the two others¡¯ reactions, this stone te fragment was probably real. However, the things that they heard after interacting with the stone te was entirely different from what he had heard! And it wasn¡¯t the first time there was such a ¡®difference¡¯. Previously, that high priest Sandy, she was a rather normal human in the eyes of others, but to Gawain, she was a translucent figure who radiated light from all over. For the Eternal Stone te fragment this time, others heard the knowledge of the gods after interacting with it, yet in Gawain¡¯s mind, what resounded were themunication records of an influence suspected to be ¡®Zenith Fleet¡¯ getting in groups to exterminate the entire Divine Realm. Gawain could not help rubbing his own forehead. Could it be that when it involved the ¡®gods¡¯, his senses would show variations from the average person? What he saw and heard¡­ Was it the truth or an illusion? Chapter 136 - Girl Chapter 136: Girl Whether or not his own senses were problematic ¡ª¡ª this was indeed a situation that had Gawain extremely frustrated. However, he stillcked more control groups[1] and avenues of exploration. Hence, this problem could only be shelved for now. Andpared to this problem that was being temporarily shelved, what he was more concerned about was another matter ¡ª the issue regarding the gods. The Eternal Stone te fragment was real; were the things recorded in it also real? If they were¡­ Gawain would have no choice but to attach importance to the truth that was rather horrifying after dwelling on it. ¡ª The gods were dead. The names of the gods were indeed mentioned in those messy and brokenmunication records, and the contents of those records allowed one to piece together a shocking battle of hunting the gods. ording to the records, the gods were almost at an overwhelming disadvantage in the battle. Instead of calling it a battle, it was more like the gods were being exterminated one by one in a nned manner. And all the various gods of the respective big sects known to Gawain were amongst them. Thus, the gods were dead ¡ª then what exactly was it that the millions of mortal believers in this world were worshiping every day?! What was it that had responded to the mortals¡¯ prayers? What was it that was controlling the flow of divine power? What was it that was bestowing all kinds of miracles? What was it ¡ª that sent concealed and indescribable whispers when the believers were meditating and sent ¡®divine messages¡¯ one after another through the murmurs?! When those pious priests prayed sincerely, they would hear murmurs from the Divine Realm in the depths of their hearts. If those murmurs weren¡¯t from the gods at all, their source gave one the shivers. Following that, Gawain was reminded of the ¡®White Starfall incident¡¯ that caused the druid sect to divide and descend into the druid factions. An incident that happened 3,000 years ago. Even to the Gondor Empire that flourished for a period, it was also an ¡®ancient incident¡¯ that exceeded the precision of history. It was very difficult for humankind, who were fickle and had a short lifespan, to record such ancient incidents very clearly, but the main lineage of the druid sect came from the elves. The long-lived elves were able to record such incidents from thousands of years ago crystal clear. In the historical books of the elves, ¡®White Starfall¡¯ was a ¡®dark miracle¡¯ that only the druids had observed and sensed. Back then, an identical illusion had appeared to all druids. They saw the sky divide into two; the dark starlit sky seemed to descend to a height where it seemed within reach, while the dazzling white stars shook violently in the starry sky and fell to the ground. ¡ª¡ª But other than the druids, all theymen then had not seen anythingnd on the ground. As such, the White Starfall was treated as a gigantic-scale, collective illusion. However, as it was on a really tremendous scale and the incident itself involved the gods, the schrs didn¡¯t dare to carelessly use ¡®illusion¡¯ to brush it aside. In turn, they exined it as a meteorite shower happening at an even higher level that was parallel to the current era. They believed that something had fallen from the Divine Realm andnded in the narrow zone between the mortal world and the Divine Realm, andymen who did not possess spiritual gifts were naturally unable to sense it. This was the ¡®White Starfall¡¯. But regardless of the truth of White Starfall, the druid theurgies had be invalid after that incident. Gawain initially believed that White Starfall was the fall of the God of Nature, but the information in the Eternal Stone te fragment was making him doubt this now: the history of the Eternal Stone te was far more aged than the White Starfall event! These faint gold metal tes first appeared in the first pioneering era, an ancient era tens of thousands of years ago, and the true shaping or birth time of the Eternal Stone te could only be even older than that. In other words, before mortals built civilization on this vastnd, the gods recorded in the Eternal Stone te were alreadypletely annihted! So what were the white stars that fell from the sky during the druid¡¯s collective illusion 3,000 years ago? The God of Nature whose corpse was already cold got up and died again? Gawain sunk into deep thought while facing the Eternal Stone te fragment. ¡­¡­ Meanwhile, in a forest far from the Dark Range and the Leslie territory, big masses of vines suddenly crawled out from underground and tangled and swelled to form a huge sack. Momentster, the sack burst open, and a stumbling figure wormed out of it. This figure was draped in a long ck robe that was now in tattered strips. Short brown hair stuck messily to his scalp. He was emaciated and pale, with a depressed gaze. His entire right arm had been blown off at the root. That horrifying wound was currently being covered in a ball of squirming flesh and blood, proceeding with an arduous regeneration. This was the Oblivion Association heretic cult believer who narrowly escaped from Tanzan Town. The severe trauma on his body, mental exhaustion, together with an endless escape distance, all these made the middle-aged man who could originally be called a powerhouse extremely weak. He stumbled through the forest on unsteady steps, and following his steps, those bushes and weeds that brushed past his body all withered and decayed, dying in the blink of an eye as if their vitality had been drawn away out of thin air. After absorbing the life of these vegetation, some color finally returned to the middle-aged man¡¯s face. He stopped before a piece of big rock and looked down at the symbol carved on it using a sharp weapon: a mass of withered curling brambles. Seeing the symbol of the Oblivion Association, the middle-aged heretic used his remaining left hand to take out a wooden whistle, but before he could blow it, he heard the rustle of leaves from his surroundings. Lots of fallen leaves were swept up by a fierce wind and condensed into a hazy figure on the big rock. Only as the fallen leaves fell away did that figure gradually be clearer ¡ª a tall and slender woman with long dark-green hair. Her skin was pale with pretty features. She was dressed in clothes that resembled the long robes of a priest, but all sacred religious symbols on the robe had been erased. Under the hem of the long robes, what was revealed wasn¡¯t a pair of human legs, but frightening ¡®limbs¡¯ that seemed like entangling tree roots. ¡°A disgraceful failure, Mr. Bard,¡± the tall and slim woman with long dark green locks spoke. The noise of dead leaves cracking seemed to be mixed in her voice. ¡°As it turned out, your confidence is blind.¡± ¡°Gawain Cecil really sessfully resurrected, and he acted to ruin my operation.¡± Though the middle-aged heretic called ¡®Bard¡¯ was respectful, he wasn¡¯t cowardly or lowly. He exined while standing tall and upright, ¡°Madam Beltira, his powers exceeded what was estimated. I even suspect that he hasn¡¯t lost anybat experience!¡± ¡°If he was really as powerful as he was back then, you wouldn¡¯t have even been able to exhale your second breath in time after you met him,¡± the tall and slender woman said unreservedly but changed the topic immediately. ¡°But the fact that he could easily defeat you goes to say that he is indeed not as weak as I¡¯d imagined at the very start¡­¡± ¡°How could this be?¡± Bard¡¯s voice was filled with doubt. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that his soul had been annihted. Even if his body was left behind or he resurrected, he would be a disabled person or even an undead?¡± ¡°He hase into contact with those ¡®revtion articles¡¯ before and even once interacted with an ancient soul. No one knows what kind of knowledge and power he¡¯d gained from this process,¡± Beltira said indifferently, yet an unusual emotion was revealed in her eyes. That was an expression of dread mingled with rue. ¡°So no one knows whether his actions now stem from a certain ancient guidance¡­ In short, you don¡¯t need to go into the matters rted to him.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Bard nodded, his head finally bowing slightly. ¡°Then what do we do next? Leave him alone?¡± ¡°Leaving him alone would do, including that Eternal Stone te fragment. Put it down too,¡± Beltira said in an aloof voice. ¡°The war between Typhon and Anzu is nearing. We¡¯ve prepared for hundreds of years for this day. We cannot let a disturbance result because of any issue.¡± Bard nodded. ¡°I understand.¡± Beltira nodded lightly but then nced at the squirming flesh and blood on Bard¡¯s right shoulder. ¡°When this arm of yours is done growing, go to Typhon, to the Quicksand Shore, to join the local congregation and head to the waters of the Sons of the Storm. The Archbishop arranged for you all to go help them as envoys of the Oblivion Association.¡± ¡°Sons of the Storm? Those believers of the God of Storms?¡± Bard frowned. ¡°They rarely seek help from the outside world¡­¡± ¡°They¡¯ve provoked the sea demons in the Eastern waters,¡± Beltira exined coolly. Bard¡¯s gaze turned serious. He did not say more, only lowered his head slightly to indicate his eptance of the order. Fierce winds rose once more. Withered fallen leaves spiraled and wrapped around Beltira¡¯s figure. Her body gradually broke into bits and dissipated from bottom up in the whirlwind of fallen leaves. However, before her upper body disintegrated, her eyesnded on the broken sword at Bard¡¯s waist. A slightly distorted voice came from the whirlwind. ¡°Bard Wendell, your obsession with the past will block your path to the truth. If you wish to go further on the path of a withered priest, you¡¯d best put down your sword¡­¡± Beltira¡¯s voice vanished with her figure. Only a gradually dissipating magical power was left behind. Bard stood before the falling leaves, only letting out a sneer after a long time; then he turned and slowly stepped into the depths of the forest. Remnants of magical power wiped away the symbol of the Oblivion Association on the big rock. Finally, not a trace remained here. ¡­¡­ New Cecil Territory. Gawain ultimately decided to temporarily seal up the Eternal Stone te fragment and concentrate his attention on the construction of the territory. The secret of the gods was indeed tempting; the truth that ¡®the gods were dead¡¯ was probably enough to rock the order of the entire world. However, Gawain had sobered up. This wasn¡¯t a domain that he could engage and interfere with right now. Besides, this major truth was unable to bring any gains to him anytime soon. The gods were dead; this truth was indeed appalling, yet it could only be appalling. So what if he was aware of this truth? In this world and era, before he had enough power, even if he¡¯d grasped thews of the universe, it would only be the mad ims of a mad person. He could not find anyone to tell this secret to, so much so that if he shared it, it would incur unnecessary attention and hostility. Thus, for the smooth and steady development of the territory, he chose to bury this matter at the bottom of his heart for now. Putting the stone te fragment away, Gawain brought out the rune logic materials that he had copied from Jenni Perot and prepared to continue with the learning and research that he had yet toplete previously. However, not long after he settled down, the curtain of the tent was lifted by someone. ¡ª Sir Byron dashed in, and he was wearing an extremely odd expression. There was nervousness but also surprise, but most of it was helplessness, embarrassment, and awkwardness. Say, this wily old knight¡¯s face was quite expressive. ¡°What has you in a flurry?¡± Gawain lifted his head and looked at the middle-aged knight. ¡°Amber was beaten up by Reba? Or was Reba beaten up by Heidi?¡± ¡°Neither!¡± Sir Byron¡¯s face was covered in bewilderment and difort. He rubbed his hands with force. ¡°Lord, I¡­ I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t adopt that mute child anymore¡­¡± ¡°Can¡¯t adopt?¡± Gawain paused his movement of flipping and reading the materials, fixing his gaze on Byron. ¡°You can¡¯t speak of that carelessly. You are a knight, and I was the one who witnessed it when you decided to adopt the child.¡± ¡°But¡­ but that child¡­¡± The expression on Byron¡¯s face was pure awkwardness. ¡°She¡¯s a girl!¡± ¡°Ha¡­ Ah?¡± [1] control group ¨C the group in a study that does not receive treatment and is used as a benchmark against participants in the experimental group. Chapter 137 - Pea Chapter 137: Pea After hearing Byron¡¯s words, Gawain was stunned as he asked, ¡°Girl?¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± Sir Byron was frowning so much that he nearly made an abstract face. ¡°I only realized it when I was giving her a shower. I was truly shocked!¡± Gawain¡¯s brows trembled while looking at the middle-aged knight with a strange expression. ¡°Don¡¯t say that you have some opinions. That child is probably not even ten years old yet.¡± Byron shook his head vigorously in response and said, ¡°Impossible, impossible. I might have the background as a mercenary, but I am not vulgar. I feel that I am probably unable to adopt her¡­¡± Gawain felt that this was rather interesting and wasn¡¯t in a hurry to continue studying the information he had. Instead, he looked at the knight¡¯s eyes and asked, ¡°Why? Just because she is a female, so you think you cannot adopt her and let her be your sessor? I didn¡¯t think that you were a person with such an old-fashioned mindset.¡± ¡°Of course it isn¡¯t because of that.¡± Byron had a wry expression as he exined, ¡°She saved my life. It wouldn¡¯t be a problem even if I have to pass down all my martial skills and wealth to her. But I am merely a boorish man¡­ How can I bring up a girl properly? Originally, I thought she was a boy. Now, I truly don¡¯t know what to do¡­¡± Gawain put on a smile that didn¡¯t look like a smile. But his vision suddenly looked across Sir Byron¡¯s body and towards the entrance of the tent. A skinny and petite figure was standing there. Byron had also noticed something and was hesitant to turn back for a nce. As expected, he saw the little mute who had secretly followed him over here. He¡­ she had already showered andbed her hair; she had also changed into a clean shirt and a skirt made of rough cloth. But the scene of ¡®a dirty and homeless child turning into a princess after a shower and a change of clothes¡¯ didn¡¯t happen on this child. It was still obvious that she was a girl, but she didn¡¯t look significantly better than before. The long-term period of malnutrition andbor beyond her physical limits had made her look sickly. Her skin was rough, and her hair was like a bunch of dried up weeds that was put on her head, even afterbing it. Her body was skinny, and her face was sunken in due tock of nutrition. There wasn¡¯t any part of her that looked cute. She had run over here carelessly and had only realized that this ce must not be barged in recklessly. She was standing at the entrance with a dazed expression while carefully putting her hands and legs together. Her face was filled with anxiety and helplessness. She should have heard the conversation between Gawain and Byron. ¡°Your daughter is here to look for you.¡± Gawainughed and looked at Byron. He then gestured to the mute girl at the entrance for her toe over. ¡°My Lord¡­¡± Byron called out helplessly but immediately saw the little mute walking towards him. Byron¡¯s face rapidly turned awkward and ufortable. ¡°Why¡­ why did you follow me? Didn¡¯t I tell you not to run around carelessly in this ce?¡± ¡°Byron,¡± Gawain spoke. ¡°I know that you feel this matter is hard to handle. But you cannot throw this child to the side. Since you promised to adopt her back then, that promise shouldn¡¯t be restricted by any future conditions. Take good care of her.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Byron opened his mouth but still nodded and said, ¡°Yes, I understand.¡± ¡°If you encounter any trouble, you can seek help. The territory has plenty of people who know how to take care of children. Don¡¯t be unwilling to put down your pride as a knight. In any case, I reckon that you don¡¯t have such pride.¡± Gawainughed and said, ¡°This child didn¡¯t just save you, she had also helped me. I was able to resolve the danger at Tanzan Town due to her great contributions. This child has brought good luck for our territory. We must not treat her unfairly.¡± Sir Byron nodded and gave his consent. The little mute blinked her eyes to look at Gawain before looking at Byron again. She could understand theirnguage, but she didn¡¯t understand the profound contents like knight and territory; therefore, she looked like she was at a loss. At this moment, Gawain suddenly asked, ¡°Does she have a name?¡± ¡°Name?¡± Byron looked as though he had just realized this point. ¡°That¡¯s right. I still don¡¯t know her name¡­ I had panicked when I was taking care of her earlier.¡± ¡°She should already have a name, but it is a pity that she can¡¯t talk. It is probable that none of us will be able to know what her name is.¡± Gawain looked at the little mute and asked, ¡°Shall we give you a name?¡± The mute child immediately used her hands to gesticte, but Gawain and Byron were unable to understand her. After a struggle and a failedmunication, the little mute suddenly said ¡®uh ah¡¯ and ran out of the tent. Gawain and Byron looked at each other with dismay and decided to wait. A momentter, the child returned while panting. She extended her hand in front of Gawain and there were peas within her hand. A long timeter, Gawain finally guessed the child¡¯s meaning. ¡°Are you saying that your name is Pea?¡± The mute child nodded forcefully. One of her hands grabbed on the belt on her skirt while the other hand brought the peas forward a little more. This time Byron was the one to react. ¡°You don¡¯t wish for a new name and wish to still be called ¡®Pea¡¯?¡± The mute child nodded forcefully again. ¡°This name should be given to her by her parents. If it was a name given to her by the merchant who cut off her tongue, she wouldn¡¯t view it with such importance.¡± Gawain guessed and said, ¡°Pea, huh¡­? When the parents came up with the name, they probably wished that she would be able to stay full.¡± While speaking, Gawain pressed down on Pea¡¯s head. The sensation was truly like a bundle of weed. ¡°She might not know how to talk, but she can understand us. You will have to pay attention to your choice of words in the future and be a good role model for this child.¡± Gawain smiled and looked at Byron while suddenly recalling something. ¡°That¡¯s right, the purchasing of serfs and contact with the refugees at Tanzan Town is now being assisted by Viscount Andrew. You don¡¯t need to personally supervise it now. Just hand it to some elite subordinates to handle the task. I have a new mission for you.¡± After hearing there was a new mission, Sir Byron immediately straightened his body and had a stern expression. ¡°Don¡¯t need to be so nervous. The mission is just within the territory. I want you to organize a team to explore the ancient fortress in the Dark Range.¡± Byron asked curiously, ¡°Are you preparing to make aprehensive exploration?¡± Gawain nodded and said, ¡°Viscount Andrew dug out a shard of the Eternal Stone te from under the Tanzan Mine. I am getting increasingly worried about the ancient fortress in our territory. There isn¡¯t a choice but to increase the pace.¡± Gawain then continued, ¡°You have the background of a mercenary and should have some experience in terms of the exploration of ruins. Find some meticulous and courageous members, bring the best equipment, and investigate all the hallways and rooms in the topyers. Afterward, draw it into a map. I ask for speed. I ask for safety and details. I don¡¯t wish to have any veteran soldiers dying in such a ce and don¡¯t wish for anything important to be missed out either. Understand?¡± Byron stood straight and said, ¡°Yes. Please be at ease. I am indeed experienced in this area and will not disappoint you.¡± When Sir Byron left, Gawain had also walked out of the tent and looked at the territory that was developing day by day. Not long before, this ce was still just ¡®camp¡¯. Winter was approaching; the weather was turning colder after each day, while the new Cecil territory was making progress on the right track. The first generation of the Magic Powered Engine (after Nichs Egg¡¯s adjustment and optimization, it had been transformed from a prototype machine into a functional machine) had already been officially revealed to the residents. It had a strange shape but was filled with extraordinary power. It was a machine operated by magic but could be controlled by normal people. Many people were so shocked that their eyes had dropped out. When it was put into operation, there were many serfs andmoners who looked at the machines with fearful eyes. They seemed to believe that the repulsion mechanisms and the shafts contained countless invisible little devils. They believed that the machine was operated by the little devils as they pushed the terrifyingly heavy steel. In the beginning, it was hard to even find operators; they had to use forceful methods in order to ensure that each machine had sufficient manpower to operate it¡­ But this ignorant and amusing phase onlysted for a very short period of time. Under Gawain¡¯s request, the territory had a system to ¡®preach¡¯ and ¡®enlighten¡¯. Every new matter, be it a neww or a new machine would be repeatedly preached and taught to the residents. Gawain was determined to eliminate ignorant and uneducated people on thisnd. As such, in just a few days, everyone knew that these machines were actually a brand new type of magic device. The thing that allowed a normal person to control the machine wasn¡¯t deviltry that would extract a person¡¯s soul and flesh, but the result of intelligence and technology. Gawain had emphasized in the propaganda that ¡®normal people¡¯ were involved in the development team of the machine. He had intentionally carved the name of all the craftsmen involved in the early-phase development on the machine¡¯s surface. Furthermore, these craftsmen were normally living together with everyone. Because of this, they had received countlessmendations and gazes of amazement. Gawain¡¯s reward was the invigorated spirits of the serfs and themoners who were normally numbed and ignorant. In the territory now, one could see the normal residents walking around with smiles on their faces. With the surging force of the Magic Powered Engine, all the fundamental production in the territory had a drastic boost in speed. The mines were using the Magic Powered Engine to pull the ore carts, to extract the water seepage, allowing the supply of ores to be stable. Right now, the only thing that restricted the supply was the uneven path from the mines to the steelworks. Gawain had already ordered a path to be built, and with the support from Heidi¡¯s magic, smoothing out and constructing a simple path wasn¡¯t difficult. The machining factory also had shocking progress in production. The metal-ball alien¡¯s cheat code was actually much more effective than Gawain imagined. All of the simplethes that Gawain could think of were produced through sleepless days. Had it not been for the rune furnace that had energy supply from the Magic Web and a sufficient supply of ores, the entire steel reserve might not have been able to keep up with Nichs Egg¡¯s consumption rate. The brick-kiln yard already used the simple molding machines from the machining factory, while the ¡®cement¡¯ Reba had been researching finally had initial progress. A bonding material that had a certain standard of strength had been produced by her. There were still big problems with the production rate and the yield rate, but Gawain could already consider allowing the territory to upgrade from the wooden huts and tents into ¡®hard-material houses¡¯¡­ As such material construction developed, the greatest problem was the shortage of talent. Labor wasn¡¯t a problem as thend developed by the territory wasn¡¯t going to expand for now. However, due to the constant production of new machines and new technology, there weren¡¯t enough talented people to maintain and continue to make advancements. Technological advancement couldn¡¯t just rely on a few individuals toplete. There might be a few geniuses who could create things that could change the era with just a hint of inspiration, but in order to generalize these things and form a sustainable production chain, arge number of middle- to low-level technological personnel was required. However, within the group of 100, there weren¡¯t a lot of ¡®geniuses¡¯; there weren¡¯t even talents. Not every unorthodox individual shunned by society was a genius. Most of the time, they were shunned by society due to their low emotional quotient (EQ). However, theck of EQ wouldn¡¯t mean the person would have more intelligence elsewhere. Gawain might have mentioned that ¡®the territory wees unorthodox people¡¯ or something like that, but it was more to boost the morale for himself and people of his kind. He knew that it wasn¡¯t practical to expect the king to provide one hundred revolutionary people; however, the fact showed that among the 100 individuals, apart from Jenni who had great value and a few good prospects, the rest of the people were mostly mediocre. They might be able to do their original work, but nothing more could be requested from them. I wonder how many intellectual individuals Viscount Andrew can find for me¡­ When considering this era¡¯s education level, I cannot expect too much. Right at this moment, a shout not far away had interrupted Gawain¡¯s thoughts. ¡°Lord Ancestor~! Lord Ancestor~!¡± Reba was shouting and running over here. As she ran, she swung her signature metal staff while the other hand swung arge roll of paper. When Gawain saw the youngdy¡¯s metal staff, he subconsciously thought, ¡®Is she going to use her staff to test if her old ancestor is still alive?¡¯ Subsequently, he saw that Jenni was following behind Reba. That runemaster was holding even more scrolls, and she had a particrly hard time chasing after Reba. While Jenni ran, she was calling out to Reba and asking Reba to slow down. Gawain finally heaved a sigh of relief. ¡®It seems like Reba isn¡¯t here to murder her ancestor¡­¡¯ When the duo arrived in front of him, Gawain looked at his great great n+1 granddaughter with curiosity and said, ¡°Slow down. Slow down and catch your breath. What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°I¡ªwe studied the rogue mage¡¯s notes and¡­ and those rune arrangements.¡± Reba was panting and took a deep breath before saying, ¡°Afterward, we managed to calcte the Magic Web¡¯s unlimited expanding structure!!¡± Chapter 138 - The Power of Calculation Chapter 138: The Power of Calction ¡°The Magic Web¡¯s unlimited expanding structure?¡± After listening to a chain of terms that suddenly popped out from Reba¡¯s mouth, Gawain was a little confused as he asked, ¡°Have you mentioned this to me previously?¡± ¡°I am not the one that mentioned it. You are the one that mentioned it! Have you forgotten about it?¡± Reba was brandishing her staff around as she said (to be honest, Gawain was really worried that Reba¡¯s hand might slip, and the magic staff would smash on his head), ¡°Didn¡¯t you mention to me before to make the Magic Web more extensive, more expandable, and to make it easier toy down and reduce the units? I have been constantly thinking about this matter but didn¡¯t have any results for a long time, until recently¡­¡± As Reba spoke, she pointed at the panting Jenni and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t Jenni arrive just recently? And she even brought over the rogue mage¡¯s earlier research information. I was finally able toprehend the entire system. Lord Ancestor, do you know? The rogue mage¡¯s notebook can only be considered a portion of the result. The Magic Web written on it was just the second half of the theory. Without the first half of the deduction process and construction principle, we could only use a very silly method to make an ¡®imitation¡¯ of the Magic Web. The information that Jenni possessed was the rogue mage¡¯s entire logic of the initial construction of those basic runes¡­¡± Reba might seem to be silly and dim-witted normally, but once there was a mention about her specialized domain, she would be able to b constantly. Gawain knew that this youngdy would surely continue talking until the next meal; therefore, he quickly interrupted her, ¡°Stop, stop, stop. I understand your meaning. You are saying you have finally gathered all the theory and finally grasped the principle knowledge of the Magic Web¡¯s arrangement, and it isn¡¯t just a vish copy, right? I understand what you are saying. Let me take a look at the unlimited expanding structure you said.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go inside to see. There are plenty of scrolls!¡± Reba hooked onto Gawain¡¯s arm and walked towards the tent. While walking, she turned back and shouted to Jenni, ¡°Youe too! Most of the calctions were done by you!¡± Inside Gawain¡¯s tent, Reba had an excited expression as she opened up the scrolls of paper that Jenni brought over. Sheid them out in sequence on the entire table before finally opening herrge-sized sheet of paper and cing it in the middle. The papers were filled with calction forms, diagrams, and summaries of the logical processes. It used a cautious and unbelievable logical method to repeatedly optimize and organize the basic runes. Each paper could be seen with dense lines and diagrams, and even though Gawain had substantial knowledge on magic, he still felt dizzy at the first nce. But when Rebaid out the final piece of paper, all theplicated calctions and connections had been simplified. On it, there was the most fundamental unit diagram; it was a hexagon of symmetrical structure. It was formed with an eight-runebination: six runes would form the frame, while two would be situated in the interior. Its simplicity and elegance had reached an unbelievable degree. Just a mere nce of it had attracted Gawain¡¯s eyes to it. ¡°This¡­¡± ¡°This is the Magic Web¡¯s most fundamental unit.¡± Reba¡¯s eyes were sparkling. ¡°Beforepleting all the possible optimizations and simplifications, I realized that the Magic Web only requires eight runes to carry out the basic replenishing and output functions, while there is only one interference bond in the interior. As such, every ¡®unit¡¯ would have an extremely low interference threshold, and when more of such units are connected, the interference would actually decrease. Take a look, it is symmetrical andplements the sides, so¡­¡± Gawain wasn¡¯t listening to the rest of the things that Reba was saying. In front of his eyes, there was a stunning scene that belonged to the future¡­ This hexagon unit could be expanded and extended. Using its symmetrical structure, countless hexagons could be connected into a honeb shape. It could beid down anywhere ¡ª factories, cities, activity areas. This grand energy source design had finally gotten rid of the restrictions of a ¡®magic circle¡¯. After Reba and Jenni¡¯s days and nights of optimizations, it had turned into a fundamental unit and had be the most impressive magic phenomenon. The Magic Web could finally be a Magic ¡®Web¡¯. ¡°How do we solve the problem of recing ¡®Magic Web 1¡¯ with this structure?¡± Gawain immediately asked a very practical question. Magic Web 1 and Magic Web 2 that used the same model were currently operating for the steel works and the brick-kiln yard. There was another small-scale ¡®Prototype Magic Web¡¯ that was supplying force for the Magic Powered Engine at the mines. The old model of the Magic Web might be ¡®old¡¯, but it had only been operating for a few months. Reba could havee up with a more advanced ¡®Honeb Magic Web¡¯, but it wouldn¡¯t be worth it to directly rece the old models of the Magic Web. It was a huge expenditure for both the manpower and resources of the territory. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I have already thought it through.¡± Reba obviously wasn¡¯t worried as she said, ¡°The hexagon structure might be entirely different from the previous Magic Webs, but it is practically sliced out from the old Magic Webs and transformed. The two models could be directly connected, and it would only require a slight modification of the rune arrangements at the connections. Jenni is a grade-four runemaster. This would be her specialty.¡± Gawain nodded with satisfaction and said, ¡°Very good. From now on, all the Magic Webs in the territory would use the new ¡®Honeb Magic Web¡¯ as a basic structure¡­ But there is something I need to verify. Is it safe?¡± At this moment, Gawain¡¯s mind emerged with an extremely severe hidden danger of the ¡®Magic Web¡¯s copse¡¯. Reba might have found the method to simplify and transform the Magic Web, allowing it to expand indefinitely and even connect with other Magic Webs; this would allow it to possess expansion capabilities, but this was definitely the greatest hidden danger. When all the Magic Webs were connected, it would mean that all the risks were connected. Massive amounts of magic would surge from this structure that could be expanded without limits. Once there was a problem¡­ the berserk magic might spread through the entire Magic Web and destroy all the magical devices that were connected! On Earth, there were various circuit breakers, voltage stabilizers, and other safety devices to ensure the safety of the electricalwork. Therefore, Gawain immediately associated it with the Magic Web and thought it might require simr safety measures too. When Reba heard Gawain¡¯s question, she was stunned and had a wide-open mouth for a long time before she replied, ¡°Ahh¡­ I didn¡¯t think of that before¡­¡± Immediately after, she had a worshiping face as she said, ¡°Lord Ancestor is truly incredible! Why is it that even when new things are designed, it seems like you have already seen it operating for dozens of years and would be able to think of such practical questions?¡± ¡°Cough, cough¡­ An old man¡¯s experience, old man¡¯s experiences.¡± Gawain coughed awkwardly and shifted the topic back on track. ¡°Think about how to settle the safety issue of the web. The Honeb Magic Web would allow a free flow of magic and relies on the Magic Web¡¯s equilibrium and leaking mechanism to ensure stabilized magic. But once a portion of the ¡®unit¡¯ loses equilibrium, the excessive amount of magic would exceed what the unit could withstand. It might just instantly burn up all of the neighboring units and cause a vicious cycle¡­¡± Reba stared with wide eyes as though she was frightened by the possible oue. Jenni frowned and tried her best to consider before saying, ¡°Why don¡¯t we¡­ limit the size of the Magic Web and split it into sections.¡± ¡°Then we will lose the value of this honeb structure.¡± Gawain shook his head and said, ¡°This honeb structure is to allow the Magic Web to expand and connect limitlessly.¡± Reba looked at Gawain curiously and asked, ¡°What is Lord Ancestor¡¯s opinion?¡± Gawain looked at the honeb unit on his table and suddenly asked, ¡°How do you connect two of such honeb units?¡± ¡°Just connect them directly.¡± Reba nodded as though it was expected and said, ¡°When two runes are ced together, it will increase the transfer efficiency to the highest rate.¡± ¡°Make the connection weaker.¡± The knowledge in this world didn¡¯t seem to have a suitable solution. Gawain could only seek assistance from his previous life¡¯s thoughts. ¡°We can add on a partition¡­ A connection made with ck stone should have a good effect. ck stones are magic-guiding materials but have a weak tolerance. Once the magic waves are too intense, it will shatter.¡± ¡°You are saying to iste each honeb unit with other units? Adding a ¡®buffer material¡¯ made with ck stones in the middle?¡± Reba scratched her head and said, ¡°But the ck stones¡¯ magic guidance rate isn¡¯t good, and it will probably reduce the entire Magic Web¡¯s efficiency by 25% or more¡­¡± ¡°In exchange, you would have safety. Even if a few units go out of control, they would be automatically excluded from the main web and wouldn¡¯t endanger other things,¡± Gawain exined. ¡°As for the lower efficiency¡­ When the units are connected inrge quantities, it willpensate for the loss of efficiency. Furthermore, this is only a preliminary solution. There will definitely be better solutions in the future.¡± While speaking, Gawainughed and said, ¡°The current Magic Webs are still very primitive. Even after adding the honeb structure, it will still be primitive. It is directly extracting energy from the environment, and the magic-powered devices would directly receive the energy from the Magic Web. There isn¡¯t any safety cushion in between. There isn¡¯t any stable flow. There aren¡¯t any measurements, and they don¡¯t have any ¡®guiding channels¡¯. The energy consumption devices are directly ced on the Magic Web. Don¡¯t you think that such a connection method deserves to be improved?¡± Reba nodded pensively. Jenni wasn¡¯t very used to such a conversation method withplete equality where everyone could voice their opinions. As such, she was obviously very reserved, but the sh in her eyes had proven that she was considering Gawain¡¯s words. ¡°This is a new creation, and its development journey is still very long.¡± Gawain didn¡¯t ask the two youngdies to understand the problems that might only happen a long timeter. He said, ¡°Take it slow. There isn¡¯t a need to hurry. The two of you have aplished great things this time. What kind of reward do you wish for?¡± ¡°I wish to change to a new crystal for my magic staff!¡± Reba wouldn¡¯t possibly reserve herself with her ancestor grandfather. She immediately brandished her metal staff happily and said, ¡°Look, the crystal on the magic staff is already very old!¡± Gawain took a nce and immediately noticed that the crystal embedded on the tip of the metal staff was indeed very old. It wasn¡¯t just dim, it alsocked several edges. Even the fixed supports for the crystal were obviously out of shape¡­ This was only possible if someone used the metal staff as a goddamned war hammer, right?! Gawain¡¯s brows jolted and wanted to persuade his little granddaughter to not change the crystal. Why didn¡¯t she look for Nichs Egg at the machining factory to get a spike and weld on threerge square beams for her to use? However, he thought that since this youngdy had contributed greatly and her mage-like aura could only be detected from that piece of crystal, he sighed in his heart before saying, ¡°The treasure vault has a piece of fire elemental core. It was obtained from the Gondor Empire back then. You can take it and ask the rune craftsmen to process it before fixing it on the staff.¡± Subsequently, he looked at Jenni and asked, ¡°What about you? What kind of reward do you wish for?¡± Jenni instantly shrank her neck and replied, ¡°I¡ªI¡¯m just doing what I¡¯m supposed to do¡­ I don¡¯t dare to ask for a reward¡­¡± ¡°Are you still not adapting to this ce?¡± Gawainughed and said, ¡°In this ce, all contributions are valued and will be rewarded. It isn¡¯t rted to your birth and status. I heard Reba saying that you are the one that did all the main calctions.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Jenni hesitated and finally said, ¡°I hope you can include the name of Mister Ravencrest in the list of contributors for the honeb-shaped Magic Web¡­ Because the most important forms were all created by him.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Chapter 139 - Proper Path Chapter 139: Proper Path After the discussion of the Honeb Magic Web and also the promise of ¡®rewards¡¯, Gawain didn¡¯t ask Reba and Jenni to leave. Instead, he took out some of the blueprints he had drawn recently. Using his own understanding, he had made a summary and calctions for the ¡®logic of runes¡¯. Reba¡¯s attention had been drawn to Gawain¡¯s blueprints while Jenni immediately noticed Gawain¡¯s calctions. Thetter was astonished as she widened her eyes and asked, ¡°Are these all done by you?¡± ¡°When I had nothing to do during my spare time, I would study the information that you provided to me and attempt to form my own rune arrangement.¡± Gawainughed and nodded before saying, ¡°In terms of magic theory, I am still at the fundamental level.¡± ¡°This¡­ this isn¡¯t a problem about the fundamentals.¡± Jenni looked at Gawain¡¯s conclusion with disbelief and said, ¡°These calction methods and¡­ the writing habits. Have you already had ess to these things previously?¡± ¡°During the Gondor Empire period, there were plenty of contributions in terms of mathematical sciences. Of course, the logic of runes had yet to be developed,¡± Gawain casually borated, while only he knew about the actual situation. He might not have had any contact with rune logic previously, but the mathematical ideology of his previous life was still around. Even if the forms were different, the logic and method of calction would still be applicable. As of now, the rune logic forms that Jenni came up with were rather simple. As such, it wasn¡¯t difficult for Gawain to make calctions with these forms by using his experience. When Gawain noticed that Jenni still wanted to ask questions, he quickly changed the topic to the next phase. ¡°Let¡¯s take a look at these things first.¡± ¡°Is this the ¡®second-generation Magic Powered Engine¡¯ that you mentioned previously? Something called the rotor-type engine¡­¡± Reba flipped through the blueprints and said, ¡°I have never seen this before¡­ This magic circle seems to be of the fire element?¡± ¡°It is the Scorching Ray magic circle. Grade-two magic that could release a focused heat ray from the magic circle,¡± Gawain exined. ¡°This is merely low-grade magic and is even one grade lower than Large Fireball¡­ You have never seen it before?¡± ¡°I have never seen it before.¡± Reba shook her head and said, ¡°Back then, Aunt Heidi had taught me the Scorching Ray¡¯s spell mold. She felt that the spell was simr to Fireball and thought I might be able to learn it. As a result, my head hurt when I learned this magic and had a mental trauma. Afterward, whenever I tried to learn how to turn this spell mold into a magic circle, I would always fall asleep during the lecture¡­¡± Gawain was dumbstruck as he looked at his great-granddaughter who spoke about her dark history in a straightforward matter. This so-called Scorching Ray wasn¡¯t a profound spell. In Gawain¡¯s opinion, the ability to shoot out a Scorching Ray had a truly eye-catching effect, but it was actually a grade-two magic and was just one grade superior to the grade-one Small Fireball. Reba had used her tenacious spirit to forcefully learn the Large Fireball and became a ¡®grade-three mage¡¯. Logically, Scorching Ray shouldn¡¯t be a problem for her. However, in a world filled with people of extraordinary talents, the so-called spellcasting talent was determined by the heavens. For a mage who relied on individual capability to cast spells, even if there was a naturalw in spellcasting, no matter how hard a person worked, it would be useless. Overworking would only cause pain in their heads. To just give an extra note. Reba might only know the ¡®Fireball¡¯ spell, but she could actually say that she knew two spells. If she used less magic, it would be the Small Fireball spell, and if she used more magic, it would be the Large Fireball spell. One spell was grade one and the other spell was grade three. The spell mold was almost the same, but thetter would require more magic and greater focus to control. Reba was innately able to record only one spell mold, and that spell mold just happened to be Fireball. As such, there wasn¡¯t a problem if she said she knew two spells¡­ Gawain had a feeling if this youngdy continued on her proper talent, she would probably create a nuclear fusion¡­ ¡°Lord Ancestor, why are you looking at me like that?¡± Reba had finished reading the blueprints and lifted her head up to ask curiously, ¡°Could it be that you are preparing to create this rotor-type Magic Powered Engine?¡± ¡°When creatingplex magic-powered machines or high-grade magical tools, our great problem is ¡®interference¡¯.¡± Gawain talked about the things he had been considering recently, ¡°When the magic circles are in operation, the energy flow in between the runes would produce interference. Two neighboring magic circles would also have interference. High-grade magical tools hadplicated magic circles and many runes, causing greater interference. This is also the main problem why there are rarely any finished magical tools, and they are mostly very expensive. Since a long time ago, traditional mages haven¡¯t been able to resolve this problem. This is also the most important reason why extraordinary items aren¡¯t generalized.¡± Jenni looked at the calction forms written by Gawain and had a sudden enlightenment before she revealed a pensive expression. Gawain continued to talk, ¡°We have already discussed the rotor-type engine previously. Its only problem is interference, and there are too many Repulsion magic circles. They are arranged symmetrically. Therefore, interference is inevitable. There isn¡¯t a choice but to give up for now. But this heat-ray magic circle¡­¡± ¡°The heat-ray magic circles wouldn¡¯t have any interference problems, right?¡± Reba wasn¡¯t really sure as she said, ¡°I might not know how to cast the spell, but I know that such magic circles are already verymon. Many mages like to set up such traps in their mage towers. The firepower is good, and it wouldn¡¯t blow up the surrounding things, unlike Fireball. It could also urately eliminate intruders¡­¡± Gawain waved his hand and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. Heat-ray magic circles are already in use, but that is with traditional mages carving them on expensive magic-guiding bases to ¡®solve¡¯ the interference problem. But I n to draw it on the very-cheap copper base. The runes¡¯ materials will be the even-cheaper quartz sand and blood-tree resin. Therefore, there is the problem of interference again.¡± Jenni had also vaguely guessed Gawain¡¯s meaning and said, ¡°You wish to lower its cost. But if the magic circle is drawn on inferior magic-guiding materials, it would cause all of the runes¡¯ grade to be suppressed by the materials, causing the effective power to be reduced. In order to ensure the magic circle¡¯s operation, there wouldn¡¯t be a choice but to increase the number of runes to increase the effective power. But in the minds of many traditional mages, more runes would mean a higher chance of interference being produced.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Gawain spoke unhurriedly. ¡°Drawing the magic circles on low-grade base materials or using inferior materials to create the runes would cause the runes¡¯ ¡®effective power¡¯ to be reduced. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the number of runes to ensure that the magic circle would function with its original effects. However, more runes would mean a higher rate of interference, causing a copse. Traditional mages solve this problem by carving the magic circles on expensive high-grade materials using the most simplified magic-circle structure to achieve the objective¡­ They are used to using such methods to avoid interference as they didn¡¯t have ack of money.¡± Reba said, ¡°But Lord Ancestor has been working hard on making extraordinary items¡­ What was that term again?¡± Gawain looked at Reba with a praising expression and said, ¡°Low-cost mass production.¡± Subsequently, he said, ¡°All of the problemse from the magic¡¯s characteristic ¡®interference¡¯. The magic circles¡¯ interference is actually the stumbling block that is affecting low-cost mass production. It directly pulls up the cost of many magical tools that should be of low cost. It has also directly caused many of my designed machines to be unable to operate. But now¡­ we have the method to eliminate interference.¡± ¡°The method is to use the rune logic¡¯s calction!¡± Jenni was engrossed. She had studied rune patterns for many years, but she would only design magic circles toplete the tasks given by her master. This was the first time she realized the true value of these mathematical tools. ¡°Traditional mages believe that more runes in the magic circle would cause more interference and lead to the copse of the magic circle. But in fact, we are able to calcte using the forms so that the increase in runes won¡¯t cause interference. On the contrary, more runes would actually increase the magic circle¡¯s ability to resist interference. The thing that causes interference is when runes are arranged in a specific way that could produce ¡®interference bonds¡¯. But the interference from the interference bonds increases exponentially and would be far beyond the ability to resist interference that is produced by the increase of runes. As such, everyone assumed that if there were more runes in the magic circle, it would be unstable¡­¡± Gawainughed very heartily. ¡°That¡¯s right. With the rune logic, we wouldn¡¯t need to research trial-and-error methods like those traditional mages. We don¡¯t have to rely on luck and their unreliable experience to design the magic circles. Just like the rotor-type magic-powered engine that I designed previously, we can simply make some slight adjustments to each of the Repulsion magic circles¡¯ rune arrangement or even redesign it to reduce the interference bonds. We can also use the same method to draw those magic circles that originally needed expensive magic-guiding materials and draw them on cheap copper bases. We can make it so cheap that everyone can use it!¡± ¡°Everyone can use it¡­¡± Jenni was obviously frightened by these words. ¡°Is it possible?¡± Gawain asked in return, ¡°Why is it not possible? Even the workers at the brick-kiln yard and the mines are using the Magic Powered Engine. Isn¡¯t the Magic Powered Engine a kind of magical tool?¡± Jenni was instantly speechless. ¡°So you want us to calcte these things?¡± Reba looked at the blueprint Gawain had taken out and revealed an excited expression. ¡°Ah, I can see that you have specially put marks beside the magic circles that state the base material and the runes materials¡¯ cost range¡­ You want to make the magic circles activate on such cheap base materials? It seems like it would be very challenging!¡± ¡°Are you confident?¡± Gawain smiled and asked. Reba puffed her chest out and said, ¡°Very!¡± Jenni smiled with a shy and reserved expression and said, ¡°I will work hard and will not disappoint you.¡± The two youngdies then left with a whole bunch of new blueprints and information. Gawain rxed and allowed his upper body to lean on the backrest of the chair while allowing his thoughts to float. He was thinking that he had finally found a way for normal people to enter the mystical domain, a proper path. He had also grasped the method for this world¡¯s ¡®magic¡¯ to be utilized to the greatest efficiency. The ¡®imaginative¡¯ characteristic of magic was the greatest assistance for his odd and wonderful ideas to turn into reality at rapid speed! In a world without magic, a concept might need a few years or a few dozen years or a few generations of hard work to make it into reality. The difficult tool production and improvement process would have taken up arge portion of the time. However, in the world with magic, the entire process was greatly shortened. Almost all of the time, it was done with the mind and the blueprints. If a mage could calcte quickly, precisely, the moment the spell mold waspleted, the spell would be ¡®something¡¯ that could be utilized in reality. Even if the magic only belonged to them temporarily, the ¡®sense of reality¡¯ of the magic had already been proven. What Gawain wanted to achieve was to make all of those magic into Magic Powered Engines, heat-ray guns, crystal bombs, Honeb Magic Webs¡­ Chapter 140 - Byron Takes a Big Risk And a New Guest Chapter 140: Byron Takes a Big Risk And a New Guest Ancient ruins hibernated in the darkness. A thousand years¡¯ time could not erode the sturdy man-made construction materials, but it ate away the human auras that had once existed here. A cold yet humid air was entrenched in these corridors and rooms that had seen much of the changes in human life. There was neither vitality nor lifelessness in the air. Such an atmosphere hadsted for such a long time until outsiders broke it. Magic crystals illuminated the way ahead with the bright light they emitted. The fully armored Cecilbat squad trod in the depths of the corridor. They were cautious and intent as if standing ready to respond to the monsters that would lunge out from the darkness ¡ª despite the biggest living creatures that they had seen since entering the ruins being a few mice. Sir Byron walked right at the front of the squad, while a soldier behind him held an oilmp ¡ª in the situation where there were bright magic crystals, the oilmp wasn¡¯t of much use for illumination. Its main function was to raise an early warning when there was an oxygen deficit in the surroundings as well as to react when dark shadows and unclean things appeared around them. ording to Gawain¡¯s orders, they had gone deep into these ancient ruins in the mountains. It was already their second day moving about the ruins. There still wasn¡¯t much change to the things they¡¯d seen along the way; there were nothing but neatly nned and astonishingly spacious corridors and empty rooms. This constructed structure in the mountains seemed to be veryplicated at first, but after exploring for a period of time, one would be able to grasp the regrity ¡ª this facility clearly wasn¡¯t designed to make a person lose his way. But regardless of how uninteresting the things they¡¯d seen on the way were, Byron carried out the drawing of the map andbeling of the rooms with due diligence. The radiance of the magic crystal shone into a dark room. Byron andpany arrived at the end of the corridor temporarilybeled as ¡®Third Long Corridor¡¯. The soldiers advanced in an alert formation. After confirming the safety of the room, they set up sentry at the entrance, preparing to take a break here. Exploring in the dark ancient ruins was something that consumed effort considerably. The physical exertion when walking was nothing, but groping about in the dark was quite a test of a person¡¯s spirit. The soldiers here this time were experienced veterans with excellent will, but they still needed timely rest in order to continue on. After inspecting all danger factors, the soldiers encamped in the empty space in a corner of the room. They ced the magic crystals around them to provide illumination and then brought out their respective field rations and drinking water, making the best use of the time to eat and replenish their strength. Meanwhile, Byron sat beside a piece of magic crystal, looking at the map in his hands by the light. The areas that had been explored up to now werebeled on this hand-drawn map. As the corridors and rooms were arranged very regrly, the map was very clear and easy to understand. Though the three-dimensional interior of the facility caused a certain inconvenience to the map drawing, the problem could be solved by drawing a two-dimensional view of each level alone on the paper. Byron who was once a mercenary was well-versed in that. ¡°Your Excellency, it doesn¡¯t seem like there¡¯s anything on this level,¡± a veteran reported beside him. ¡°Everything of use has been cleared out.¡± ¡°Things of value are often in ces that are even deeper,¡± Byron replied and pointed to a spot on the map. ¡°ording to the prior regr pattern, this should be the big staircase that leads to the next level. We¡¯ll head this wayter.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Byron ced his attention back on the map and casually swept a nce at the oilmp that just had itsmpshade opened up. The bright me was still burning well and quivered slightly because of the gentle wind. Hold on¡­ Wind? Why would there be wind in a ruin in the mountains that waspletely enclosed? The vent holes wouldn¡¯t create such a big air current, would they? The vignce cultivated in him during his time as a mercenary made Byron hold onto this detail. He immediately closed the map and then wet his finger with saliva for a proper feel ¡ª there really was wind. ¡°There are air currents here,¡± he immediately alerted. ¡°Light a few moremps and split up to look around. There should be more than one exit in this room.¡± The soldiers immediately took action and started to search for secret doors and gears in the room. Soon, they discovered an anomaly. At the end of the room, there was an obvious depressed rectangle on a wall that resembled a door, and beside the sunken spot was a heap of decayed junk piled up ¡ª they were wooden shelves and scrap steel that had gone through a thousand years of weathering. Previously, the room had been dimly-lit. Moreover, simr pits in the walls and piles of junks could be seen everywhere in this ruin ¡ª most were scraps left over after the equipment was dismantled; thus, the soldiers hadn¡¯t paid attention to them at all. However, there were air currents blowing out from this spot. Evidently, it was connected to the outside. Byron ordered soldiers to clear the pile of junk. As a result, a metal piece that was half-buried in the wall was uncovered. It was a cylinder with a diameter of less than half a meter. It stood perpendicr to the ground, with half of it buried in the wall, whileplicated patterns covered the exposed portion. Its upper part was even a surface sloping downwards ¡ª clearly, it couldn¡¯t be used as a tabletop to shelve items. ¡°What is this?¡± A soldier stared curiously at that metal cylinder, a nervous look on his face. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s a trap¡­¡± ¡°No,¡± Byron shook his head while, at the same time, recalling some general knowledge that Gawain had exined to him, ¡°ording to the Duke, articles with such outer appearances are usually used this way¡­¡± As he spoke, he ced his hand on the nted surface on the top of the metal object, but thetter did not react at all. There wasn¡¯t the least bit of embarrassment on Byron¡¯s face. ¡°Of course, the majority of the things here are unusable. After all, they would spoil with the passage of time. This ismon sense.¡± A soldier reminded thoughtlessly. ¡°Your Excellency, remove your glove and give it a try?¡± Byron¡¯s old face wasn¡¯t red at all. He even red at this brainless soldier. ¡°Then youe and try it!¡± The other party proved himself to be a soldier trained by Byron; he wasn¡¯t modest at all. Pulling off his glove, he ced his hand on the nted surface like Byron had done earlier. In the next second, theplicated patterns on the surface of the metal object began to shimmer. At the same time, minor quaking came from somewhere. As a stunned look appeared on that soldier¡¯s face, Byron heard a slightly distorted and unusually stiff voice from the metal object. ¡°Checking¡­ Sample examiner¡­ Stabilization period¡­ Entry permitted¡­ Opening istion door¡­¡± Then, apanied by the creaking sound of ancient machinery operating, the sunken area on the wall really shrunk inwards and revealed a passageway that was previously hidden! Everyone stared at one another, gaping. ¡°I¡ªI didn¡¯t do anything.¡± The soldier hastily retracted his hand, looking nervous and helpless. ¡°All of you were watching.¡± Byron looked at the dark passageway behind the door. He suddenly pulled off his glove and also put his hand on the metal nted surface. The metal device lit up simrly and an old-fashioned, distorted voice quickly came from it. ¡°Checking¡­ Sample examiner¡­ Stabilization period¡­ Entry permitted¡­ Istion door is already open.¡± ¡°Me too?¡± Byron was dumbfounded; then he frowned and casually picked a soldier. ¡°You,e and give it a try!¡± This soldier followed suit in resting his hand on the device. Then, what happened next was exactly the same: The metal device lit up, and a sound came from it, informing that he was allowed to enter. Could it be that as long as it was a human putting his hand on it, he would be able to pass the test? ¡°It¡¯s most likely damaged¡­¡± After testing another two soldiers in a row, Byron heaved a light sigh of relief. ¡°It¡¯s something so ancient after all.¡± A soldier asked cautiously. ¡°Your Excellency, the inside, do we still¡­?¡± ¡°Go in and take a look.¡± Byron still wore a prudent look, but he was already jumping for joy at heart. As an ex-mercenary who¡¯d wandered through remnants of all sizes in the southern borders and had yet to fail, he seemed to have sensed the smell of good stuff. ¡°After searching for so long, there¡¯s finally some findings!¡± ¡­¡­ While Byron andpany continued to tread deeper into the remnants in the mountains, a new guest also stepped onto the Cecil n¡¯s new territory. This was a young woman with a lithe figure. She wore a thin gauze dress that didn¡¯t look to be of Anzu style; long hair hung loosely behind her. A lc veil covered her face, only leaving a pair of bright and lively eyes outside. She walked with poise into the Cecil territory just like that: past the sentries, past the camp¡¯s (actually, it was now a small town) gates, weaving through the neat wooden huts. The residents of the Cecil territory walked back and forth and busied around her, but every person paid no heed to her. The woman wearing a veil walked so naturally, observing with curious eyes this town that theoretically only had a few months of history. Those orderly wooden huts could already be considered qualified town constructions in other ces ¡ª after all, in most ces in this era, the housing conditions of civilians might not even be able topare with these huts. Yet in reality, these huts were still obviously ¡®transitional buildings¡¯. On both sides of the town¡¯s main road, houses were undergoing demolition and reconstruction everywhere. Those houses had apacted foundation and were built using bricks, evidently the next-generation housing in this small town. An odd noise came from a distance. The woman wearing a mask looked over following the noise and found that it wasing from a workshop where smoke and dust were rising from. She walked over curiously and pushed open the door. She was stunned by the sight. It turned out that this was a ce for baking bricks, but two strange-looking machines were ced under the rain canopy in the middle of the yard. One of them had an obvious magic response. It spun under the drive of some magical mechanism and used a powerful rotation shaft to spur on another machine connected to it, and that machine was continuouslypressing the mixture of mud and silt into well-defined and firm bricks. Not only was the efficiency of these two machines astonishing, they clearly did not requireplex controls ¡ª just two civilians dressed in denim clothing watched from the side, whereas more people were busy carrying those bricks that were swiftly taking form onto carts and pushing them to the rows of furnace kilns, which were much bigger than the average brick kilns, neatly lined up on the other side of the yard. Those tworge-scale magic equipment¡­ What were they? Magical mechanism? But where was the mage controlling them? Who was infusing magical power into them? Who was regting their flow of magical power? Who was controlling their speed and start or stop? It couldn¡¯t be those twoymen with not one bit of magical power on them, could it? At the mention of that¡­ it seemed like magical power could be pervasively sensed here. That was really odd. Was this entire territory constructed on a magic focal point? The veiled woman knitted her good-looking brows. She was really tempted to disassemble those two machines for a look. However, if she were to do something so out of line, no level of stealth or mental-nudge spells would help. Thus, she could only shake her head regrettably, leave the courtyard, and close the door. And just then, a seemingly familiar voice that was full of vigor suddenly came from behind her. ¡°Ah! Who are you?!¡± Chapter 141 - The Heretic Cult Believers Identity Chapter 141: The Heretic Cult Believer¡¯s Identity Hearing the voice behind her, the veiled woman turned around. She saw a half-elf with pointy ears standing not far out. Thetter was hugging a big bag of roasted beans in her arms, crunching on them while watching her in suspicion. ¡°You can¡­ see me?¡± The woman wearing a veil ¡ª Melita Ponia ¡ª looked at this half-elf, whom she happened to have met once, in slight surprise. She naturally remembered her; as a high-ranking agent of Mithril Vault, her memory was exceptional. Hence, she could also clearly recall thebat ability of this half-elf guard. A half-elf who was barely stronger than a goose could actually see her so easily? ¡°Is it very difficult to see you?¡± Amber crunched and chewed on the roasted beans. Till now, she had yet to remember who this veiled woman ¡ª whose style was different from the entire camp ¡ª was, so she looked full of curiosity. ¡°Say who exactly are you? A per? This ce finally has traders who are willing toe?¡± No one knew how she associated the person before her to a trader¡­ ¡°Trader¡­ If you must put it that way, it doesn¡¯t seem wrong either.¡± Melita smiled and withdrew her concealing-effect as well as mental-hint spell. It was also fortunate that there was no one else around; otherwise, if the residentsing and going saw a person appear out of thin air on the streets, it would probably cause anothermotion. ¡°You are Duke Gawain Cecil¡¯s guard? Please show the way. I¡¯m here to discuss matters with him.¡± ¡°Oh (crunch crunch), okay.¡± Amber threw another two roasted beans into her mouth, then walked to Melita, and stretched out her hand. ¡°(crunch crunch) Three copper coins.¡± Melita was instantly stunned. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Fee for leading the way (crunch crunch).¡± ¡°¡­Are you interested ining to work at the Mithril Vault?¡± ¡°Ha?¡± Amber immediately faltered for a moment but then was reminded by the term ¡®Mithril Vault¡¯. She was struck by a sudden thought and put a distance of a few meters between herself and Melita all at once. ¡°Ah! Mithril Vault! I remember now! I¡¯ve met you previously!¡± ¡°It¡¯s me.¡± Melita smiled. She found this half-elf rather interesting. Every startled reaction of hers was so exaggerated that it left a deep impression. ¡°Your feudal lord invited me here. So do you still want the fee for showing the way?¡± ¡°Psh, I thought I could earn a sum of extra ie. ¡ª Being ackey for that old dumpling, yet I can¡¯t even earn some errand fees. What a loss,¡± Amberined in a low voice and then waved her hand. ¡°Alright, alright. Come with me. I¡¯ll bring you to him.¡± Under Amber¡¯s lead, Melita arrived in the depths of the territory very quickly. She saw a huge tent standing in the middle of the empty space although a foundation had been built beside the empty space. Arge number of bricks, wood, and rocks were piled aside, like they were preparing to build a big house. ¡°He¡¯s in the tent. At this time, I think he has yet to take his afternoon nap.¡± Amber strode towards the tent on wide steps. ¡°Wait outside for a moment. I¡¯ll go in to inform him.¡± Momentster, Melita heard the half-elf¡¯s unconcerned voice from the tent. ¡°Gawain! The agent called My Little Pony is here for you!¡± Melita frowned in confusion. Why were the pronunciations of that fellow and the people around him all so strange? Gawain had been awaiting this agent¡¯s visit for many days, and she was finally here today. Miss Agent was dressed about the same as she had the previous time ¡ª wearing a gauze dress in a peculiar style, a lc veil covering her face, her disposition mysterious and elegant. Amber had seen this agent strolling near the brick-kiln yard, and before that, not a single person had reported that an outsider had arrived at the territory. This was truly a youngdy apanied by obscurity. ¡°Long time no see, Miss Melita.¡± Gawain stood up behind the desk, wearing a smile on his face. ¡°I thought you would take a long time toe. After all, the transport in this area isn¡¯t very convenient. Please take a seat.¡± ¡°The Mithril Vault always has many convenient channels.¡± Melita was also smiling. ¡°And I¡¯m very d that you¡¯ve finally pronounced my name correctly.¡± Gawain instantly felt a little embarrassed. ¡°Ahaha¡­ Don¡¯t be so sure first. I might still pronounce it wrongly the next time.¡± ¡°Duke is really a humorous person,¡± Melita rose slightly and said in a befitting manner. She still did not remove her veil, but Gawain wasn¡¯t bothered by that. He only watched this agent from the Mithril Vault with curiosity. ¡°You seemed to have ¡®looked around¡¯ my territory? What are your thoughts?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a very nice ce, better than I¡¯d imagined, and there are many unusual¡­ magical equipment,¡± Melita said frankly. ¡°But what I¡¯m more curious about is here. ¡ª You¡¯re actually still living in a tent and instead let those civilians live in wooden huts. This is very strange.¡± ¡°The majority of those are workshops or lodging are for technical personnel. The infrastructure of the territory has to take precedence,¡± Gawain exined. ¡°As for here¡­ you should have seen that vast emptynd beside the tent. This tent of mine will have to be dismantled in the near future.¡± Melita¡¯s eyes widened slightly. ¡°I¡¯d thought those were barracks prepared for the knights and soldiers. It seems like you do not n on building a castle for yourself?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see about it when we have the resources in the future. It¡¯s a pure waste to build that now.¡± Gawain waved his hand. ¡°Enough of that, let us get down to business.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Melita still remembered her purpose ining here. ¡°Please let me have a look at the ring that you found.¡± Gawain fished out the Mithril Ring that he had gotten from the heretic cult believer on the spot, ced it on the table, and pushed it in front of Melita. Miss Agent¡¯s eyes narrowed the moment she saw the silver ring. Her look became solemn ¡ª evidently, that thing was real. She picked up the ring, ced it in front of herself, and examined it carefully while stroking the inner side so as to verify those encrypted patterns. In the end, she lifted the ring to her lips and softly uttered a few sybles. Those sybles sounded fuzzy and indistinguishable. Gawain had sharply realized almost immediately that they weren¡¯t ordinary incantations; the voice that was close to a low whisper wasn¡¯t even something that the human vocal cords could make. And as these few sybles fell, the surface of the ring was suddenly flooded with ayer of hazy glow and vibrated lightly. A good ten-odd secondster, these phenomena then slowly disappeared. Afterpleting what seemed to be the special authentication spell, Melita exhaled lightly, but her voice didn¡¯t rx at all. Instead, it was especially solemn. ¡°Yes indeed¡­ It¡¯s the VIP token of Mithril Vault. Its owner is Bard Wendell.¡± ¡°Bard Wendell?¡± Gawain frowned. He didn¡¯t recognize the majority of the great figures of the present era, but he was very familiar with many surnames of those big figures. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of the Wendell surname before. There was a hothead surnamed Wendell amongst the batch of people moving eastward back then.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Bard Wendell, descendant of the Typhon Empire¡¯s Wendell n.¡± Melita¡¯s gaze was very serious. ¡°You should be able to remember. The Wendell n is as ancient as your Cecil n. Inherited to this day, it is already one of the most prestigious ns in the Typhon Empire. The Duke Ferdinand Wendell of the present era is the Typhon Empire¡¯s strongest ¡®Knight Lord¡¯, also the Wolf General before the previous, and a descendant of the ¡®hothead¡¯ that you mentioned.¡± ¡°Knight Lord?¡± Gawain frowned. ¡°Is it the kind of feudal lord that I know of?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s a unique title created after the Typhon Empire went through a military-system reform,¡± Melita casually exined. ¡°The Typhon Empire went through multiple reforms in recent decades, especially in the military. They reorganized and registered all knights, warriors, Mages, and all other Beyonder fighters, forming the ¡®Empire Corps¡¯ that doesn¡¯t have the private armies of the aristocrat ns as its foundation. The Knight Lord is the military chief of the order of knights thatmands this corps.¡± Gawain was originally only casually inquiring; he didn¡¯t expect to hear such information. His brows instantly knitted together. ¡°Typhon Empire built a professional, standardized Beyonder corps?!¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Melita nodded naturally. ¡°That¡¯s why their military might expanded so quickly.¡± ¡°¡­That bunch of gluttons in the capital.¡± Gawain instinctively clenched his fists. ¡°I actually didn¡¯t hear any news in this respect in Anzu at all. Even when I inquired from those aristocrats when I was in the capital, I couldn¡¯t get such information!¡± ¡°Ah, they¡¯re unlikely to not have the slightest idea about the things happening in the neighboring country, but as to why they¡¯re unwilling to take it seriously, it¡¯s hard to say.¡± Melita shrugged indifferently. ¡°We can discuss these issues at the national level hereafter. We¡¯d better continue discussing the problem of the heretic cult believer and the ring.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Gawain rxed his fists. ¡°The owner of this ring, Bard Wendell, what is his rtionship with the current Duke Ferdinand Wendell?¡± ¡°Bard Wendell is the only son of Duke Ferdinand, and also the previous Wolf General,¡± Melita said, pausing with every word. ¡°Most importantly, he¡¯s been missing since ten-odd years ago!¡± Gawain¡¯s gaze turned strange. ¡°Heir of the Wendell n, general of the Typhon Empire, there¡¯s indeed nothing odd if he were a major client of the Mithril Vault, but¡­ the one I saw at Tanzan Town was a Grade 5 fallen Druid!¡± The difference between these two identities was huge, such that Gawain was totally unable to link them together. He nced at the ring in Melita¡¯s hand and instinctively shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m starting to suspect that the heretic cult believer had stolen or picked up this ring again.¡± ¡°Very unfortunately, your suspicions are still invalid.¡± Melita shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ve already checked. Other than records of your contact, this ring hasn¡¯t been touched by anyone else who does not match the identity. In other words, this ring had been previously worn on Bard Wendell¡¯s hand the whole time. It has never changed hands.¡± ¡°The Grade 5 fallen Druid that you met¡­ was Bard Wendell in person.¡± Gawain was stunned speechless. But very soon, several details shed across his mind. When he was engaged with the heretic cult believer previously, he kept instinctively going for closebat. Even when he possessed sorcery that was more powerful, he chose to hide in the shadows and assassinate with his sword. In the fight, the heretic cult believer revealed an extremely brilliant swordsmanship, and he was clearly highly experienced with wielding a sword. The heretic cult believer¡¯s weapon was a single-handed sword, and the weapon used by Tilian Wendell in the eastern roads pioneering team was also a single-handed sword. The swordsmanship of the two seemed to be very simr, highly likely that they were derived from the same origin¡­ Chapter 142 - Bard Wendells Information Chapter 142: Bard Wendell¡¯s Information The heretic cult believer¡¯s identity seemed to be unquestionable already. Bard Wendell, the previous Wolf General; the son of a duke who originally had a glorious status and an immeasurable future. But he appeared here, defeated by Gawain with the identity of a Grade 5 fallen Druid. In the end, his arm was even blown up by a grenade. What exactly had happened in between all these? Being able to discover a huge blemish in the high-ranks of the neighboring country (it could even be called the enemy country now) was naturally considered a gain, but what Gawain was more curious about at present was what kind of inconceivable life journey Bard Wendell went through toe to this day. Such a staggering change wasn¡¯t something that could be exined by the ups and downs of life; it was literally the ups and downs downs downs of life. He could not help but inquire from Miss Agent who was before him, ¡°I don¡¯t know much about the present aristocrats of the various countries. About that Bard Wendell and his n, how much do you know? How much can you tell me?¡± ¡°The Mithril Vault isn¡¯t a specialized intelligence organization. What we know is limited to the matters that can be circted and do not involve confidentiality.¡± Melita nodded lightly. ¡°Bard Wendell, Duke Ferdinand Wendell¡¯s only son. Brilliantly gifted and diligent. At the same time, also a pious believer of the God of War, Kehr. He received the elite education of aristocrats and the guidance of the God of War sect from a young age. At the age of ten, he exhibited spiritual gifts of Kehr. ¡ª¡ª After converting, he swiftly grew to be a powerful Revered Knight, his capabilities drawing near to the high ranks. The most outstanding supernatural figure of Typhon¡¯s previous generation¡¯s youths.¡± ¡°Stop,¡± Gawain cut off Melita. ¡°That is to say, his Beyonder rank is at Revered Knight?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. ¡ª¡ª At least, that¡¯s what the outside world is saying, and I believe there won¡¯t be a problem with this information.¡± ¡°When he fought me, he not only had great swordsmanship, there also wasn¡¯t the slightest hint of Kehr¡¯s divine power on him,¡± Gawain informed solemnly. ¡°All his Beyonder powers belonged to Druid theurgies. Of this, I can be sure.¡± ¡°Perhaps some unknown reason caused him to lose the blessing of the God of War, Kehr,¡± Melita guessed. ¡°This might be the reason for him devoting himself to a heretic cult.¡± ¡°Never mind, go on. ¡ª¡ª You mentioned that Bard went missing ten-odd years ago. What happened?¡± Melita nodded. ¡°After passing God of War Kehr¡¯s appraisal and test, Bard Wendell officially relieved his father of the title of ¡®Wolf General¡¯ that was passed down their family n and was promoted to be Knight Lord by the Typhon Emperor, bing one of the high-rankingmanders of the Typhon Empire¡¯s Order of Knights. However, he only remained in this position for a year. ¡ª¡ª During one of the routine Anzu-Typhon border confrontations, he and a team of elite knights were sent to conduct reconnaissance outside of town and walked into a cloud of thick fog in the open view of everyone, then disappearing with the thick fog. Until three dayster¡­ several knights who had gone mad were found wandering in the wilderness, and Bard Wendell, as well as the remaining elite knights, was never found.¡± At this point, Melita casually added, ¡°In recent years, the rtionship between Typhon and Anzu has been increasingly deteriorating. The disappearance of Bard Wendell also aggravated this trend in arge part. ¡ª¡ª The Typhon people believed that Anzu had used sorcery to plot against theirmander, while the Anzu people believed that this was a self-directed farce by Typhon, the objective being to find an excuse to reinforce troop numbers. In fact, this almost caused the two parties to directly dere war then, but when the situation was at its worst, Bard Wendell¡¯s father, Duke Ferdinand, initiated an announcement that the disappearance of his only son had nothing to do with Anzu, stopping the outbreak of war.¡± Gawain pinched his chin lightly. ¡°Ferdinand Wendell? Is he a pacifist?¡± ¡°No, just the contrary, he was always a high military official of Typhon before that incident, and he was a firm advocate of war. The many military reforms that Typhon underwent had been done by him on behalf of his emperor. Hence, when the old Duke suddenly came forward to stop the war, it really made a bunch of jaws drop. And after that, the old Duke also turned from a war advocate to a neutral stance. ¡ª He continued driving Typhon¡¯s military reforms but dyed the empire¡¯s border military operations multiple times with reasons such as the timing not being right. Although many facts subsequently proved that his judgment had been right, this change in him still gave rise to much discussion in the outside world¡­¡± Gawain slowly exhaled and pinched the space between his brows as he sank into thought. Originally a brilliantly shining rising star, the devout and powerful ¡®Wolf General¡¯ went missing in a simple military operation. After ten-odd years with his whereabouts unknown, he suddenly appeared in such a deserted area in the south of Anzu. Not only were his powers as Revered Knightpletely lost, he even became a Grade 5 fallen Druid. Not only did the old Duke who was originally an advocate for war not seek trouble with the ¡®suspected culprit¡¯, he instead stopped the break out of war multiple times ¡ª what was the link between these two matters? Did the subsequent change in the old Dukee because he knew something? It was able to make a devout Revered Knight betray his faith, to the extent of joining a heretic cult formed by another religion; the reason for this certainly wouldn¡¯t be simple. A thought suddenly burst into Gawain¡¯s mind ¡ª could it be that Bard Wendell had learned of the truth that ¡®the gods were dead¡¯?! Among all the intelligence that he had at present, only this could exin the shocking change that happened to Bard! Gawain¡¯s thoughts could not help stretching on: if finding out the truth caused Bard Wendell to abandon his faith, did that mean the original powers of his theurgies had been lost at the same time due to the same reason? If one was unable to maintain faith in the gods, one would lose the corresponding theurgies? Then what was theurgy? By firmly believing that a god was bluffing¡­ protecting oneself, one would receive a ¡®cheap¡¯ Beyonder power? But for such a formidable force, it had to have a source¡­ Thus, after winding here and there, Gawain suddenly found himself back at the problem that was troubling him not too long before: In the current situation where ¡®the gods were dead¡¯, those priests and believers still remained pious and obtained formidable powers from the gods, but the targets of their prayers and worship¡­ What exactly were they?! ¡°Duke?¡± Seeing no reaction from Gawain for a long while, Melita finally could not help but ask, ¡°Duke, are you listening?¡± Gawain was swiftly jolted to his senses. He rubbed between his brows while casually asking, ¡°Does Bard Wendell have any offspring?¡± ¡°He had a young daughter before he went missing, Andresha Wendell. Now that more than ten years have passed, the young girl has grown up, and the blood of the Wendell n has manifested an influence in her. ¡ª Her swordsmanship is as outstanding as her father¡¯s,¡± Melita said evenly. ¡°Now, Andresha has also been appointed Knight Lord by the Typhon Emperor, holding the post ofmander of a regiment in the Empire¡¯s Order of Knights. This is probably some kind ofpensation, but the youngdy has done pretty well in that position. The outside world believes that it would only take one or several brilliant achievements before Andresha Wendell can take over the title of ¡®Wolf General¡¯ like her father, bing the next Matriarch of the Wendell n.¡± ¡°The alias that the ¡®hothead¡¯ gave himself back then had really be the honor of his family n now,¡± Gawainmented while shaking his head. He then went on to ask, ¡°So that Andresha Wendell also believes in the God of War Kehr and is a Revered Knight like her father?¡± ¡°No, this is where it¡¯s interesting. ¡ª She¡¯d be a supernatural knight through the most-orthodox knight and magic training. Apparently, Duke Ferdinand forbade Andresha from converting to any religion, so the young femalemander is still a non-believer.¡± ¡°Indeed, this is interesting¡­¡± Gawain repeated thoughtfully. ¡°Interesting¡­¡± Melita smiled. ¡°Duke, this is all the information that I can provide. Has anythinge to mind?¡± ¡°Thought of some things, but it¡¯s all very messy. The heavens knows how a Revered Knight with a great future was reduced to a fallen Druid with no future.¡± Gawain let out a breath. To Melita who wasn¡¯t considered someone he knew well, he did not reveal those shocking secrets known to him. ¡°Thank you for your information. If you hadn¡¯te, perhaps I would never have guessed that the heretic cult believer¡¯s identity would actually be this¡­ bizarre.¡± ¡°Then, do you want to disseminate this news?¡± Melita¡¯s pair of eyes that were left outside the veil became curved. ¡°The true identity of an Oblivion Association heretic cult believer who is active in Anzu is actually an ex-aristocrat of Typhon. The value of this news cannot be measured by a few coins¡­¡± ¡°No,¡± Gawain shook his head, ¡°it¡¯s pointless to spread such things now. ¡ª¡ª If negative news is too weird, no one will believe it. Moreover, the two countries look like they¡¯re about to go to war. At this point where they¡¯re cursing at each other, even the most unpleasant things will appear. The dark history of a Typhon aristocrating from an Anzu citizen, do you think anyone would take it seriously?¡± Gawain¡¯s words had just fallen when an Amber leaped from the shadows beside him. ¡°If the people of Anzu and Typhon won¡¯t take it seriously, you can also make the heretic cult believer feel some nerves. ¡ª¡ª Such an important secret of his is about to be exposed¡­¡± Gawain looked at this half-elf and chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re thinking too much. He¡¯d thrown caution to the wind and became a heretic cult believer. Would he still care about this little loss of reputation? Do you mind someone calling you a thief?¡± Amber red. ¡°I do! I¡¯m already whitewashed now, alright? I am now the Duke¡¯s chief guard!¡± ¡°¡­Could you y conventionally from time to time?!¡± Melita watched Gawain and Amber¡¯s daily squabble with curiosity but was also polite to not join in. She only spoke up while the two stopped to catch their breath. ¡°Then, do you have any more questions, Duke?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Gawain immediately responded. ¡°The Mithril Vault probably collects a considerable amount of treasures?¡± ¡°That¡¯s for sure. There is such a saying. ¡ª At any point in time, the Mithril Vault will have a collection of half the treasures in this world. And it is precisely because we are able to retain such a massive amount of wealth permanently that those big figures choose to let us safeguard their treasures¡ª¡± Gawain cut off Melita¡¯s boasting. ¡°Then, are there things in your vault that can be sold?¡± ¡°This¡­¡± Melita hesitated for a moment but immediately followed with a smile. ¡°Of course. There are always treasures that have left their owners, and there are always rare treasures that no one shows any interest in. We are very happy to, in the situation where the price is suitable, find them new owners that are even more suitable than the price.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the price for the Eternal Stone te?¡± Chapter 143 - Storm Gathering Chapter 143: Storm Gathering Melita Ponia was a graceful person and as a high-ranking agent for the Mithril Vault, she enjoyed a special status in the organization. Normally, she would only be making contact with those extraordinary and important people. It didn¡¯t matter if those important people had an intimidating presence or notorious reputations or entric temperaments. She would still maintain her graceful attitude and would ensure that every deal was conducted smoothly. ¡°How much is the Eternal Stone te sold for?¡± ¡°Ga pfff¡­¡± Take a look, isn¡¯t thiscking some grace? Melita didn¡¯t catch her breath properly and nearly blew off her veil. She was a person who had gone through plenty of hugemotions after all and was still able to immediately regain herposure. She maintained aposed expression while feeling shocked in her heart. She looked at Gawain indifferently and said, ¡°You¡­ are talking about the Eternal Stone te?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Gawain nodded and said, ¡°But of course, I am not talking about the entire te. Even a corner shard will do.¡± ¡°You sound like¡­ you are buying cabbage. I am truly shocked by you.¡± Melita coughed twice lightly, and after verifying that Gawain was indeed referring to the Eternal Stone te¡¯s shards, she said, ¡°You have to know that no one in this world would use such a tone and attitude to discuss about an item bestowed by the gods.¡± Gawain realized that his attitude was truly a little wrong, but he didn¡¯t have a choice either. Even if he inherited Gawain Cecil¡¯s memories, his personality was still himself. Emotionally, he truly wasn¡¯t able to substitute as a pure native and didn¡¯t have any intense reverence towards the Eternal Stone te. In his heart, those shards of metal were only research materials, apart from the astonishing amount of information stored inside¡­ Furthermore, even if the true Gawain Cecil was here, he wouldn¡¯t be fearful when talking about the Eternal Stone te. Because Gawain Cecil wasn¡¯t a believer, and as a ¡®yokel¡¯ noble of the second pioneers, he probably wouldn¡¯t be apprehensive towards such things. ¡°Cough, cough. As a person who died once, I see things much more openly.¡± Gawain casually shook his hand to conceal the awkwardness before looking at Melita¡¯s eyes and saying, ¡°Let¡¯s talk about the Eternal Stone te. Could an organization like the Mithril Vault not have shards of the Eternal Stone te in their collection?¡± ¡°The Eternal Stone te¡¯s shards are in the hands of the major factions. Those are their sacred items, and they wouldn¡¯t hand it to the Mithril Vault to take care of.¡± Melita shook her head and said, ¡°You should understand this point very clearly.¡± ¡°I know something else even better. All the major factions only preserved therge-sized shards. There are many of those smaller shards scattered everywhere. With the kings, the nobles, and even collectors. There isn¡¯t a bigger collector in this world apart from the Mithril Vault.¡± Melita¡¯s nice-looking brows frowned slightly, and she finally spoke after a long time, ¡°You are right. The Mithril Vault does have some shards of the Eternal Stone te, but most of our collections are actually safekeeping on behalf of others. Just like those crystals that you handed to us back then. For such collections, the vault would follow the agreement strictly and would never reveal it to the public. It is very unfortunate that all of the Eternal Stone te¡¯s shards¡¯ owners are still alive. Furthermore, they don¡¯t have the intention to give up their collections. Please forgive me for not being able to sell them. Without the approval of the owners, I cannot reveal them to you.¡± After seeing Melita¡¯s attitude, Gawain understood that there was no room for negotiation for this matter. The Mithril Vault¡¯s reputation was something that everyone knew. Furthermore, their ability to maintain their reputation was also known to everyone. After a few seconds of an awkward and silent pause, Melita said again, ¡°Of course, if you are willing to wait, it might be possible to negotiate for one or two shards of the Eternal Stone te¡­¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°I cannot reveal the owner¡¯s information, but I can tell you that a client made a wrong choice when fulfilling the contract and had vited the contract with the Mithril Vault without any rationality. We have reasons to believe that he isn¡¯t able to pay thepensation. So¡­ everything he stored in the vault will soon be items for sale.¡± Even though Melita was smiling and using a graceful and gentle tone while saying all these words, Amber who stood behind Gawain couldn¡¯t help but tremble while a chilling sensation was felt throughout her body. ¡°Belch¡­ You business people are truly frightening,¡± the half-elf youngdy couldn¡¯t help but mutter. Gawain didn¡¯t ask who was the mysterious person who vited the contract, and he wasn¡¯t concerned about what kind of people the Mithril Vault were doing business with. Gawain nodded indifferently and said, ¡°Then I shall wait. But I still need to confirm¡­ How much is the Eternal Stone te sold for?¡± It was necessary to find out about the price; otherwise, if he didn¡¯t have the money to purchase it after all the big talk, it would be rather awkward. It would be even more embarrassing than Melita¡¯s earlier ¡°ga pfff¡±. Even though Gawain might be sitting on a kingdom¡¯s wealth and felt that he had plenty of spare money, the Eternal Stone te was something that couldn¡¯t be measured with money. Who knew what kind of price the Mithril Vault would ask for? Melita had already gotten used to Gawain¡¯s way of speaking as she smiled and said, ¡°The Eternal Stone te¡¯s value cannot be measured with money. The Mithril Vault doesn¡¯t need to sell it for money either. As such, we want something else, and it is better for them to be rare treasures that are worth collecting. Like ancient relics from the Gondor Era which I believe you can provide. If you are unwilling to do so, you can also use the crystals that you have asked the vault to safe keep. Of course, it will be best if you have another shard of the Eternal Stone te, and we can do a direct exchange.¡± When Gawain listened, his heart suddenly jolted. ¡®Are those crystals that I handed to the Mithril Vault worth as much as the Eternal Stone te in their eyes?¡¯ He believed that the Mithril Vault wouldn¡¯t talk without thinking through this matter. Their appraisal ability for treasures was reputable across the world, and they would never conduct any losing transactions. Then¡­ could they know of the history of those crystals? Or did they at least know the value? But Gawain wasn¡¯t sure if he could directly ask this question to Melita. After careful consideration, he decided to use the most natural attitude to point out. ¡°It seems like in the eyes of your organization, those crystals are very valuable?¡± ¡°ording to the Mithril Vault method of categorization, apart from natural products, treasures are separated into three types. The first type is items made by humans and can be replicated. All of those so-called pieces of jewelry and rare artifacts belong to this category. The second type is also items made by humans but is treasures that we are no longer able to replicate, like the Gondor Empire¡¯s ancient relics or even more ancient treasures. The third type would be Beyonder artifacts. They¡­ are not made by humans.¡± Melita said with slightly bending eyes and a smile as she looked at Gawain, ¡°Those crystals and the Eternal Stone te¡¯s shards are not made by humans.¡± ¡­¡­ Borderless, boundless, temperamental. Sometimes, it was peaceful, and sometimes, it would engulf everything. When it was angry, it could destroy the hardest ships and reefs. When it was calm, it would be like a cradle. Under the cradle though was a hidden world of darkness and abysses. This was the ocean. Humans had conquered the entirend but weren¡¯t able to conquer the ocean. Out of the Loren Continent was the vast and ever-changing ocean that was evenrger than the continent. The farthest humans had made it across the ocean wasn¡¯t farther than the range of the lighthouses on the coast. The ocean beyond the illumination of the lighthouses was far more violent than it seemed. The fragile wooden ships constructed by humans would never be able to withstand and resist the storm of the ocean. On the ocean, there would be frequent mists and fogs that could disrupt the magical environment and would make even the most experienced captains lose their navigation. Before the Church of the Storm had turned into a dark sect, the clerics of the God of Storm were the only blessed navigators when they were sailing outside of the lighthouses¡¯ range. Those clerics that were blessed by their god would be able to find the proper route to return to the port within the chaos and darkness. However, after the Church of the Storm had severed ties with all of the orthodox factions and fallen as a dark sect, all of the remote ocean routes had been terminated. The people had no choice but to be fearful of the remote ocean. The captains and sailors that were bold enough to hunt in the remote ocean before had all be cowards who only dared to hunt along the coasts. As for the clerics and priests of the Church of the Storm, they left the continent and left the vision of everyone. They stepped into the remote ocean and had renamed themselves as the Sons of the Storm. They no longer believed and worshiped the God of Storm and had worshiped the storm itself. They believed that the tide would destroy the entire world. Be it by an overflowing tide or a declining tide. In the depths of the eastern Endless Sea, at an unknownrge-scale ind, the Sons of the Storm were in urgent repair work. They were repairing the totems and putting up a temporary barrier. The dark clouds that covered the sky was like a drooping maelstrom. Violent winds and thunderbolts were brewing in the maelstrom while torrential rain constantly sprayed down from the sky. The boundary between the sky and the sea was now fuzzy and gave off a feeling as though the sea was upside down. Even at the Endless Sea where there were frequent storms, such terrifying weather seldom appeared. It meant only one thing: the sea demons wereing. A storm deacon was standing at the lookout tform in the torrential rain. His ck long robe was fluttering loudly in the violent wind, but the rain didn¡¯t seem to affect his vision. He focused his eyes and looked at the seawater that was getting increasingly violent. It felt as though he was looking at the abyss. The Endless Sea used its ever-changing water to envelop this world and concealed a truth that would make people go insane, leaving behind a gentle mirage for the mortals. As for those foolish mortals¡­ their barely existent rationality and wisdom were taking effect. It had made them instinctively afraid of the endless ocean and to revere its deepest parts. Such vulnerability might be the greatest gift that god had given to humans. But it was a pity that the Sons of the Storm who once faced the truth had already lost the opportunity to escape. The dark cloud maelstrom in the sky had dropped down a little more. The horrific sounds of the wind and thunder were constantly pouring into the ears. The storm deacon lifted his head and looked at the remote surface of the sea that was tumbling with abnormal waves, while blurry things emerged from below the sea. Those were sinister deep-sea beasts that were dozens or a hundred timesrger than regr beasts. Among them, there was a small female figure. When a normal person saw this scene, it would probably be normal to think that those ¡®witches¡¯ were controlling the giant beasts. But after many conflicts and battles with the sea demons, the storm deacon knew clearly that the giant beasts weren¡¯t monsters that were being controlled. Those female figures mixed within them were also sea demons. ¡®They¡¯ were of the same race but had countless different forms. The sea soul horn was sounded, and the Sons of the Storm had all rushed into battle positions while the deacon¡¯s voice pierced through the storm and echoed throughout the ind. ¡°The sea demons are here!!!¡± Chapter 144 - Magic... Capacitor Chapter 144: Magic¡­ Capacitor When Melita left, she had also taken away the ring left behind by the evil cult follower. As a way to thank Gawain¡¯s help in returning this ring on this transaction, Melita represented the Mithril Vault and gave a promise: In the future, as long as there were any discovery of Eternal Stone te¡¯s shards on the outside or any simr ¡®inhuman artifacts¡¯, they would prioritize informing Gawain. To Gawain, this promise was far more valuable than the ring. However, a certain half-elf didn¡¯t seem to think the same way. Amberid down on Gawain¡¯s table, nting her face on the surface of the table, and flipped over like a salted fish while muttering, ¡°A single nce and I know that thing is very expensive¡­ And it is taken away just like that¡­ Not even for a single copper coin¡­ The people from the Mithril Vault are simply misers¡­ Furthermore, they even had a meal before leaving¡­¡± Gawain looked at Amber with nted eyes and said, ¡°Don¡¯t you think it is more valuable for them to help in the collection of information regarding the Eternal Stone te and simr things?¡± ¡°Those things cannot be used as money to spend. Furthermore, that woman with the veil said it so easily, but who knows when they will be able to find a new shard? That is the Eternal Stone te, you know?! It is not some rock on the sidewalk.¡± Amber continued toy down and said, ¡°Ah, if they cannot find any after a century, are you going to wait another century?¡± Gawain didn¡¯t utter a word and allowed Amber to continue bbing, ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right, you have a special skill right? If you aren¡¯t patient enough to wait anymore, you can just die again. When the Mithril Vault finds the shards, you can just ask your descendants to burn the information at your grave before you crawl back out again¡­¡± ¡°Genuinely speaking, even if you are truly chosen by the Goddess of Shadow, it is truly a miracle that you are able to survive until now.¡± Gawain¡¯s brows jolted before he looked at Amber and said, ¡°Enough of your nonsense. Go and help me open up that chest. Take the bag at the top and bring it to me.¡± Amber then crawled up from the table like salted fish and staggered towards the chest while nagging, ¡°Isn¡¯t Betty doing such things for you normally? Why is it my turn today¡­? Then again, where did that little maid go to? I didn¡¯t see her all this time¡­¡± ¡°I gave her half a day off and asked her to bring along Pea to familiarize her with the ce. Pea is afraid of strangers, and she cannot speak too. She is easily frightened by the people on the territory but is getting along with Betty surprisingly well. The two of them might be friends.¡± When Amber brought that bag of things to Gawain, she was all smiles while she leaned over and said, ¡°Let me tell you, I truly admire you now. In the beginning, I thought your amiable personality was a pretense, but it seems like it is actually real. Unless a person is genuine and actually cares, it is impossible to make such arrangements.¡± ¡°Then I have to thank you for your admiration.¡± As Gawain said so half-heartedly, he pulled Amber¡¯s head to the side before pouring out the things inside the bag. It was a pile of dull-looking crystals that were grayish. The average size of the crystals was only the size of a thumb, and the surface had a dense color. The crystals had a mysterious aura that magic-guided materials tended to have, but be it the condition or the quality, they didn¡¯t look like high-grade things. ¡°What are these things?¡± Amber stayed quiet by the side for less than two seconds, and when she noticed that they should be able to fetch some money, she immediately leaned over and asked, ¡°Crystals? But the quality seems very inferior¡­¡± ¡°These are magic storage crystals transported from Tanzan Town and should be considered the first batch of goods. Have you forgotten? I made a massive and long-term order with Viscount Andrew.¡± ¡°Magic storage crystals? These things?!¡± Amber looked at these grayish crystals for a moment before eximing, ¡°That Viscount Andrew shouldn¡¯t be scamming you like this, right?! We rescued his life, and he uses these things to fool us? If these crystals were ced beside slightly higher-grade ores, they would be treated as scrap ores and thrown away!¡± Gawain was a little surprised to see this half-elf getting so angry as he never thought that the person who never put her heart into the territory previously would actually feel so angry because the territory suffered losses. But he merelyughed and said, ¡°Don¡¯t exaggerate so much. These things are rtively better than scrap ores. Furthermore, the Viscount didn¡¯t defraud us. These crystals are sold to us at three cecil silver coins for one taka (weight unit). Where are you going to find such a price?¡± ¡°Three silver coins¡­¡± Amber quickly thought about the size of the newly forged cecil silver coins, and her expression turned better. ¡°It is truly cheap¡­ But why are you buying so many inferior magic-storage crystals for? Crystals of these conditions¡­ are probably used by the most fundamental Mage apprentices to practice, right? Slightly wealthier Mage apprentices might not even be willing to use them.¡± Gawainughed and asked, ¡°Do you know what is the greatest problem with such inferior magic storage crystals?¡± ¡°The magic-storage capability is only half of the same-sized superior crystals. Moreover, the energy dissipation is extremely severe. It is especially the second problem that cuts it off from normal usage.¡± Amber was obviously knowledgeable about suchmon sense questions. After all, it involved whether it could be sold or not. ¡°Man-made magic-storage crystals aren¡¯t popr mainly because of this reason.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. The magic-storage capability is just a small problem as you can solve it by using two crystals. The greatest problem is still the energy dissipation as the magic stored inside wouldn¡¯t bepletely dissipated after a short while. This is a fatal problem for crystals whose function is to ¡®store¡¯ magic. As such, these crystals had much lesser value. Even though it can store a huge amount of magic, it is difficult to put it to good use,¡± Gawain exined while opening a cab under the table. He took out a hexagon metallic te and put it on the table. ¡°If you change a manner of thinking, these crystals that cannot store energy can actually be of good use¡­¡± Amber looked curiously at the metallic te taken out by Gawain and recognized that Reba had delivered this thing over recently. It seemed to be a product of the machining factory. This metallic te was only slightlyrger than the palm, and it had a hexagon shape. Using thetest ¡®press-molding technique¡¯, the mold in the machine could press out the ¡®industrial good¡¯ instantly. On the surface of the metallic te, one could see uniform grooves and also the magic-guided materials embedded in the grooves. This was a piece of ¡®interchangeable base te¡¯ that was carved with a magic circle. Amber felt that she had seen the rune arrangement somewhere. After recollecting for a long time, she finally spoke, ¡°Oh. Ohh. I know now. This is the thing that Reba and Jenni drew out previously!¡± ¡°Honeb Magic Web Unit. This is a fundamental unit and can operate by itself too. I carved it on an interchangeable base te that could be shifted around. It is now a ponent¡¯ that can be used together with other things.¡± As Gawain spoke, he turned the base te around and revealed the empty slots on the back of the base te. ¡°The slots are to connect with other things.¡± ¡°So this metallic te is constantly gathering magic?¡± Amber looked at this entirely new item that was different from traditional magical tools. ¡°Then what are you nning to use with the magic? It is such a small magic web unit and must have a limited capacity to gather magic, right?¡± ¡°It is indeed limited. Just based on the output of this magic web unit, it will be very difficult to even activate a Grade 1 spell. Therefore, we need to charge the energy into these crystals first.¡± Gawain pointed at the inferior magic storage crystals and said, ¡°Afterpleting a charging cycle, it will guide the magic out from the crystal. As the charging of energy is a constant process, the dissipation problem of the crystals would be negated. Look, inside this system, it will serve as a temporary storage tool, to store small amounts of magic generated by the magic web unit. If the crystals are arranged in an array and a sufficiently long charging cycle is supplemented, it is entirely possible for this fundamental unit to be able to release enough magic to activate high-grade spells.¡± Amber eyes were wide open halfway through the exnation. After listening to the end, she looked at Gawain with strange eyes and said, ¡°You¡­ Do you really have the background of a knight?¡± ¡°Eh¡­ Do you need to have such a huge reaction?¡± ¡°You are a knight. Where do all these magic theoriese from?!¡± Amber opened her eyes wide and immediately looked at the magic-circle base te and crystals with disbelief. These things weren¡¯t assembled together yet, and it was stillcking a lot of crucial runs and control magic circles, but it was obviously not far from beingpleted. ¡°This thing¡­ Is it considered a magic device? But it still seems like aponent¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. It is still aponent. But a rather importantponent. With it, I will be able toplete the most important part of my n. Without any supply from fixed magic webs, how are we going to solve the problem about portable energy sources.¡± Gawain smiled and said, ¡°I n to give it the name of ¡®magic electric capacitor¡¯. What do you think of the name?¡± ¡°Magic electric capacitor?¡± Amber blinked her eyes and asked, ¡°How is this thing electric? Are you preparing to use it to release electric arrows?¡± ¡°Eh¡­ Alright, I didn¡¯t think of that.¡± Gawain thought carefully and changed the name. ¡°I have decided to name it ¡®magic capacitor¡¯.¡± Amber: ¡°¡­Is it supposed to go like this?!¡± Looking at Amber¡¯s dumbstruck expression, Gawain felt a great satisfaction. He lowered his head with a good mood, and looked for the drafts he had yet toplete the calctions for, and prepared to continue calcting the honeb magic-web unit¡¯s power output and efficiency. Soon after he started his work, there was a loud mor from outside. ¡°I will go and take a look at what happened!¡± After leaving behind this statement, Amber slipped out and vanished from Gawain¡¯s vision. Whenever Gawain was writing something, she would definitely feel drowsy and couldn¡¯t help but find a reason to slip out. She had only ran out for a short moment and energetically scuttled back, shouting, ¡°Gawain! Gawain! Sir Byron is back!¡± ¡°He¡¯s back?¡± Gawain immediately put down his brush and said, ¡°Hurry up and invite him inside!¡± Sir Byron entered the tent. Consecutive days of exploration in the ancient fortress made him look rather tired. He had a travel-worn expression, but the knight¡¯s face was obviously filled with excitement. He entered and gave a knight¡¯s bow to Gawain before speaking with an emotional tone, ¡°My lord! We have discovered a hidden area in the ancient fortress. It might be the secret testing ground of the Gondor Empire back then! There aren¡¯t just plenty ofpleted equipment, instations, and supplies, but¡­ but there are also some recognizable manuscripts and documents!¡± Chapter 145 - Ancient Testing Ground Chapter 145: Ancient Testing Ground Soon enough, Gawain was led by Byron to the Dark Range¡¯s ancient fortress where the front lines of the exploration were at. This ce was already close to the middle levels of the ancient fortress. It was an achievement after consecutive days of hardbor from Byron and his exploration team. The room was connected to the upper levels withrge stairs; it was spacious inside and had a high ceiling. To create such a spacious room within the mountain was truly a difficult task. Since the creator chose this scale, it would mean that this area required such arge space. Even the corridors had added height, so did the doors and rooms. Gawain picked up a map and used the illumination from the magic crystal lifted by Heidi and checked the routes on the map. Sir Byron had done his task dutifully andpleted the map of this area. Gawain could clearly see from the map that there were plenty of leveled corridors and rooms. Some of the rooms and forks were annotated with a special marking to indicate there were unknown things there or suspicious side paths. It was obvious that even after exploring for several days, Sir Byron and his group weren¡¯t able to figure out the size of this astonishingly massive ancient fortress. Exactly how deranged was the scale of this ce? Currently, Gawain, Heidi, Amber, Byron, and arge group of soldiers had already arrived at the special room. Byron pointed at therge door and the control mechanism that had already been cleared out. ¡°Your Excellency, we discovered this ce purely due to chance. The door was originally sealed, but there is a crack, probably due to the many years of neglect, leading to an airflow that we detected. The mechanism at the side should be already faulty. Its recognition function is already ineffective, and anyone can activate it.¡± ¡°Even the creations of the Gondor Empire aren¡¯t able to survive through the millennium¡­¡± Gawain let out a sigh and said, ¡°Demonstrate for me to see.¡± Byron nodded and took off his glove before putting his hand on the metallic device. There was a distorted voice that came from the device: ¡°Detecting¡­ Specimen subject¡­ Stable period¡­ ess granted. Opening istion door¡­¡± After the creaking sounds of the machine, the ancient istion door embedded in the wall was gradually opening. ¡°Just like this, and the doors will open. Afterward, it doesn¡¯t matter if anyone enters or not, the door will automatically close after five minutes. Or you can hit this pir twice to close the doors. There is also the same device on the other side,¡± Byron exined in greater detail. Subsequently, two soldiers walked across the door, and the device made a simr sound and informed them the istion door was already opened. It seemed like it would go through a useless recognition process on everyone who made contact with the device and deemed them as stable specimen subjects. But Gawain couldn¡¯t help but frown. He was in a deep contemtion after hearing the device saying the words ¡®specimen subject¡¯. ¡°This thing can actually talk!¡± Amber developed an interest in the device and ran over to do the same thing by putting her hand on the metallic pir. She then spoke in high spirits, ¡°I heard that the elves and the warlocks can also create talking magical puppets, but I have never¡­¡± ¡°Detecting¡­ Warning. Not qualified. Indistinguishable target. Passageway closing. rm activated.¡± Along with the harsh and cold voice, the istion door rapidly closed after a loud nose. Amber stood at the side of the device with a dazed expression and said, ¡°Hey¡­ I didn¡¯t do anything?!¡± After the so-called ¡®rm activated¡¯, Gawain immediately ced his hands on the hilt of the Sword of Pioneers. After waiting for half a minute, he still didn¡¯t hear anymotion; therefore, he rxed. It seems like most of the functions in this facility have already stopped. This door is probably operating independently and wouldn¡¯t issue any rm. Byron, Heidi, and others were shocked by the sudden change of events. They had all drawn their weapons as though they were about to face enemies. Heidi let out a breath of relief after they verified that no ancient traps were activated. She then looked at the metallic device with astonishment and asked, ¡°What is going on? Why didn¡¯t it work when Amber touched it?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t bother about that first.¡± Gawain pushed Amber aside and ced his hand on the metallic pir. ¡°We need to check if this thing still works.¡± As a result, the old door device echoed with the voice that said the detection had passed, allowing the istion to open up once again. ¡°¡­This door is shameless!¡± Amber hopped up and down furiously and said, ¡°Why is it fine when others touch it, but the doors will close when I touch it?!¡± ¡°I can roughly guess what went wrong¡­¡± Gawain frowned while he made a bold conjecture based on the responses from the door. ¡°This recognition device probably isn¡¯t faulty.¡± Amber had a face of disbelief and asked, ¡°It isn¡¯t faulty? Why can anyone open it if it isn¡¯t faulty?¡± ¡°This door¡¯s security settings might not be as strict as I initially imagined. Its function is to ensure that only ¡®normal people¡¯ go through the door.¡± Gawain frowned and said, ¡°Do you remember that Nichs Egg mentioning something? This facility used to conduct research suspected to be for human-body experiments. When the device said ¡®specimen subject¡¯, it probably referred to living people. As for the so-called ¡®stable period¡¯¡­ it probably checks if there are any mutations or anything that is out of control. It means to say that only normal people can pass through this door.¡± ¡°Then why can¡¯t I enter?¡± Amber had wide eyes as she said, ¡°I am rather normal!¡± Gawain sized up Amber before asking, ¡°Are you a normal human? Don¡¯t even talk about normal. Are you human?¡± Amber¡¯s sharp ears twitched as shemented, ¡°¡­Alright, it makes sense.¡± The others had also nodded with pensive expressions, and it seemed like Gawain¡¯s exnation had obtained everyone¡¯s approval. However, after Gawain finished his exnation, he went into a deep contemtion. Was the situation really so simple? Was this door just to prevent the escape of any test subjects they lost control of? Could it have other restrictions? It was unknown why when Gawain heard the system¡¯s harsh and cold voice, he couldn¡¯t help but feel an extremely faint but very realistic sensation of hatred and conflict. Gawain searched through his memory but wasn¡¯t able to find the source of this negative emotion. It didn¡¯t matter what was behind this door, he had to enter. They found out that Amber was only unable to go through the door¡¯s detection device, but if she followed behind others, it wouldn¡¯t activate the rm. Gawain then led the team into the space behind the door. They went through a corridor that was constructed with unknown metal. On the two sides of the corridor, there were rows of metallic pirs that Gawain couldn¡¯t help but associate with sterilization devices or something to eliminate static electricity. At the end of the corridor was another opened istion door. On the other side of the istion door was a circr hall. The hall was constructed with man-made materials. The white paint on the walls might already have dust and have dropped off, but everyone could still imagine this hall during the olden days when it was bright and spacious. After taking a nce in the hall, one could see arge number of pipings and metallic pirs that were arranged along the wall and connecting with ancient magical devices. These devices extended out with another kind of pipe that all gathered towards the center of the hall. There were over a dozen objects of strange shapes. They were on metallic pedestals, and above the pedestals were transparent tube-like structures that were used to breed organisms. On the top of the tube-like structure, there was a visibly heavy lid. That lid was fully covered with runes and magic circles, but all the runes had already been extinguished. Gawain was slightly dazzled by the scene in front of him that he wasn¡¯t sure was magical or science fiction. However, Gawain Cecil¡¯s memories rted to the glorious era of the Gondor Empire had swiftly reduced the unwell feelings in his heart. Looking at these neatly arranged devices, Gawain could almost imagine that these vessels were once filled with biomass solvent, and each of them would have an experimental subject submerged within it. In the surroundings of the vessels would be the empire¡¯s Master Mages walking around busily. They would be recording all sorts of data from the specimens in the vessels and would asionally use spells to stimte the specimens inside. They would use a near inhuman and cold attitude to deal with those ¡®test subjects¡¯ that were of the same race as them. Human body experiments during the Gondor Empire era weren¡¯t considered a rare thing, and it was even moremon in the Anzu Kingdom. ¡°It is truly unimaginable¡­¡± Heidi had an intoxicated expression while looking at those mysterious, ancient magical devices. Those neatly arranged runes and intricate metallic structures had made her extremely amazed. ¡°Suchplex runebinations¡­ such seamless assembly¡­ such uniformedponents¡­ How did they do it?!¡± ¡°These runes were making use of the endless energy from the Well of Deep Blue. They had umted all these experimental data while disregarding consumption, and theseponents¡­¡± Gawain looked at the magical equipment that already resembled industrial equipment and let out a light sigh. ¡°These types of equipment required thousands of technical craftsmen, over twenty kinds of fundamental workshops, an entire set ofplicated production machines, and at least a thousand standard parameters, along with the entire empire¡¯s technological support.¡± Heidi was rather despondent as she said, ¡°¡­We actually left behind such advanced technology¡­ Were we really unable to preserve them back then?¡± Gawain sighed and said, ¡°Back then, Anzu Kingdom¡¯s first-generation pioneers were working hard to restore these things when they were still alive. However, the data that we retrieved wasn¡¯t enough to restore even 5% of the things. The industrial chain was severed, and a bunch of semi-literate people from the borders wasn¡¯t able topensate for the loss even after studying those blueprints for a decade. Furthermore, the conditions back then didn¡¯t allow anyone to spare time for research. The first-generation pioneers had to spend 90% of their effort into production work, to ensure that the number of people starving to death wouldn¡¯t exceed the birth rate¡­¡± Gawain then shook his head while saying, ¡°But aspared to this, the most important reason is because we lost the Well of Deep Blue. The Well of Deep Blue supplied a massive amount of pure energy and would reduce the huge operational requirements of countless magical equipment. If the same equipment was put into other magical environments, it might not even operate. It was fine for those fundamental and simple things, butplicated and high-grade equipment would bepletely useless when situated away from the Well of Deep Blue.¡± Amber listened to Gawain and was suddenly moved as she asked, ¡°Is that why you emphasized the interchangeable and adaptable functions?¡± ¡°A magical industry using the support of the Well of Deep Blue shouldn¡¯t be considered a true industrialization.¡± Gawain said something casually that no one understood. Heughed after looking at the surroundings. ¡°Instead of talking about all these things, it is better to look through the pleasant surprises that this ancient testing ground has left for us.¡± He scanned all the breeding vessels, control tforms, magic-guided pedestals, and sensors that had a history of a thousand years. He finally looked at the surface of the wall in the vicinity and couldn¡¯t help but freeze. There wererge writings that were written in the ancientmonnguage: ¡°Humankind shallst forever¡­ Even if we defied the gods.¡± Chapter 146 - : Still Alive Chapter 146: Still Alive After noticing Gawain¡¯s line of sight, Heidi went over to look too out of curiosity. She spent some effort to understand the ancient writings on the wall, but before she recognized the writings, Gawain took the initiative to exin the meaning first. Everyone present was instantly shocked. ¡°This statement¡­ What does it mean?¡± Amber looked at the statement that seemed to be a deration. She was in disbelief as she said, ¡°In normal situations, no one would say such things, right? Furthermore, it is written in such a ce!¡± Heidi developed an association. ¡°Meaning only by defying the gods would allow humans to survive¡­ Does this mean that the gods want humans to be extinct?¡± ¡°Things rted to gods are mostly symbolic or have hidden meanings. A single statement wouldn¡¯t allow you to understand the meaning of it,¡± Gawain spoke while being preupied. In his heart were thoughts that were connected to the Eternal Stone te¡¯s shards and those deliberate and exaggerated truths that were meant to scare others. Immediately after, Gawain turned to Byron and asked, ¡°You mentioned you discovered the remnants of manuscripts and documents?¡± Byron nodded and replied, ¡°Yes, over here. But they are rather fragile, and we didn¡¯t dare to touch it after discovering them.¡± Those remnants of manuscripts and documents weren¡¯t sealed up, and for some reason, when the staff evacuated from this ce, they didn¡¯t bring the documents away. The material of the manuscripts was made from the magic-injected parchments that the Mages of the Gondor Empire used to do their recordings. It was also due to this special material that allowed these manuscripts exposed in the air for a thousand years to withstand the corrosion of time. The manuscripts might still be intact, but a lot of the wordings had already faded, and it was already hard to recognize some words after the wind erosion. Gawain took a rough nce and judged that at least half of them were already illegible. It was fortunate that there was the other half. Heidi was already prepared. She brought over scrolls and a ceremonial quill pen that were imbued with magic. After seeing those precious ancient manuscripts, she immediately opened the scroll and allowed it to float around her vicinity. She then used one hand to hold the quill pen and ced her other hand on the extremely fragile and ancient parchment. After a difficult andplicated incantation, magic started to surge around her body. The quill pen was suddenly freed from her fingers and was flying independently above the scroll and started to write rapidly. The words on the parchment were faithfully restored and copied by magic. It didn¡¯t matter if it was the clear parts or the faded and illegible parts, every piece of parchment was copied. Heidi then let out a breath of relief and carefully picked up the ancient manuscripts before cing them into a small box that was prepared in advance. The contents of the manuscript might have been preserved, but these ancient originals were still rather valuable. It was best to be able to preserve them. Gawain stood beside Heidi and was amazed by the convenience of magic. At the same time, he concentrated on the contents that appeared on the scroll. In order to extract readable information from arge chunk of deformed words, Gawain read very slowly. Despite the case, some of the disturbing statements were still gradually taking form. These documents weren¡¯t some research notes or diaries. After forming the words into various statements, Gawain felt they were like the ramblings of a lunatic, and it was filled with terrifying ideas and metaphors. ¡°¡­pay attention to it. It is watching me attentively from that festering flesh¡­ It is inside my body, and I want to go inside its body too¡­¡± ¡°No one shall survive. The end of days is arriving¡­ sphemous behavior didn¡¯t allow us to struggle on whilst at death¡¯s door¡­¡± ¡°¡­Eat heartily, eat heartily. I have eaten the flesh of gods again. After living a century, they didn¡¯te; they still didn¡¯te, but I don¡¯t need them toe anymore. The world outside has already copsed, has already copsed¡­¡± After this, it was arge section of disorderly scribbling. The words had turned into unrecognizable lines and symbols. It wasn¡¯t due to the distortion of the manuscript or the fuzzy words, it was because of the writer that had seemingly turned crazy. A few manuscriptster, the disorderly scribblings turned into legible words again. ¡°It sleeps in the depths of mother earth; it sleeps in the depths of the ocean; it sleeps in the depths of the sky. It is calling my name. Those murmurings¡­¡± ¡°I can see it, the face of god. It is smiling to me in the light¡­ It is time to depart. I want to go to its nation. Ah, that is the greatest blessing. God has bestowed blood and flesh for us to share, and it turns out that it is all for this day¡­¡± After this, there wererge sections of crazy lines, and the asional single word would pop out from the scribblings, but they seemed to be illogical and didn¡¯t have any grammar. Instead of saying those were words, it would be better to say these were crazy talk and iplete sentences that would appear from a chaotic mind. It was impossible to read these manuscripts anymore. Heidi had also noticed this point. After copying a few pages of ¡®mojibake¡¯, she finally stopped and used Sculpture Hand to flip those manuscripts. After verifying there wasn¡¯t any more valuable information, she stopped her spell. ¡°What is written there?¡± Amber leaned over and saw the copied scrolls that were floating in the air and asked curiously, ¡°It looks like some scribblings¡­¡± ¡°A lunatic¡¯s crazy talk.¡± Gawain frowned. The words on the scrolls had caused him to develop deep unease, but he still gave a rough exnation. ¡°¡­It looks like a person was abandoned in this ce, and these things were left behind when the person gradually turned crazy.¡± After hearing the significance of those words, everyone present couldn¡¯t help but feel their blood running cold. These might just be the ramblings of a lunatic, but it was unknown why the words sounded like they contained some special energy that emitted a chilling aura. ¡°I¡ªI am starting to dislike these things¡­¡± Amber¡¯s body was filled with goosebumps and hid behind Gawain. ¡°This ce is giving me a very, very strange vibe.¡± Just as Gawain wanted to express a simr opinion, a very slight rumbling sound echoed from behind him before he spoke. Immediately after, it was a series of rumblings. Everyone immediately drew their weapons and turned to face the direction of the sound. In the eyes of everyone, one of the vessels in the middle of the hall had some movements! The originally empty and transparent breeding vessel was suddenly filled with a liquid. The surging liquid was rapidly emittingrge bubbles, and a distorted and strange figure appeared from within the bubbles. A second ago, it had been an illusory figure, but in the next second, it had solidified into something real¡­ It had a blood-red color and a giant¡¯s physique. It was like a particrly robust aberration, but it had a face that resembled a human¡¯s. The face had tightly shut eyes and was filled with agony and insanity! This monster looked like it was a fusion of an aberration and a human, and it was formed out of nowhere. Immediately after, it struggled to break out of the tightly sealed vessel, and an unbelievable scene appeared. The vessel that should be tightly sealed had suddenly turned illusory, and the monster¡¯s body had also turned illusory. The duo rapidly fused and pervaded; subsequently, the monster actually squeezed itself out from the vessel! Gawain drew his longsword and yelled, ¡°Take it out!¡± The monster was currently regaining its body, and the moment it got free from the restraints, it rushed at the soldiers closest to it and charged while uttering a muddled roar. ¡°Hungry¡­ hungry!!¡± Longswords shing from all directions had sealed off the monster¡¯s path. Immediately after, a scorching de, a poison-coated dagger, and a series of arcane spells wereunched at the monster. Apart from the arcane spells that were bounced off, the rest of the attacks hadnded on this distorted organism. However, its vitality was so tough that it was frightening. Even if the limbs were chopped off or the bones were broken, even the aberration¡¯s weakness at the back had been shed by Gawain, it still didn¡¯t die. It was still struggling to climb back up and lunging at Amber who just happened to be in its vision. After Amber stabbed with her dagger, she immediately retreated to the side and was preparing to watch on the side. She never expected herself to be a target for the monster and ended up screaming due to the fright. Subsequently, she shrunk into the shadows and escaped. The monster missed its attack and lost its bnce, allowing Sir Byron to have the opportunity to pierce through the monster. The monster that looked like the fusion of a human and an aberration fell to the ground. But it didn¡¯t disperse like a regr aberration; instead, it wriggled and gradually recovered before it started showing signs that it was climbing back up again! ¡°It isn¡¯t dead yet?!¡± Gawain was shocked by this anomaly and immediately grasped his sword to attack another time. But before he could take any action, Amber who had hidden in the shadow realm suddenly jumped out again and grabbed onto Gawain¡¯s arm while screaming, ¡°Gawain! The shadow¡ªshadow realm, something is inside!!¡± Gawain had never seen such a frightened expression on this half-elf who didn¡¯t fear anything. It was different from the previous frightened expressions which she exaggerated on purpose. Amber was truly frightened this time, and Gawain felt that if this ce was a little eerier, this youngdy would immediately cry on the spot! Gawain took another nce at the monster that was in another battle with Byron and the group. Apart from a tough vitality, Gawain was sure that the monster wouldn¡¯t be able to suppress Byron and the others for now. Gawain immediately grabbed onto Amber¡¯s arm and said, ¡°Bring me inside to take a look!¡± Amber had a rare hesitation as she said, ¡°But inside the shadow realm¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m here!¡± Amber gritted her teeth and tugged Gawain¡¯s arm while shouting out, ¡°Alright!¡± The strange loss of bnce was felt again. The sound and senses from the real world were rapidly fading. Gawain¡¯s vision blurred out for a moment, and he was pulled into the shadow realm by Amber. This parallel world that existed at the same time with the real world seemed to always maintain a simr brightness. It wasn¡¯t too dark nor too bright; be it on the surface or in the deep caverns, it would always maintain a dusky and unaffected vision. Gawain immediately looked around after entering the shadow realm. Like other ces in the shadow realm, this ce had also used a certain disorderly method to reflect off the real world. The circle-shaped hall had a pale luster, and in the vicinity of the hall, there was a dark lump that was like moving smoke, while in the real world, it was where all those magical equipment were ced at. In the center of the hall was the ¡®thing¡¯ that Amber mentioned. The original metallic base and transparent vessel were missing. It was reced by a pool of ck smoke that was surging in the middle, and it was also constantly extending out. It was like a red mud that was like fresh blood. While the mud was constantly surging, there were countless chaotic mutters filling the mind! Chapter 147 - Already Dead Chapter 147: Already Dead Inside the ck and white shadow realm, the bloody mud that constantly surged out from the ck smoke looked as though it was alive and tumbling. They were constantly flowing out from the smoke but would constantly vanish. They would never be able to extend further than the ck smoke. They were like some kind of disgusting, bone-chilling mollusks. While they were flipping around, they would constantly emit a distracting and strange turbid sound. In the beginning, Gawain thought the sound was a normal sound produced when the mud was flipping around. However, he quickly realized that the rumbling sound was like a mutter that could be heard when someone was dreaming. It was impossible to hear any logical information form the evil and chaotic sound; it merely brought fear, frustration, and disturbance. It wasn¡¯t only Gawain; not even Amber had seen such strange things in the shadow realm. It obviously corresponded with the ce of the breeding vessel, but this bloody mud was different from the ¡®reflection¡¯ rule between the shadow realm and the real world. It was obviously a distorted thing that shouldn¡¯t exist. Instead of saying it was ¡®reflected¡¯ in this ce, it would be better to say that there was some reason it was upying this ce. Gawain used an instinctively disgusted face to look at the mud that constantly oozed out from the ck smoke before turning to look at Amber. ¡°What is this thing¡­? It is these things that frightened you?¡± He felt it was rather strange. This bloody mud might give off an unpleasant feeling and would constantly mutter something that would make a person distracted; furthermore, there was a strange power that was constantly attempting to y a horrific film in Gawain¡¯s mind. But those iMages didn¡¯t do anything apart from allowing Gawain to recall the stimtion when watching a horror film at night in his previous life. Amber was a fearless person and would even dare to sneak into an ancestor¡¯s tomb during the Dark Wave. She might be shocked by this mud, but it was strange that she was frightened stiff. Amber felt it was rather strange too. She looked at the mud with lingering fear and said, ¡°Yes¡­ That¡¯s right¡­ When I merely took a nce at these things earlier, it was so horrifying that I felt my mind was about to explode. Even when I recalled its appearance, I would have brief hallucinations in my mind. I don¡¯t know what happened now¡­ These things might still be disgusting, but I don¡¯t feel those spiritual attacks anymore.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Gawain looked at Amber before frowning and looking back at the mud. Immediately after, he gripped the Sword of Pioneers and walked carefully towards the source of the mud. A certain intuition told him that the ¡®aberration fusion¡¯ that had bizarrely tough vitality was rted to this pile of mud in the shadow realm. If he didn¡¯t eliminate this pile of mud here, the investigation on the other side would probably never be able to be conducted sessfully. When Amber saw Gawain walking forward, she followed behind while perspiring cold sweat. When facing such abnormal beings that were beyondmon sense, one¡¯sbat ability would obviously be unreliable. However, at the next moment, she was so stunned while she stared with wide eyes. As Gawain took each step forward, that constantly surging bloody mud actually retreated bit by bit! In the beginning, it wasn¡¯t very obvious, but after Gawain took a few more steps, the mud that extended in all directions had actually caved in significantly. It was so obvious that anyone could see it. Gawain was also startled by this situation. He took one step forward, and the mud would take one step back. When he stood still, the mud had also stood in ce and was squirming on the spot. ¡°What is going on?¡± Amber¡¯s astonished voice echoed from the back. ¡°These things seem to be¡­ afraid of you?¡± ¡°Instead of saying it is afraid, why not say that it is a kind of biological or instinctive reflex?¡± Gawain frowned as he couldn¡¯t understand why the mud would be retreating from him. However, it didn¡¯t matter as Gawain continued to advance while saying, ¡°This is good. Saves me a lot of work.¡± The mud in front of Gawain had finally retreated back into the ck smoke. As Gawain continued to walk forward, even that ck smoke started to contract and change forms, causing it to reveal a gap. Through the gap, Gawain saw the neatly arranged runes and magic crystals that were still emitting a faint light. Magic circle? It isn¡¯t a magic circle reflected from the real world to the shadow realm, but a real magic circle constructed in the shadow realm?! Could it be the work of the Gondor Empire¡¯s Master Mages? Gawain was rather astonished, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt it wasn¡¯t really all that amazing. Gondor Empire¡¯s magical technology was far beyond the current era. At that time, the unique human magic system was something that even amazed the elves. Even though the humans back then didn¡¯t find out what the nature of the shadow realm was, but it didn¡¯t affect those powerful Master Mages from having the ability to enter the shadow realm. Amber stood far away from the bloody mud, and when she noticed that Gawain didn¡¯t move for a long time, she waved her hand and shouted, ¡°Have you discovered something?¡± ¡°A magic circle that is constructed on ¡®this side¡¯.¡± Gawain didn¡¯t lift his head and answered, ¡°It seems like this testing facility is constructed in two parts. The real world¡¯s facility is one of the parts, and the other part is constructed inside the shadow realm¡­¡± Amber was obviously surprised. ¡°Wow! That era¡¯s humans are incredible. They can enter the shadow realm too?¡± ¡°The people from that era are so incredible that you cannot imagine,¡± Gawain replied casually before stepping into the range of the ck smoke. As he crouched down and was looking for the magic circle¡¯s core, the ck smoke constantly withdrew, allowing theplicated and massive magic circle to slowly beplete in Gawain¡¯s vision. Using his theoretical knowledge that wasn¡¯t considered bad, Gawain quickly determined that this magic circle was extremely different from normal magic circles. Only a portion of it was considered ¡®magical¡¯, using regr spell runes or element runes. However, the other portions were carved with special symbols called the ¡®sacred seals¡¯ or ¡®sacred runes¡¯. Those symbols weren¡¯t a part of the magic system and were seals that were regrly used by members of the religions. It was said that they originated from the Eternal Stone te, and their function was to remove obstructions from connecting with the god¡¯s power. When using such symbols, the ¡®circles¡¯ that were drawn wouldn¡¯t be considered as a ¡®magic circle¡¯, it should be a theurgy circle. In Gawain¡¯s general knowledge, theurgy circles and magic circles were two things that would never fit together. In front of him¡­ was the fused product of the theurgy circle and the magic circle! Furthermore, this fused magic circle¡¯s functions seemed to be particrlyplex. As of now, Gawain had already noticed more than twenty runebinations used for control and also arge number of runes that were used for the charging of energy¡­ Such energy-charging runes were rather rare during the Gondor Empire era; after all, most of the magical pieces of equipment were basically powered by the magic from the Well of Deep Blue. There was rarely any equipment extracting energy from the environment which was deemed to be ¡®low efficiency¡¯. Yet, this equipment in the shadow realm had a magic circle that was filled with aplex and massive energy-charging structure¡­ No matter how strange this magic circle was, its size was still limited. As the ck smoke continued to withdraw away from Gawain, its core region was finally exposed. Gawain¡¯s eyes were frozen at the moment he saw the magic circle¡¯s core. Even if we defied the gods¡­ Devouring the flesh of gods¡­ Eat heartily¡­ As these maniacal words appeared in his mind, Gawain¡¯s line of sight was fixed on that object for a long time without moving. It was a piece of a man-made crystal that was a square of one foot on each side. It was sealing a piece of some extremely bizarre organism¡¯s tissue inside. Gawain could only use ¡®bizarre organism¡¯s tissue¡¯ to describe what he had seen because he couldn¡¯t recognize what living creature would have such flesh. It was dark red in color, and it didn¡¯t have any blood vessels, tendons, muscles, or anything simr. However, there was a blood-like fluid constantly revolving around its surrounding. It was probably sealed inside the crystal for at least a thousand years but still was still gradually squirming¡­ It was just like an undying heart. The truth was at the point of disclosure. Gawain didn¡¯t dare to believe the bold association that he developed in his mind, but if the words on the testing hall¡¯s walls were true, and if those crazy and preposterous manuscript records were true, then there wasn¡¯t a need to suspect what the thing inside this crystal was. Ultimately, Gawain decided to believe his own judgment as he recalled the ¡®battlefieldmunications¡¯ recorded into the Eternal Stone te. The gods were dead; therefore, it wasn¡¯t hard to imagine that their flesh would fall into the mortal realm. If there was a pious believer here or anybody withmon sense in this ce, after they realized what was inside the crystal, they would probably lose all manner of speech and ability to move due to shock and fear. But Gawain was different; he was just worried if this bundle of ¡®god¡¯s flesh¡¯ would suddenly jump and drench his face in blood. After all, such bizarre things would always mean great danger, but when Gawain looked at how terrified the bloody mud and ck smoke were, it seemed like this bundle of flesh was even more afraid of him¡­ Gawain used the Sword of Pioneers to carefully poke at the crystal. The organism tissue within the crystal merely shivered a little, but after careful observation, there weren¡¯t any other changes. In short, it didn¡¯t seem dangerous. Gawain sheathed his sword and bent over to pick up the man-made crystal cube. It was rather heavy, but it wasn¡¯t anything to Gawain. When the crystal cube was lifted off the ground, the ¡®magic-theurgy circle¡¯, the surrounding ck smoke, and bloody mud vanished in an instant. The runes had forcefully operated for a few seconds after losing the core, while the remaining magic crystals on the magic circle rapidly dimmed. Finally, this ce was only left withplex and mysterious runes that were nothing more than an anomaly. ¡°This¡­ What is it¡­?¡± Amber looked at Gawain with an anxious expression as he carried arge crystal out. This was the first time in her life that she saw something sparkling but didn¡¯t have the thought to steal it. ¡°Why¡­ why do I feel my blood running cold just by looking at it?!¡± ¡°You really wish to know?¡± Gawain carried this organism tissue that was probably from the gods, and looked at Amber with a dull smile, and said, ¡°With your brains, you should be able to guess something, right?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Amber suddenly opened her eyes before taking a deep cold breath. ¡°You aren¡¯t kidding right?!¡± ¡°The legends say that there was a war between gods in ancient times, and gods had fallen into the mortal realm, allowing the mortals to possess Beyonder powers including magic. Since the gods¡¯ powers could fall into the mortal realm, how isn¡¯t it possible for their flesh to fall down too?¡± Gawainughed but didn¡¯t talk about the actual information he obtained from the Eternal Stone te¡¯s shard. Instead, he used the ancient legend of the war between gods to exin this matter. After all, no matter how entric and unorthodox Amber was, she was still a local native with this world¡¯smon sense and was also a self-proimed pious believer of the Goddess of Shadows. If he was to tell her that all gods might be dead and who knew what the mortals were praying to, she might not be able to ept it. But the legend of the war between gods was something that existed since ancient times. Such an exnation was something she should be able to ept. After all, it was quite convincing to say that a god or two might have fallen when they were in a conflict. But to say that they were wiped out by some Zenith Gctic Fleet was simply a wholly different goddamned perspective¡­ Seeing how Amber nodded pensively, Gawain silently decided, ¡®If it is necessary, I can also use the exnation to the people ¡®outside¡¯.¡¯ He didn¡¯t wish for the talents that he had gathered after all the hard work topletely copse after hearing his twistedmon sense¡­ Even if they had to copse, they had to copse in a proper and orderly manner. Chapter 148 - Test Chapter 148: Test As Gawain removed the biological tissue that was suspected to be divine flesh from the fused magic circle in the shadow realm, the aberration in the outside world finally lost the vitality that was almost inexhaustible. As Sir Byron¡¯s heavy strikended, this aberration let out a low and deep howl. It stumbled and fell to the ground and began to swiftly disintegrate like a true aberration, into ck smoke dust that was blown all around. Gawain and Amber had also returned from the shadow realm, only the former now had an odd crystal cube in his hand. Although they weren¡¯t sure of the specific process, Byron and Heidi could also guess that it was this duo¡¯s movements in the shadow realm that destroyed the monster¡¯s resurrection mechanism. Heidi immediately went forward. ¡°Ancestor¡ª¡ª the monster finally died! Was it something you discovered in the shadow realm?¡± ¡°I found this.¡± Gawain lifted the crystal cube in his hand and then looked at the surrounding soldiers who were keeping guard. After pondering for a moment, he said quietly, ¡°Byron, Heidi, Amber, stay here. The others go keep guard outside the room for the time being.¡± The soldiers realized that their feudal lord had probably found something unbelievable in the shadow realm; thus, they left this hall without the slightest hesitation. Byron¡¯s expression instantly turned solemn. He¡¯d seen the object in Gawain¡¯s hand earlier, and right now, he had many vague associations. ¡°Lord¡­ the thing in your hands is¡­¡± ¡°It was this thing that was releasing energy, allowing the monster outside to continuously resurrect. In addition, it is highly likely that the monster was influenced by it, such that it was able to live here for a thousand years and possess abilities that many ordinary aberrations do not,¡± Gawain murmured and then recounted his discoveries in the shadow realm to Byron and Heidi. ¡°¡­That is the situation. I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ve really discovered something incredible.¡± ng! The staff in Heidi¡¯s hand slipped out andnded on the ground. ¡°This¡­ Could it be the flesh and blood¡­ of the gods?¡± Thisdy who was always mature andposed was finally overwhelmed. She stared at the crystal cube in Gawain¡¯s hand with shock and some hints of fear. ¡°Gods, how could the gods¡­¡± ¡°I know you¡¯re finding this very difficult to ept, and I know you are a believer of the Goddess of Magic and Mysteries. The fact that the gods have fallen and their flesh and blood havended in the hands of mortals is a terrible blow to you.¡± Gawain softened his tone, hoping that it would make this great great great great¡­ great-granddaughter slightly calmer. ¡°But I also know that there is a sentence in the Mages¡¯ creed. The path of seeking is endless. The gods are also part of it. ¡ª¡ªMages were never a group that was unduly god-fearing. It¡¯s the same even if you believe in the Goddess of Magic.¡± ¡°I just couldn¡¯t believe it.¡± Heidi exhaled and picked up her staff with a bitter smile. ¡°Do you know, I¡¯ve only been this disconcerted twice in my life. The previous time was when I saw you rise from your coffin.¡± ¡°Legend says there was once an ancient divine battle. Some of the gods were defeated, and their remains fell into the mortal world when they died. Their powers and fragments turned into the various Beyonder powers and magical creatures in the mortal world. And those gods who were victorious were the main gods of today.¡± Gawain provided the exnation that he had prepared. ¡°Perhaps not all the remains of the gods had ¡®transformed¡¯. ¡ª¡ª Maybe the Gondor Empire back in those years found this piece of remains that was intact and still contained vitality. Then they built this secret base to study it.¡± This exnation was rather easy to ept, and it wasn¡¯t fabricated either ¡ª¡ª in fact, Gawain even felt that a big part of this exnation tallied with the truth. At most, it was just slightly¡­ more euphemistic with a partial exnation of the gods¡¯ cause of death.¡± Insert ¡®Save Some Face For the Gods.jpg¡¯ Compared to Heidi, Byron instead appeared to be even moreposed. He who was an ex-mercenary was even morecking in reverence for the gods. When he saw those squirming strange biological tissues, what he felt more was nervousness and disbelief, but there were little emotions of awe and fear. Thus, he very quickly resumed his calmness and got thinking. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s not as exaggerated as we think. The ancient era had so many formidable things. Perhaps the Gondor Empire only found the remains of a certain demigod creature that had remnants of ¡ª what was it called again? ¡ª ¡®divine¡¯ powers! Then, they were taken to be the corpses of gods and studied.¡± Gawain had to admit that Byron¡¯s argument made sense too. ¡°This is also a possibility.¡± With that, he examined this hall. Regarding the research projects that this ce had once carried out, he believed that he had already caught some prospects of it. ¡°The Gondor Empire in the Meteoric Era¡­ That was an era where humankind was proud and arrogant. The energy of the Well of Deep Blue knew no limits. The adaptability of humankind¡¯s Mage system led to human Mages almost being Spellcasters with the strongest destructive force in the world. When they were invincible, there woulde a change in the things humankind pursued. Nock of resources, not short of powers, what they wanted next¡­ was probably eternity like the gods in the legends,¡± Gawain said while looking towards the line of words on the wall of the hall. ¡°¡®Humankind shallst forever¡­ Even if we defied the gods.¡¯ With the use of the word ¡®defy¡¯, it shows that the researchers then knew what an audacious thing it was that they were doing, but they simply dared to do so¡­ Unbridled testing at the edge of seeking doom probably referred to this.¡± At the end, he sighed and shook his head. ¡°Unfortunately, schrs of the empire soon learned that the Well of Deep Blue was the only supernatural magical power well in the entire continent, and its magical power had a transmission limit. The powerful and unmatched Gondor Empire had merely been blessed by luck. The territory of the empire had been limited to the radiation range of the Well of Deep Blue from the very beginning. Thus, when the Meteoric Era ended, all the presumptuous ideas became naught¡­¡± Everyone was full of a myriad of feelings because of Gawain¡¯s words. Finally, it was Heidi who broke the silence. ¡°Ancestor, how do you n on dealing with these¡­ divine flesh and blood?¡± ¡°I was just about to say.¡± Gawain nced at the crystal cube in his hand and then lifted his head to look at Heidi and Byron. ¡°When you are focusing on it, is there any¡­ mental difort? For example, fear or auditory or visual hallucinations?¡± ¡°No.¡± Sir Byron shook his head. ¡°Though I was startled when I first learned what it was, there¡¯s nothing ¡ª now that I¡¯ve epted the fact.¡± ¡°Is that so¡­?¡± Gawain frowned. ¡°I want to do a test. This test might cause some pressure on your minds. Are you two willing? Oh yes, Amber already tried it once by herself. Such a mental influence isn¡¯t fatal, and you can recover from it.¡± Amber instantly red. ¡°It¡¯s not like I actively wanted to test it earlier!¡± On the contrary, Heidi and Byron did not hesitate for long; the two of them nodded together. ¡°Ancestor (Lord), please begin!¡± Gawain thought for a while, then cautiously ced the crystal cube on the ground, and instructed the two. ¡°You two move a little farther.¡± Byron and Heidiplied without knowing the reason why, moving to stand a few meters away from the crystal cube; they then watched as Gawain removed his hand from the surface of the cube before he slowly retreated. Gawain even questioned as he stepped back, ¡°Any sense of difort now?¡± The two people still shook their heads, while Amber had darted out the instant she realized what Gawain had in mind. At this point, no one had any idea where she was cowering at. Gawain continued to back away and was engrossed with focusing on the changes of the biological tissues in the crystal. Through this process, he confirmed Byron and Heidi¡¯s condition over and over, and just as he was about fifteen meters away, there was suddenly a change in the flesh and blood stored in the crystal! The biological tissues that were originally writhing slowly became active all at once. The dark-red blood sma gradually backwashing around the biological tissues also quickened in flow and spread many tiny ¡®tributaries¡¯, forming a structure that seemed like a three-dimensional spiderweb within the crystal. Following the changes to the flesh and blood in the crystal, Heidi and Byron¡¯s expressions instantly turned delirious. Upon seeing this sight, Gawain had gotten an assessment. He didn¡¯t need to inquire about the two¡¯s condition before he suddenly took a step forward, and it was the distance of this step that calmed the divine flesh and blood, that¡¯d just recovered some activity, back down again. ¡°This¡­ What¡¯s going on?!¡± Heidi was roused from the brief mentalpse and looked toward Gawain with some remaining palpitations. She could no longer recall what she had seen in the brief moment earlier, but the frightening feeling of a loss of mental control and her mind being flooded with noise and hallucinations were etched there. And what she found even more inconceivable than the terrifying feeling earlier was the fact that Gawain only needed to take a step forward to repress the restlessness of the divine flesh and blood. ¡°How did you manage to do that?¡± ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t know either, but it seems like I am able to repress the activity of these biological tissues.¡± Gawain was actually also rather confused; though he had some vague guesses in his heart, he really didn¡¯t know how to vocalize them. ¡°It¡¯s probably because as a fellow who¡¯d resurrected, I am considered to have vited thews of nature and carry some odd might to some extent.¡± A trace of awe instantly appeared in Heidi¡¯s look toward Gawain, but apart from the reverence, she had a question that was more practical. ¡°How should we deal with this thing? Are you going to constantly keep it with you?¡± Amber who had cowered into an unknown nook and cranny earlier wormed out again and even gave her opinion from the side. ¡°I feel that if you were to be hugging such a piece of divine jerky when you¡¯re eating and sleeping, you¡¯d be taken to be a psychopath¡­¡± Gawain pondered for a moment and thought to himself, if it was really as Amber had said, this might be the highest level of necrophilism throughout history, and he probably had to add the prefix ¡®holy¡¯ in front of necrophilism¡­ Then he pulled at his thoughts that had started to digress and red at Amber. ¡°No one will think you¡¯re a mute if you speak less!¡± Next, he did the test several more times and finally gained a rough understanding of the ¡®encroaching pattern¡¯ of these divine flesh and blood. They were some residue bits of the dead gods after all; the destructiveness of these biological tissues weren¡¯t as severe as Gawain had imagined at the beginning. He found that so long as the average person does not focus directly on these flesh and blood, he wouldn¡¯t be affected, and if these flesh and blood were at a distance of more than twenty meters, even if one focused on it, he would be able to maintain enough reason to look away or escape the area of effect. In this case, there was no need to send this thing back to the shadow realm to be kept. To be honest, sending this thing back to the shadow realm might seem like the safest way of storing it; after all, in this territory, no one other than Amber was able to enter the shadow realm, but Gawain still had this nagging feeling of uneasiness. He believed that those Master Mages of Gondor hadn¡¯t ced this piece of divine flesh and blood into the shadow realm to safely control it ¡ª because, given the Gondor magic skills in those years, they absolutely had the ability to create a enclosing barrier of some kind or a magic enigma lock to store this thing. Entering the shadow realm wasn¡¯t as difficult as it was today, so leaving the item in the shadow realm naturally wasn¡¯t as safe as it was today. Thinking carefully, if those Master Mages ced these biological tissues in the shadow realm and even set up aplicated fused magic circle for it; instead of saying that they were repressing and controlling it, they were more likely to be sustaining it with the help of the shadow realm¡¯s powers. Gawain recalled that structures resembling charging runes did exist on that fused magic circle¡­ At the thought of these, Gawain made up his mind: he decided that he could not send this dangerous thingamajig back to the shadow realm! If he lost control over this ancient testing ground and it slowly grew and regenerated in a ce where no one was able to monitor it, what would he do? Numerous novels and movies in his past life had given him a reminder: sealing the item in a ce where oneself could not see it; that was the first step to unexpected happeningsing true! Chapter 149 - Accommodate Chapter 149: Amodate Although it was decided that they could not ce the ¡®divine sample¡¯ back into the shadow realm, the specific amodation for it was a big problem. Bringing it back to the territory was a definite no ¡ª this thing was unlike the conventional findings, not to mention a metal ball like Nichs Egg who was harmless to man and beast. The divine tissue cells themselves were a fatal substance to mortals. Even if it was merely taking a closeup look, a human would certainly die or go mad. Hence, they had to keep it somewhere far from the crowd but at the same time, ensure that it waspletely under their own control. After much thought, it seemed that this ruin in the mountains was the best amodation for it. Gawain took out the map that Byron drew. Very soon, he found a space that fit his demands ¡ª in therge winding corridor in the middle level of the ruin, there was a spacious empty room close to the southwestern corner. That room used to be aboratory; thus, it was strong and easy to guard. Most importantly, there was a considerable distance between that room and this circr hall. Though he didn¡¯t know if there were other objects in this circr hall that could engender a response with the divine flesh and blood, increasing the distance between the two would be reassuring to some extent. Gawain pointed at the map and ordered, ¡°Keep it in this room, held in a light-proof cloth or box, in any circumstances other than when I¡¯m present. Otherwise, ensure that this sample is alwayspletely covered. Not a single trace can be exposed in the sight ofymen. Heidi, the magic door of that room is already daMaged. Go reset its mechanisms to ensure that it won¡¯t be casually opened by anyone. That room will be set as a ¡®restricted area¡¯ henceforth. Unless it is with my permission, no one is allowed to enter.¡± Byron and Heidi nodded in assent. Then Byron went on to ask, ¡°Lord, do we leave guards outside the room?¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°Leave two guards and dispatch another two teams to rotate shifts with them. The room has to be guarded all round the clock. In addition, you must pick the most reliable soldiers so as to prevent fellows who are too curious from going in and sending themselves to their doom.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± After all these orders, Gawain let out a breath, but the weight in his heart didn¡¯t lessen. He seemed to understand Viscount Andrew¡¯s feelings then ¡ª dug a treasure out, but it turned out to be a hot potato. The flesh and blood sample of the gods. How big a storm this item could set off in this world was something that almost didn¡¯t need to be thought about. The powers, the knowledge, as well as the wealth that it could bring, were immeasurable, but the risks it might entail were also the same. Gawain wasn¡¯t a person who liked taking risks in his previous life. ording to his personality, if he dug out such a thingamajig, he would want to throw it as far as possible away from him; it would be best if it could be tossed to a certain wastrel (for example, a certain heretic cult), but now, there had been more or less some changes in his personality. He really couldn¡¯t restrain his curiosity towards ¡®the gods¡¯, especially when he¡¯d now realized that a connection had probably emerged between ¡®the gods¡¯ and himself; such curiosity became even more irrepressible. Those biological tissues could be suppressed by himself; the gods had probably died in the hands of a powerful civilization that owned a fleet. He had transmigrated and was highly likely attached to a satellite. This satellite was perhaps left behind by that powerful civilization, so his suppression of the divine flesh and blood was most likely rted to his identity as a ¡®satellite spirit¡¯. On the other hand, the Eternal Stone te even recorded the truth that the gods were dead, and the process through which the Eternal Stone te built a connection with him also showed distinctiveness. Associating this to those crystals set in the back of the stone te fragment, perhaps it was also a relic of the powerful civilization. As for why the Eternal Stone te ¡ª that was supposed to be the ¡®property of some deicides¡¯ ¡ª instead bore the knowledge of the gods and brought religious enlightenment to the mortals of this, this was something that Gawain couldn¡¯t figure out until now. Gawain had a vague sense that he was already caught up in all of these, unavoidable to him even if he tried. It could even be said that it was more than being involved in this vortex for him ¡ª he himself was part of this vortex. ¡°The incident that happened here today must be kept secret,¡± Gawain said in a low voice and looked towards Sir Byron. ¡°Byron, you and your men will continue exploring this ruin, but as long as you discover rooms that have styles simr to this, you must seal it at the first moment and wait for me to personally confirm it. This is to prevent you people from identallying into contact with those things rted to gods.¡± Byron bowed his head deeply. ¡°I understand, Lord.¡± ¡°Ancestor, these manuscripts¡­¡± Heidi pointed at those manuscripts that had been collected on the desk not far out; they were those ancient parchments that recorded the insane ravings of a certain mad person. ¡°Do we bring them back or what?¡± Gawain nced at those manuscripts, and his eyes could not help but wander to the bloody skeleton on the ground nearby that was rapidly disintegrating. He had vaguely guessed how those manuscripts came to be ¡ª most likely left behind by this monster. In those days, a considerable number of failed experiments had arisen from the human body experiments that the Gondor Empire carried out here. And when they evacuated, most of the experiment subjects were destroyed, but there were also some that were kept in breeding vessels, sealed instead of destroyed ¡ª¡ª this was perhaps for the sake of certain research aims, but evidently, those researchers that left never returned. Yet, those experiment subjects sealed in the vessels didn¡¯t die as a result; on the contrary, he (or it) was persistently affected by the divine flesh and blood while in the experiment apparatus, surviving all the way till today, and developed peculiar abilities in this process such that it was able to break out of the breeding vessels and achieve a certain extent of freedom of movement. It even retained the ability to think for a time. Regardless, it was now merely a pile of remains that was continuously disintegrating. ¡°Store it together with this piece of crystal,¡± Gawain ultimately decided. ¡°This crystal cube is named primary sample, number one. The manuscript shall be a derivative of this primary sample. Henceforth, if simr strange items are found in these ruins, they will be numbered and stored ording to this rule.¡± By the time he was done handling the matters in the remnants, it was already night when Gawain returned to the territory. The bright magic crystalmps were lit on the main roads of the territory and several other important spots. Due to the realization of the Magic Web technology, as well as the pilot run of the new ¡®Honeb Magic Web¡¯, the territory no longer had to rely on only torches and fire pans for illumination at night like they did at the start. These days, at the various factories, research facilities, night school areas, and the main roads of the territory, magic crystals that could stay lit throughout the night thanks to the sustained energy supply from the Magic Web brought permanent and stable light. And illumination in the night was the important guarantee that the territory could speed up developments. Without inexpensive and reliable means of night lighting, people could only work in the day. Many projects that required continuous work throughout 24 hours could not beunched; night education and factory production were all affected as a result. On Earth, the emergence of electric light brought radical change to the work and lifestyles of humankind, allowing human civilization to be a powerful machine that operated round the clock. Whereas in this world, high-quality night lighting technology had actually appeared long ago; illumination crystals that could be artificially synthesized weren¡¯t something that was too costly. The only thing restricting its development was merely the backward state of energy resources. Without the Magic Web which had highpatibility, traditional magic crystals would have to rely on the continuous infusion of magical power by Mages to be lit up, and how was having a noble Mage rushing throughout the night between hundreds of such magic crystalmps like a handyman something that civilians could imagine? Therefore, it was always only the castles of the King and feudal lords that could be brightly lit throughout the night. To those civilians who even had to budget lighting oilmps, they never dared imagine a so-called ¡®nightlife¡¯. They ought to thank the Magic Web; it filled the shorings of the magic crystalmp, reducing the greatest magical power cost to the extent of almost zero. The remaining magical power that all the factories at various areas could not use up was enough to illuminate lights throughout the entire territory. By the lights, Gawain returned to his own tent. He nced at this tent that he¡¯d been living in for several months and smiled with a shake of his head. It was indeed time for him to move out of the tent ¡ª¡ª the brick-kiln yard was already on the right track. The territory had begun constructing its earliest batch of brick houses; wooden huts had even entered the phasing-out stage. Yet as a feudal lord, he was still living in a tent. This would really shock lots of people if it was shared. Some people guessed that this was because the feudal lord cared for his people; others guessed that this was because the feudal lord was naturally thrifty as a pioneer back in the years. However, in reality, it was because Gawain had long designed the style of the residence that he needed ¡ª¡ª including the storage room, magicboratory, weapons room, kitchen, sewage system, and more. Given the standard of the territory in earlier times, it was impossible to construct it, and Gawain could not be bothered to build a temporary wooden hut and then tear it down again. Therefore, he simply chose to wait till this day when their means were now up to standard toplete it at one go. Once he entered the tent, Gawain saw Betty who was bent over his desk, fast asleep. The little maidservant had probably been sleeping for quite a long time here. Judging by the range of saliva, she¡¯d been here for at least an hour. Though Betty slept soundly, she was especially sensitive to the sound of Gawain¡¯s footsteps. Thetter had just moved to three meters away from her, and this youngdy lifted her head instantly, mumbling with a dazed look, ¡°Lord, you¡¯re back. ¡ª¡ª I didn¡¯t sleep. I justid down for a while¡­¡± ¡°Saliva.¡± Gawain watched this rather muddle-headed youngdy in amusement. ¡°Wipe your saliva.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Gawain was very curious. ¡°Why are you waiting here? Was someone looking for me?¡± Betty carefully recalled while she had fallen asleep on the desk and then finally remembered what she was here for. ¡°Ah, I remember! Miss Reba and Miss Jenni came by to look for you!¡± ¡°Why were they looking¡ª¡± Gawain waved his hand midway. ¡°Oh you must have forgotten.¡± ¡°I did not forget this time!¡± Betty said with her head lifted and chest puffed out. Then she took out a small notebook from the pocket of her maidservant skirt, opening it solemnly. ¡°Miss Jenni wrote it in here for me! They said¡­ they¡¯d calcted and found the rune mold¡­ rune mold¡­ Lord, I don¡¯t know this word!¡± Gawain was both surprised and at a loss of whether tough or cry as he moved over to take a look. ¡°Let me see¡­ This means scorching ray. Very good, very good, I was just waiting for this good news. Quickly go get them here!¡± Chapter 150 - Heat-Ray Gun

Chapter 150: Heat-Ray Gun

Reba and Jenni were called over very quickly. They even brought a bulging bag of things; that was probably some of their ¡®results¡¯. Upon seeing Gawain, Reba scooted over immediately. However, just as Gawain had expected, this girl did so to inquire about interesting happenings. ¡°Lord Ancestor! Lord Ancestor! What did you all find in the remnants? Why did Aunt Heidi look so solemn when she came back, and Sir Byron too¡­¡± ¡°Cough cough.¡± Gawain coughed rather awkwardly and then patted Reba¡¯s head. ¡°Things are veryplicated. I will tell you about it when there¡¯s a chance, but don¡¯t ask about it for the time being. Let¡¯s take a look at your results first.¡± Reba was an especially straightforward girl, but another good thing was that it was especially easy to divert her attention ¡ª¡ª one just had to speak of a topic that she was interested in. Hearing Gawain, she instantly beamed with a smile and then started pulling out the items inside the bag with Jenni. ¡°Yes, yes, yes. Look at these. We¡¯ve designed the runebinations! Let me tell you, rune logic is a really miraculous thing. Although all the runes were calcted on paper, as long as webine them strictly ording to the forms and rules, the effect was bound to be the same as the calcted result¡­¡± Gawain saw Reba take out several scrolls as well as a metal te that was already carved with runes. His eyes brightened at once. ¡°You two have already created the finished product?¡± ¡°A test subject.¡± Reba scratched her hair a little embarrassedly. ¡°Because we really couldn¡¯t resist the temptation to test and see the final effect, so we approached Egg Egg and asked for an interchangeable base te. The two of us busied for half the afternoon and hand-carved a prototype.¡± Gawain¡¯s gazended on those blueprints then. He saw runes and patterns of lines that were many times moreplicated than the magic web unit, but all the runes and connecting lines were even simpler and more concise than the conventional magic circle. It was a drawing style entirely different from traditional rules for drawing magic circles ¡ª¡ª all the useless structures had been simplified; not one bit of ornamental patterns was left. Precise mathematical calction had every rune arranged in just the right spot, and the energy ratio between all the runes had reached a perfect bnce. It was exactly because of such extreme rationality that despite this magic circle having close to double the amount of effective runes than the usual ¡®Scorching Ray¡¯ magic circle, its impression instead appeared to be even more crisp and direct than a conventional magic circle. And after this rune formation that was unusually aesthetic was carved on an interchangeable base te that was pressed into shape through a one-time stamping by a machine, it even gave Gawain an illusion of industrial art. Gawain picked up that interchangeable base te. It was only the size of a palm and made of pure copper that was extremely cheap. Inside the notches of the runes, quartz sand powder and hardened blood-tree resin with a dim glow could be seen. ¡ª¡ª No expensive materials were used, nor were there fancy carving techniques. Gawain could almost be sure that it would be extremely effortless to make such magic circles into industrial mass-produced products. ¡°You carved this?¡± He lifted his head and looked towards Jenni who was standing at the side. Jenni quickly straightened up and nodded most respectfully. ¡°Yes, Lord.¡± Gawainughed. ¡°Very good¡­ Has it been tested?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Reba said delightedly. ¡°It was tested using the energy supply from the Magic Web! Look, there¡¯s a groove beside the fire rune above the sharp corner. That is where scorching rays would be released!¡± Gawain looked at the interchangeable base te. Above one of the corners of this hexagonal base te, the final energy flushing point that was the fire rune could be seen. From the middle of the rune to the top of the base te, a unique groove could be seen. A small section of quartz column was packed in the groove. If the magic circle was activated, scorching rays would beunched along this groove, as well as the quartz column in the groove. ¡ª¡ª Its effective range was up to three to four hundred meters, and if a quartz column of higher grade was used, or the rune was further strengthened, its effective range still had room for improvement. ¡°The problem is that this thing can only be used within range of the Magic Web.¡± Reba puffed her cheeks. ¡°Because this te itself is unable to produce magical power, if it were to be used in a ce without the Magic Web, we would have to use magic storage crystals to provide energy for it or hand it to a Mage to use it. But having a Mage use it would be rather pointless.¡± Her implied meaning was that not every Mage only had one mastered skill of throwing fireballs like she did. Coming out with a scorching ray was as easy as spraying water for them; they wouldn¡¯t need this at all¡­ Gawain smiled and brought out from under the desk, the ¡®Magic Capacitor¡¯ that he had been researching this whole time and that only needed to be assembled. ¡°I¡¯d thought of this problem long ago, and I¡¯ve already found a solution.¡± ¡°What is this?¡± Reba looked at the new interchangeable base te that Gawain brought out in curiosity, and recognized the runebination on it at one nce. ¡°This is¡­ Magic Web¡¯s fundamental unit? You¡¯re saying to use such fundamental units to supply energy to the scorching-ray magic circle? It won¡¯t work. I¡¯ve tried it before. The amount of energy produced by Magic Web¡¯s fundamental unit isn¡¯t enough at all. Four fundamental units stacked together won¡¯t even do. It must be arge magic web¡­¡± ¡°But that might not be the case if these magic storage crystals are added in.¡± Gawain pointed at those cheap magic storage crystals on the desk and then gathered everything into the bag. ¡°There¡¯s no time to lose. We¡¯ll go to the Mechanical Manufacturing Facility right now and get Nichs Egg to help assemble these things!¡± ¡°Sure, sure!¡± Reba instantly leaped up with joy; then she tugged on Jenni who was still a little dazed and headed out. ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go! Getting Egg Egg to help is the fastest way!¡± And before Gawain stood up, the nearby air suddenly contorted. Amber who¡¯d been pretending to be absent the entire time but had actually been secretly watching throughout finally couldn¡¯t contain herself and jumped out. ¡°I¡¯ll go too, I¡¯ll go too!¡± Reba was startled by this rascal who suddenly appeared. She shot a big fireball flying over with a casual raise of her hand. ¡°Wah!¡± If it weren¡¯t for Gawain¡¯s speedy reaction, dispersing the big fireball with a smack of his palm, he probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to stay in the tent that night¡­ The Mechanical Manufacturing Facility was brightly lit; the sounds of machines operating never stopped. The originally empty workshed had now be the territory of steel and machines. Cast metal from the steelworks was transported here in batches then processed into all sorts of spare parts ording to blueprints or further strengthened and recast by Nichs Egg, whereas the human craftsmen serve as assistants, learning about the principles of mechanics in the blueprints while assembling the spare parts that Nichs Egg produced into various machines. ¡ª¡ªThe majority of them were fundamental machine tools, while the rest were ¡®special orders¡¯ing directly from the Lord and others that were a little more urgent. In Gawain¡¯s impression, thatrge-scale industrial assembly line was still really far away. However, the present Mechanical Manufacturing Facility already had the atmosphere of machines roaring and operating non-stop. Some of the most basic spare parts no longer needed to be personally cast by Nichs Egg; those machine tools set at a side of the work shed were able to produce those basic spare parts. Meanwhile, the ones driving the machine tools were the two first-generation Magic Powered Engine that had been optimized ¡ª in order to ensure that these two engines had plenty of motive power, Reba had buried the first batch of Honeb Magic Web nodes inside the Mechanical Manufacturing Facility. Now it seemed that everything was operating very smoothly. When Gawain andpany entered the work shed, what greeted them was a bustling scene. The Magic Powered Engine drove the processing machinery to operate in the western side of the shed, producing a steady flow of all kinds of machinery spare parts (as well as the various metal-tool essories urgently needed in the territory). The human craftsmen busied between the machines; they had somewhat adapted to such an all-new production work. The middle of the work shed was the space of the metal-ball alien ¡ª he floated there, the surrounding few meters around him a no-man¡¯snd. Large amounts of cast metal were hauled into the air by an unknown force and swiftly molded into all kinds of sturdy spare parts that were still difficult to forge using machines or by hand. Following that, the molded parts would automatically fall to the few stacking areas nearby for the human craftsmen to use. Gawain watched the metal-ball alien who had a pile of spare parts floating all around them and thought, this really looked like the Return of a Million Swords¡­ Following that, he stepped forward, while Reba started greeting from far out. ¡°Egg Egg! We¡¯re here to get you to lend us a hand!¡± Nichs Egg heard the call and quickly cleared the floating spare parts to a side for the time being and turned in Gawain¡¯s direction. ¡°Ah, more matters ¡ª¡ª feudal lord is here too?¡± In normal circumstances, Gawain wouldn¡¯t be able to tell whether Nichs Egg had turned around at all. This was because this metal-ball alien was smooth all around; the slightest difference between his front, back, left and right couldn¡¯t be perceived. But this time, he saw that the other party had turned around with one look ¡ª¡ª because he realized that a face had actually been drawn on him! In the instant he saw the face, Gawain stopped in his steps and was even close to falling to the ground. ¡ª¡ªHe couldn¡¯t be med for this; anyone who saw an ¡¯emoji¡¯ with a diameter of 1.3 meters floating before himself and greeting him wouldn¡¯t be able to stayposed! Gawain stared agape at Nichs Egg¡¯s ¡®face¡¯; he stared at those curved eyes, nting gaze, mouth shape that was asking for a beating and was speechless for a good five seconds. Following that, the first thought that came to him was: which fellow transmigrator had secretly sneaked into his territory?! Who drew this ¡®knowing smile¡¯ emoticon expression! He was just about to question someone, yet unexpectedly, Reba spoke up grinningly after noticing her ancestor¡¯s shocked expression. ¡°Lord Ancestor? You were startled! Did I draw well?¡± Gawain turned around with a creak in his neck. He stared at Reba with wide eyes. ¡°You drew this for him?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Reba nodded very naturally. ¡°I couldn¡¯t figure out which side was his front each time I talked to Egg Egg. He alsoined to others that there were always people suddenly speaking up behind him and giving him a scare when he¡¯s working. Subsequently, I came up with an idea and drew a face for him¡­¡± ¡°You¡­ casually drew it?¡± Gawain surveyed this youngdy who always had shocking actions and attempted with great effort to find the shadow of a transmigrator on her. ¡°Don¡¯t you think that this expression looks weird?¡± ¡°I just wanted to draw a smiley face.¡± Reba scratched her hair. ¡°But my hand really wobbled a little when I was drawing¡­ Of course, it could also be possible that it trembled several times, so the eyes look a little weird.¡± The corner of Gawain¡¯s lips twitched. ¡°What are other people¡¯s reactions when they see him with this face?¡± Reba thought carefully for a moment and nodded. ¡°Pretty joyous.¡± Jenni who was at the side also nodded. ¡°Mm, they were pretty joyous.¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± And at this point, Nichs Egg had floated over to Gawain. This gigantic emoticon swayed up and down. ¡°What do you think of my new iMage? I feel that it¡¯s much easier interacting with you humans now that I have a face.¡± ¡°As¡ªas long as you¡¯re happy.¡± Gawain worked hard to maintain his expression and took out the materials that he had brought. ¡°Let¡¯s get down to business first. I want you to help me assemble a new kind of¡­ weapon.¡± ¡°Oh? It¡¯s a weapon instead of a machine this time?¡± Nichs Egg sounded very interested. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I temporarily named it ¡ª¡ª heat-ray gun.¡± Chapter 151 - First Shot Chapter 151: First Shot When Gawain spoke of the weapon¡¯s name that he had prepared in his mind for a long time, Nichs Egg didn¡¯t have a huge reaction to this name, but Reba was already ecstatic. ¡°This name sounds incredible!¡± ¡°You already think it is incredible just by the name?¡± Amber looked at Reba with nted eyes and said, ¡°How can so many strange words be forced together like this¡­¡± ¡°Lord Ancestor is always like this. He will always be able to think of some incredible-sounding words even though we don¡¯t understand the meaning of the words.¡± Reba had a pleased expression as though she was praising herself and said, ¡°If you have an opinion, it is purely envy. You will never be as incredible as Lord Ancestor.¡± Amber instantly raised her brows andmented, ¡°No matter how incredible your ancestor is, I am the one that dug him out!¡± When Gawain saw that the duo were about to deviate from the topic, he immediately stood in between them and said, ¡°Shut your mouths! We are here for proper business!¡± That giant silveredian had been floating without uttering any sound and observing by the side. When the two ¡®female humans¡¯ had finally quieted down, he spoke unhurriedly, ¡°Then let¡¯s talk about the ¡®heat-ray gun¡¯¡­ It isn¡¯t a problem for me to process theponents, but the blueprints have to be prepared first. If the structure is simple, you can just exin it to me here, but it is best to have actual references.¡± ¡°We have already handcrafted the mainponent. Right now, we need to research on how to make a stable assembly and how to mold an ¡®outer shell¡¯ that is suitable for humans to use.¡± As Gawain spoke, he took out the magic capacitor¡¯s base te, magic storage crystals, Scorching Ray¡¯s base te, and also a few original schematics. ¡°Egg Egg, take a look at these. Let me tell you the principle of the heat-ray gun¡­¡± The giant silveredian instantly let out a buzzing voice, ¡°Why are you also calling me Egg Egg?!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mind it, don¡¯t mind it. Just change it to Boss Egg in your mind. Let¡¯s discuss the rune trigger¡¯s position first¡­¡± The concept of the heat-ray gun didn¡¯t just appear in Gawain¡¯s mind one or two days ago. In fact, when the crystal grenades appeared, he had been thinking of a second kind of weapon that the soldiers could all be equipped with. The crystal grenades were explosives meant for throwing. It had great firepower, and the structure was very simple. After the basicthe machine was constructed, it had already started as a small-scale mass production. Byron was currently familiarizing the soldiers with this new type of ¡®magical tool¡¯. But the restrictions of the crystal grenades were very obvious: the throwing range was limited to a person¡¯s arm strength; it was very difficult to hit the target urately; a huge motion was required when tossing it; a longer preparation time; and also the dyed explosion after throwing it¡­ It was evident that the soldiers required another Beyonder weapon topensate for the ws of the crystal grenades, and it was best for it to be a long-range weapon. This world¡¯s sword and saber skills were already sufficiently developed. Firearms were the most suitable things that Gawain could think of, but it was something that was hard to achieve in this world. Without the use of gunpowder or the use of steam power, it was extremely hard tounch pellets at high speed. Gawain had already attempted different methods to instantly create high temperatures and high pressure but had minimal results. He had also put his thoughts to using ¡®magic¡¯ likeunching the pellets with the repulsion magic circle, but he quickly realized that with the current craftsmanship, it was hard topress and carve the repulsion magic circle at the end of the gun barrel. Furthermore, if it was trulypressed to such a small size, the amount of thrust created by the repulsion magic circle wouldn¡¯t be enough to give lethal power to the pellets. He had also considered using the convenience of magic to create the ¡®railgun¡¯ in advance; he could make use of the powerful maic field generated by wind-earth fusion runes to create the eleration rail tounch the pellets, but he quickly realized that he wascking an ¡®electric circuit control¡¯ that could respond fast enough to rapidly switch on and off each of the runebinations. The traditional rune triggers were operated by mechanisms, and it was extremely hard forrge quantities of runebinations to conduct sequential switching on and off during the eleration process of the pellet. Furthermore, to make a rune arrangement that was simr to the clock circuit¡­ Regretfully, Gawain still didn¡¯t have any idea. Due to the differences in thews of physics, there were many of the Earth¡¯s impossible technologies that could be easily achieved in this world. But at the same time, there were many easily achieved things on Earth that were impossible in this world. As for this world¡¯s traditional bows and crossbows, Gawain didn¡¯t think to conduct any magical modifications to them. No matter how the bows and crossbows were modified, it was hard to concurrently achieve a huge number of requests, like low prices, mass production, rapid-fire ability, consecutive shots, low training requirements, and great efficiency. Perhaps when magical industrialization¡¯s technology had reached a certain degree, traditional bows and crossbows would thene into Gawain¡¯s sight again. But for now, it was still not feasible. After hard work and multiple attempts, while Gawain was touching his hairline, he had a sudden inspiration and realized something. ¡®Why must the gun shoot bullets?!¡¯ The moment he realized this was the moment when Reba hopped and ran towards him. If he was a little blunter, it was a hopping Fireballuncher¡­ At that moment, he had a realization and knew what his thoughts were being restricted to. Be it the method tounch the pellets or the use of magic, he was restricting himself with the principles back on Earth. Since this world had all sorts of powerful spells, why couldn¡¯t he just set ¡®bullets¡¯ aside and study these spells instead? After collecting and sorting out various fundamental spells, the one that entered his mind was the Fireballuncher¡­ no, Scorching Ray. When the base te of Scorching Ray was constructed, he had to contest with the experiences he already had in his mind again. What form did the new weapon need? The group sat around a workstation that was created through machining, while Nichs Egg floated at the opposite side of the workstation. The base tes, crystals, and blueprints were all ced on the table. When looking at these things, Gawain felt that the ¡®ssic firearm model¡¯ wouldn¡¯t be feasible here. These were palm-sized, hexagonal metallic tes. They didn¡¯t have any gun barrel, magazines, or bolts. Aspared to ssic firearm models, these were more suited to be assembled into a disk-shaped thing. Of course, Gawain could forcefully use the firearms on Earth as a reference to make a strange-shaped shell because he knew that the ssic model was a result of countless years of testing in actualbat. The handle was for convenience to wield the firearm, and the long gun barrel was to point and aim. But the problem was¡­ After considering the practicality of the Scorching Ray base te and the energy supply efficiency, the muzzle of the gun would probably be as big as the palm-sized metallic te. The entire gun¡¯s center of gravity would be facing forward; let alone aiming with it, it would be more reliable to use it as a war hammer¡­ After considering that the next generations of this weapon might be shooting out ice arrows or lightning spheres ¡ª or even to use it to release thunderstorms, summons, shields, etc. ¡ª then it was totally unnecessary to fix the weapon¡¯s shape as a ssic firearm model from Earth. Gawain looked at the metallic base tes and tried his best to eliminate all rted iterations of ¡®gun¡¯ in his mind and told himself repeatedly, ¡®This is a magical tool, this is a magical tool¡­¡¯ After hypnotizing himself for some time, he picked up those base tes and put them around his arm and said, ¡°Let¡¯s assemble these to a vambrace?¡± Reba tried her best to imagine it and suddenly shook Gawain¡¯s arm happily and said, ¡°It sounds very awesome! I have been thinking of turning these tes into the shape of a staff and never thought of that!¡± Amber curled her lips and said, ¡°Tsk, what¡¯s so incredible? I thought of that too. Didn¡¯t the rogue¡¯s sleeve arrow have the same form? I simply didn¡¯t say it in time¡­¡± It was rare that Reba¡¯s brain had actually frozen and was surpassed by Amber¡­ Nichs Egg was in a ball of confusion as he asked, ¡°What is a sleeve arrow? And what is going on with assembling it on the vambrace? Also, what kind of structure and principle are you people talking about? Why don¡¯t I understand anything until now¡­?¡± Gawain looked at the metal-ball alien with bizarre eyes and suddenly realized this metallic ball¡¯s greatest shoring. It was fine for him to createponents ording to the blueprint, but if it involved human-body engineering, this fellow was 100% unprepared. He was a ball; how could he possibly know the usage of arms?! But this wasn¡¯t important. Gawain asked someone to look for a vambrace, and while he imagined and drew it on the blueprint, he exined to Nichs Egg, ¡°Just like this, by putting the Scorching Ray base te on the front and the magic capacitor at the back, then connecting it with the copper solvent as magic guidance¡­ The rune trigger¡¯s control can be a metal wire that extends out from the side of the vambrace and is triggered by the thumb. Of course, to avoid any idental trigger, it must also have a safety device that is simr to the crystal grenades. We can put it between the magic capacitor and the Scorching Ray base te. It should be the safest¡­¡± ¡°Simple, simple.¡± Nichs Egg hovered up and down while asking, ¡°Is there any other request?¡± Ambermented by the side, ¡°Don¡¯t make the vambrace a whole piece. It is best that the lower half can have adjustable tightness.¡± Gawain looked at Amber with a surprised look while thetter rolled her eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t think that I am ignorant and ipetent¡­ At the very least, I have used the sleeve arrow.¡± ¡°Alright, alright, your suggestion is indeed useful.¡± Gawain didn¡¯t know tough or cry as he replied before nodding to Nichs Egg. ¡°It will be like this for now. The priority is to make a sample first to see if it works and then carry out a practical test to know where else to improve.¡± Nichs Egg emitted a low buzzing sound. All the nearby metal parts and the two different base tes on the table floated while Nichs Egg said, ¡°Just wait to see what I can do! I will be done shortly!¡± The metal-ball alien was telling the truth and hadpleted it quickly. With a low requirement of precision and with only a fewponents that required some processing, the metal parts and base tes were molded and assembled together in less than a minute. It was an unassuming and rather ¡®unwieldy¡¯ vambrace, especially in the eyes of a traditional person. In order to stuff the base te into the protective shell and to leave a space for the rune trigger, the assembled ¡®heat-ray gun¡¯ was more than twice the size of ordinary vambraces. Its top part was bulging and had an ellipsoid shape, while there was an opening left at the front portion. Underneath the opening, there was a small section of the metallic protective te that extended out, and the protective te was actually the ¡®safety¡¯ device. Once it was tucked back inside, the flow of magic would be severed, and the user¡¯s hand would be able to move freely without causing the heat-ray gun to fire. Once the protective te was pulled out, the heat-ray gun would enter an ¡®armed¡¯ state, and the user¡¯s hand would be restricted so that the hand couldn¡¯t turn around. This way, no one would be carelessly pierced by the scorching ray of light¡­ As it was an experimental product that was just assembled, its shape wasn¡¯t elegant, but Gawain was still rather excited as he equipped this unwieldy vambrace and adjusted the tightness. He then pulled out the safety device at the front of the vambrace and put the metallic trigger on his thumb before pointing the vambrace to the ground ahead. Nichs Egg turned slightly and shifted a piece of gray metal to the ce that Gawain was aiming at. ¡°How many soldiers do we have on the territory?¡± Gawain aimed and asked Reba. Reba pondered before replying, ¡°The new soldiers have yet to end their training camp yet. Apart from the two knights and if we only consider the soldiers of the Combat Corps¡­ 106.¡± Gawain pulled the trigger that was apanied by a light pfff sound. A scorching ray of light shot out from the vambrace and struck the metal on the ground. Due to the magic, a small explosion caused the metal to tumble continuously, leaving behind a trail of sparks and metal shards. When the metal stopped rolling, the surface of the metal was red, and a deep pit was melted into it. ¡°Then, we have 106 Grade-2 Beyonders who can execute Scorching Ray.¡± Chapter 152 - Shooting Test Chapter 152: Shooting Test The moment something that could alter the generation appeared, only a rare few individuals would be aware of the significance at the first notice. As such, only when Gawain said ¡°106 Grade 2 Beyonders¡± did Amber, Jenni, and Reba suddenly be aware of the significance of this unassuming vambrace. There were tools and equipment in this world that could release magic, but those were life-saving or support-type magical tools that Mages would bring along habitually. Examples would be various types of talismans that could release protective spells or rings and books that could allow a faster spellcast. But all these tools had two traits: firstly, only a ¡®Beyonder¡¯ with magic could use them; secondly, they were so expensive that minor noble ns would flinch. A magic ring that could release a ss 2 attack spell would cost half the annual ie of a knight in the ins of the Holy Spirits. ¡ª Because that ring would need to be forged with adamantite and mithril. Moreover, it required a high-ranking mage to inject magic and temper it before it could be used. For the heat-ray gun¡­ its most expensiveponent would be the quartz pir which was the gathering crystal, and it cost less than a silver coin. With the cheap supply of crystal ores from Tanzan Town, the cost could be lowered even more. What kind of manpower was required to create the heat-ray gun? The initial design of the runes and the manufacturing of the original base te required the involvement of mages and runemasters. After the blueprint was fixed, it would only need a rumbling machine, a few individuals responsible for filling the magic-conducting materials in the cavities of the magic circles, and proficient workers to finish the final assembly. Even though the size was much bigger than those exquisite magic rings and magic talismans, they could be created in overwhelming numbers. Furthermore, the condition to use the heat-ray gun was very low. There wasn¡¯t a need to specially train professional soldiers as even slightly trained ordinary people could use it. After understanding everything, Jenni looked at the heat-ray gun with eyes that didn¡¯t contain pride and delight; there were also traces of unease. This was the first time she was involved in the ¡®inventions and creations of Cecil specialty¡¯. She didn¡¯t know what this weapon would bring to the world, nor did she dare to think about it. ¡°Lord Ancestor, are you preparing to issue this weapon to every soldier?¡± Reba was a youngdy with an extremely high ability to ept things. She reacted quickly and looked at Gawain with sparkling eyes. ¡°If those soldiers have this weapon¡­ Why do they even need to practice the closebat skills for?¡± Gawain originally wanted to say that when long-ranged weapons appeared, the era for closebat weapons would go into decline. But he quickly recalled that this world existed with all sorts of Beyonder powers, and all the so-called cold weapons and hot weapons would be blended together after the involvement of Beyonder powers. Therefore, Gawain changed his words at thest moment. ¡°Regr weapons must still be preserved. Injecting magic into des and armor for mass production will be the next step. But in my view, the heat-ray gun will be the soldiers¡¯ main attacking method, while the melee weapons will slowly be their secondary weapons.¡± Reba gesticted happily and said, ¡°We can equip the heat-ray gun on the left arm, while the right hand will still be using the des. When the enemy is far away, they can use Scorching Ray, and when the enemy gets near, they can draw their swords and sh¡­ The outer shell of the ray gun can be thicker and will be able to be used to block in closebat!¡± When Gawain thought about the concept, he suddenly felt that Reba¡¯s concept was rather cool, but he didn¡¯t understand something. This youngdy was a Mage; why was she able to instantly think of such closebat theory? No matter what, it seemed like the Cecilbatants¡¯ style ofbat was going to turn around drastically. It was unknown if the two Knights, Byron and Philip, would be able to adapt to such changes¡­ For a weapon to be practical, it must not solely rely on the prototype¡¯s test result, especially when the heat-ray gun was also a brand new thing to Gawain. He had only sessfully fired the first shot, but in order to guarantee its stable functionality duringbat, many more shots must be fired. Gawain kept the prototype vambrace and looked at everyone. ¡°It still needs much more testing. We will start tomorrow morning, and the venue will be at the northeastern testing ground. The northeastern testing ground was therge barrennd near the riverbank. Since the testing of the explosive power of the Reba Crystals, that section had been designated as the official military testing area. The crystal grenades were also tested there. Actually, Gawain truly couldn¡¯t suppress his excitement and wanted to find a ce to randomly make things go ¡®boom¡¯ everywhere; however, it truly wouldn¡¯t be good timing to conduct such tests during nighttime. Right now, the territory was still unable to construct arge-scale, indoor weapons testing ground for night operation; therefore, all tests could only be conducted on the next day. On the next day, Gawain had gotten up from bed very early. Aspared to yesterday night¡¯s first shot where there were only a few individuals, today¡¯s official test appeared to be particrly strict and serious. Reba had mentioned to Heidi about the heat-ray gun, while Heidi immediately called for Byron and Philip, the two military supervisors. At the same time, she had picked two steadfast and reliable soldiers from the Combat Corps to guard the vicinity and to prevent any unrted personnel froming close. She had also set up targets in the testing ground at various distances to test the weapon¡¯s range, uracy, and other data. Finally, she called for the Druid, Pittman, to respond to any idental injuries caused by the weapon and to provide emergency treatment. From all these arrangements, Gawain could evidently determine something: His eldest granddaughter was gradually learning the concept of ¡®science and systemization¡¯ that he had been teaching¡­ Gawain originally prepared to test the weapon himself, but after Amber bbed by his ear for 10 minutes, he decided to give her the chance. Of course, this decision wasn¡¯t entirely because of Amber¡¯s bbing that was truly annoying; more importantly, it was due to the fact that Amber was a Rogue who had used the sleeve arrow before. Furthermore, she was quite proficient in using it and had a certain level of experience for such fixed, long-range weapons on the arm. It was obvious that she should be the one wielding the weapon. Seeing how Amber wore the heat-ray gun on her arm and seeing how she professionally adjusted the straps to ensure the stability, Reba who didn¡¯t obtain the chance to wield the weapon couldn¡¯t help but feel jealous and nagged, ¡°You better take it easy and don¡¯t hit yourself. This thing is much heavier than your sleeve arrow!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry okay?¡± Amber rebuked, ¡°Back when I was training with the sleeve arrow, my wrist was fitted with a lump of metal, and it was heavier than this thing!¡± After unting, the half-elf thief had finished adjusting the equipment and nodded to Heidi who was responsible for writing the data. Amber then lifted her arm and aimed at the first target. When the rune trigger was activated by the metallic wire, the magic capacitor¡¯s magic instantly transmuted into the Scorching Ray magic circle¡¯s energy. It was apanied by a light sound before the scorching ray of light struck at the first target that was a few dozen meters away. The wooden target that wore armor had been instantly pierced through. Heidi quickly recorded the data while Amber started to aim at the second target¡­ ¡°The effective range is merely around two hundred meters to three hundred meters, lower than Scorching Ray¡¯s standard and also lower than the theoretical value of the magic circle¡¯s base te.¡± After a round of testing, Heidi brought the data to Gawain and said, ¡°The main problem might be due to the adjustment of the quartz pir position or the inefficient magic conduction between the Scorching Ray base te and the magic capacitor. All these can be improved using craftsmanship. uracy is another problem. uracy within 50 meters was still good, but uracy would drop drastically after 50 meters. At 100 meters, even Amber who has the half-elf bloodline and is proficient with the sleeve arrow would have a 75% chance of missing the target. If this data is extrapted on regr soldiers¡­ it will definitely be worse.¡± Reba scratched her head and spoke candidly, ¡°But it is still more urate than Aunt¡ª Pain, pain, pain!¡± Seeing the foolish girl getting pinched on the ear by Heidi, Gawain didn¡¯t have a change in expression and said, ¡°uracy can also be improved with craftsmanship. Nichs Egg¡¯s assembly is very precise, but the Scorching Ray base te was handcrafted by Reba and others. With the objective to test if the newly designed runebination would work, they didn¡¯t put too much effect when picking the quartz pir.¡± While speaking, he took another nce at the vambrace on Amber¡¯s arm and said, ¡°Moreover, it is stillcking a sight. A simple targeting essory can be added between the vambrace and the muzzle. It should greatly increase the uracy.¡± After Gawain exined the concept of a sight, Amber¡¯s eyes immediately lit up. ¡°Oh, oh! That is a great thing! This way, it will be much easier to train the soldiers!¡± They might be discussing uracy problems, but in fact, the uracy of the heat-ray gun had already exceeded Gawain¡¯s expectations. In his initial opinion, such a model wouldn¡¯t be easy to aim. A long-ranged weapon without even a basic sight would be rather praiseworthy if the uracy was over a dozen meters. However, the data had exceeded his expectations. One factor was because the heat-ray gun wasn¡¯t a weapon with live ammunition, and the entire shooting process didn¡¯t have any mechanical operations, eliminating almost all recoil. There also wasn¡¯t a need to worry about the gun barrel trembling or the instability of the receiver affecting the uracy. In order to maintain uracy, one simply had to ensure that the arm was steady. Another factor was the quality of the physical body and the talents that people possessed in this world were different from people on Earth. Amber¡¯s half-elf bloodline allowed her to be innately proficient with all sorts of long-ranged weapons. Even if it was a regr person without the elven bloodline, their physical qualities would still be superior to people on Earth (Think about those nobles who lived an average lifespan of 100 years and those ¡®regr soldiers¡¯ who could wear heavy armor and wield giant swords while charging). Those superior qualities might carry over to long-ranged weapons, but of course, it could only be verified after the regr soldiers did the tests. On the other hand, Reba was already grimacing under the hand of Heidi and said, ¡°Aren¡¯t any of you going to save me?!¡± Gawain didn¡¯t know tough or cry when he took a nce at the youngdy who was punished because she was being candid. He saved her before nodding to Amber. ¡°Continue the test. This time, see if consecutive shots will affect the performance.¡± Consecutive shots would be a rtively long testing process, so Gawain didn¡¯t continue observing and walked towards the two Knights, Byron and Philip. The two Knights were fully concentrated on the testing ground, and they had ratherplicated expressions. ¡°What are you thinking?¡± Gawain walked towards them and asked. ¡°This is truly an incredible weapon.¡± Byron¡¯s tone was indeed filled with admiration. ¡°Incredible¡­! Magic can actually be released in such a method. Be it the source of magic or the control of magic, it is all done by the weapon itself. It is unrted to the user¡¯s innate talent, and the user simply has to pull the rune trigger¡­¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t just admiration, right?¡± Gawain looked at Byron with a smile that didn¡¯t look like a smile. ¡°¡­Indeed.¡± Byron looked at Gawain and finally nodded with admittance. ¡°I am feeling a sense of loss.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Back then, I spent two years to learn Aura Protection and spent another three years to learn Danger Detection. Furthermore, those are just Grade 2 Knight skills.¡± Byron shook his head and said, ¡°Right now, new soldiers will only need to train a few days and will be able to release Scorching Ray.¡± Philip also sighed andmented. ¡°I was faster than you and learned those two skills within half a year.¡± Byron: ¡°¡­Can you be a little more sensitive to others?¡± ¡°I have mentioned that the times are changing.¡± Gawain interrupted the duo and said, ¡°Such change is necessary, and you two will have to ept it.¡± Byron startled for a moment before smiling bitterly at the testing ground. ¡°Will there be a day when that thing can release the finger of death?¡± Gawain was silent for a moment before he replied, ¡°Perhaps.¡± ¡°¡­It seems like the day of the City of Thousand Towers¡¯ copse isn¡¯t too far away.¡± On the other side, Amber exercised her arm for a moment as it was rather tiring to lift her arm up for a long period of time. Immediately after, she lifted the heat-ray gun again and pulled the rune trigger. The ray gun generated a small heat energy, but no heat ray was shot out this time. ¡°Old dumpling! This thing can¡¯t be used anymore!¡± Chapter 153 - Combat Field Pack and Modularity Chapter 153: Combat Field Pack and Modrity Amber was an undomesticated half-elf for many years. She shunned the light and was fond of darkness. She had the habit to steal, was omnivorous, and had a great appetite. She loved to mess around, and when she messed around to a certain degree, she would lose hermon sense and wind up being chased by someone afterward. Just like now. When the words ¡®old dumpling¡¯ was said, Gawain didn¡¯t really react, but Heidi did. The Cecil territory¡¯s chief supervisor red and swung her magic staff while concentrated killing aura was emitted. Amber had shivered and immediately reacted. When she saw Heidi, she started to talk back, ¡°Who are you trying to intimidate? If you are capable, then try hitting my face with an Ice Arrow¡­¡± Immediately after, Heidi¡¯s staff made one round and sent Amber flying by seven or eight meters¡­ Who said that a Mage could only use Ice Arrows and Large Fireballs? Which of the Cecil n¡¯s Mages didn¡¯t know how to use the 36 Styles of ¡®Rest in Peace¡¯ Staff? Amber still didn¡¯t have much experience on going against the members of the Cecil n. If she knew that Heidi and Reba¡¯s staffs had fullers, she wouldn¡¯t have dared to jump into a fight like this¡­ ¡°You insulted my spells and also insulted my n¡¯s ancestor!¡± Heidi was truly angry this time and had wielded her staff vigorously. Since her elder brother passed away, as a senior, she didn¡¯t have a choice but to help the unorthodox Reba handle the n¡¯s businesses. She rarely had the chance to exhibit her skills like this, but all of the Cecil n¡¯s members knew that when the elegant Madam Heidi was angry, she could use her staff as a war hammer. ¡°Don¡¯t think that I can¡¯t do anything just because my magic cannot hit you. Look at how I¡­¡± Amber was yelling while getting chased, but it was fortunate that Gawain had already reacted and quickly ran over to stop the farce. ¡°Stop, stop, stop. Calm down, calm down. Heidi, you should know that this fellow¡¯s mouth doesn¡¯t have a lid. Amber, you are truly something. When you are about to get a beating, you should remember to first take off the heat-ray gun. It is a prototype that we have painstakingly created. What if it was damaged?¡± Amber: ¡°¡­¡± Heidi red at Amber before lowering her head to Gawain. ¡°Ancestor, you should really teach this fellow some manners. She is very disrespectful to you.¡± ¡°Sigh, I shouldn¡¯t have taught you people the words ¡®old dumpling[1]¡¯.¡± Gawain sighed before turning to look at the vambrace on Amber¡¯s arm and asked, ¡°We should take a look at this thing first. Why did it suddenly stop functioning?¡± Amber fiddled with the heat-ray gun and aimed at the target before pulling the trigger again. This time, a scorching ray of light shot out from the vambrace and hit the target. Amber frowned and said, ¡°It seems like it¡¯s working again?¡± Subsequently, she shot a few more times. The heat-ray gun malfunctioned again after three shots. ¡°I roughly understand what is going on.¡± Gawain nodded before beckoning and calling out to the giant silver emoji who was floating by the side. ¡°Nichs Egg, can you help to remove this part of the outer shell?¡± The reason was quickly identified. The magic capacitor wasn¡¯t able to charge faster than the consumption of the consecutive shots, and all the magic within the magic storage crystals were exhausted. The ¡®magic capacitor¡¯ that Gawain designed was essentially charging constantly and automatically. It was an energy device with a slow and steady charging speed. The charging speed was constant and so was the capacity. Originally it was to allow the low-consumption Honeb Magic Web unit to temporarily store magic within the crystals; it could then supply magic to high-consumption magic circles. However, if these high-consumption magic circles had to be constantly operated, the energy consumption would definitely exceed the charging speed of the crystals. When the heat-ray gun executed consecutive shots, the magic capacitor would definitely be exhausted, and the user would have to wait for the magic to be charged up before using it again. ¡°So this is the reason.¡± After seeing the magic storage crystals on the magic capacitor that were already grayish, Heidi nodded and said, ¡°It is understandable as regr magical tools are also like this. There is a limit for consecutive releases of magic, and once the magic is exhausted, it would need to be replenished. It seems like it is the same for the heat-ray gun.¡± ¡°This is definitely not eptable!¡± Gawain shook his head sternly. Reba had a nk expression as she asked, ¡°Why is it not eptable? Aren¡¯t all magical tools like this?¡± ¡°Those are traditional magical tools, like rings that can only release six Fireballs in a day, or talismans that can only activate shields for three times a day. I want to say that those ws have to be eliminated.¡± Gawain shook his head and said, ¡°On the battlefield, the person whose weapon is damaged first shall die first. It is the same for the magic storage for the heat-ray gun. Therefore, we need to think of a method for them to have a longerbat period.¡± Sir Byron who rushed over to take a look had also nodded and agreed. ¡°On the battlefield, the enemies aren¡¯t going to wait a few hours for you to allow your magic capacitor to slowly recharge.¡± ¡°We have found the first thing to improve.¡± Gawain¡¯s train of thought was opened up, and he had found his familiar rhythm again. He looked at Heidi, Reba, and also Jenni who stood behind the duo and said, ¡°Do you know the greatest difference between this brand new ¡®magic equipment¡¯ and traditional magical tools?¡± Jenni: ¡°The low cost?¡± Heidi: ¡°Convenience of use?¡± Reba: ¡°Extremely cool name!¡± ¡°The difference is that once traditional magical tools¡¯ magic is exhausted, they would either have to slowly wait for it to recover or find a Mage to inject magic into it. As for this thing that we created¡­¡± Gawain casually pulled out the crystal in the magic capacitor¡¯s slots and put in another magic storage crystal that Gawain normally yed with as a collection walnut. ¡°During emergency situations, we can refresh the spellcasting power at any time¡­ Eh? Why can¡¯t I put it in?¡± Reba exined very seriously, ¡°¡­Lord Ancestor, previously, you didn¡¯t mention that the crystal in the magic capacitor would need to be switched out. Therefore, when Egg Egg assembled them, he had made the slots for one-time usage. When you pulled out the crystal, the base had already deformed.¡± Heidi quickly followed up. ¡°Of course, the slots can be adjusted again, and it is a small problem. It is more important for Ancestor to speak of your idea!¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± Gawain had already forgotten thest time he had been sessful when trying to act cool. He quickly overlooked the awkwardness and put on a serious face while getting back to the main topic. ¡°Heidi, record down this modification suggestion. Leave a convenient opening in the magic capacitor to allow soldiers to quickly switch out the exhausted crystal during battle. This way, during low-intensity or short battles, the heat-ray gun¡¯s magic capacitor could be used for the entire battle, but during emergencies, the soldiers could still rely on external energy sources to continue the battle.¡± Heidi recorded the suggestion but immediately frowned. ¡°Ancestor, the magic capacitor that you designed was originally meant to solve the problem of the low output of the magic web unit and also the magic storage period of inferior crystals. But if the soldiers have to switch crystals inbat, how will their ¡®spare crystals¡¯ maintain the magic? Could it be that they have to use expensive and superior magic storage crystals as spare crystals?¡± ¡°That would defeat the purpose.¡± Gawain smiled and shook his head. ¡°The mass production of low-grade magic storage crystals is the true treasure of the military army. You mentioned that the magic in low-grade crystals would disperse over time during thebat. This means that we simply need to design something for the soldiers to carry that wouldn¡¯t allow the magic to disperse, right?¡± Gawain merely gave a slight advice, and Reba¡¯s brain had already started to revolve rapidly and generated an idea within a few seconds with a ding. ¡°We can design arger ¡®capacitor¡¯ that is simr to the magic capacitor, like a box that is assembled with many magic web units. Its function will be to store the crystals and to slowly recharge the crystals. It should fit about eight to ten spare crystals, and as long as the base te is made thinner, the weight wouldn¡¯t exceed the spare des that soldiers normally carry. They simply have to bring one or two fewer spare des, and they would be able to carry a storage box like this.¡± Sir Byron, who wasn¡¯t really interested in the heat-ray gun, had been attracted by this discussion. He couldn¡¯t help but continue to borate on Reba¡¯s idea. ¡°This way, the magic storage crystals that the soldiers carry along will not disperse energy and would be constantly recharged. When they switch out the exhausted crystals and put them back in the storage box, the exhausted crystals would fully recharge duringbat. In an extended battle, an additional recharged crystal might actually save their lives!¡± ¡°Abat field pack that goes along with the heat-ray gun¡­¡± Gawain smiled and looked at Reba. ¡°This thing¡¯s principle is very simple, but you need to reduce the weight of the magic web unit and to ensure that the recharging efficiency doesn¡¯t decrease too. I will leave the design to you.¡± Reba stomped her staff on the ground and spoke with a pleased and upward-looking face, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Lord Ancestor! I am very good at this! I will finish it in a few days!¡± Her imposing manner felt like she was nning to carry a giant hammer to charge into the battlefield for a massacre¡­ ¡°Apart from that, we still need to enhance the heat-ray gun¡¯s ¡®interchangeability¡¯ and ¡®ability to expand¡¯.¡± Gawain nodded as an indication for Heidi to continue recording while speaking to Nichs Egg. ¡°Let the mechanical manufacturing facility split the heat-ray gun into separate parts that can be mass produced. My requirement is for most of theponents to be easily disassembled and interchangeable, for eachponent to have low processing difficulty and be durable, especially for the Scorching Ray¡¯s base te. If possible, we should standardize the magic conductor between the connections of base tes, allowing it to be assembled freely. It also means that the heat-ray gun can now be fitted with the Scorching Ray magic circle, but it will also be able to fit in other general base tes and turn into other weapons, or even defensive tools or work tools. I shall call this ¡®modrity¡¯.¡± Heidi involuntarily stopped her pen as she widened her eyes slightly. Modrity was a word that she had heard Gawain mentioning a few times, but it was only now that she finally realized what it could achieve. As the discussion of the heat-ray gun and thebat field pack was gradually getting fixed, a foreigner stepped into the western side of the new Cecil territory. It was a robust man with a strong sense of existence. He had light brown short hair. The top of his hair wascking in care and was messy, while his beard seemed to be badly shaved. It was obvious that he wasn¡¯t very meticulous when shaving as there were beard stubbles of uneven length left at the chin. His face looked like he had gone through hardships as his face had lost all luster but still had unswerving determination. In his deep eye sockets were a pair of eyes that had brilliance unlike themoners of this era. Aspared to his face, the thing that was more eye-catching was this man¡¯s state and clothes. He was covered in dust but looked very energetic. He was wearing a priest¡¯s attire belonging to the Church of Holy Light, but that priest robe was very obviously shabby. His waist had a bible tied to it, and his chest had a sacred crest. He looked like a cleric, but his robust stature made him look more like a warrior. He was so robust that it looked as though he could punch evil cult followers to death. He was walking on a path of rocks on the Cecil territory; his shoes were already ruined beyond recognition after the long journey. He wiped the sweat on his forehead and lowered his head to look at the document in his hand: Themittee sends The Lord¡¯s loyal servant, Cleric Wright Awiken, to leave for the southern borders, propagate the teachings of The Lord, and spread the way of the Holy Light. [1] Dumpling ¨C in the web series Candle in the Tomb, dumpling is a code word for corpse Chapter 154 - Construction of the Territory Chapter 154: Construction of the Territory Afterpleting the testing of the heat-ray gun, Gawain left the testing ground. With him were Heidi and Amber ¡ª Reba and Jenni had to continue with the optimization of the runebination; Nichs Egg needed to return to the mechanical research station to design new production lines, and the two knights each had tasks on hand, so they did not leave with Gawain. The sess of a new weapon boosted Gawain¡¯s spirits that he could not help being in a good mood, and under the influence of a good mood, his view of everything in the territory was much more optimistic than usual. Half of Frost Month had passed, and the temperatures were falling day by day. Before long, this entire southernnd would enter a freezing winter. However, the first batch of crops had been harvested; in addition, the rations and supplies promised by the King had arrived in session; the non-staple foodstuffs purchased from Tanzan Town were also steadily flowing in and filling up the warehouses. This winter, the territory didn¡¯t need to worry about the problem of hunger at all. The Cecil n was perhaps the most generous n in terms of food ¡ª¡ª on thends of other ns, civilians often had to turn in 70-80% of their harvest as tax; serfs even needed to turn in close to 90% of rations. In doing so, even with the help of Druid spells or fertility theurgies, the poor lower sses were constantly living on the edge of hunger. So long as the year¡¯s harvest was slightly bad, people starving to death would be amon thing. And all kinds of wild vegetables, tree barks, even grass roots were regr customers in most of the civilians¡¯ pots. However, in the Cecil territory, Gawain had directly set the grain tax at half. Residents were deeply grateful for his kindness, yet Gawain felt that this tax rate was still too high. One reason why other aristocrat ns collected at an extremely high tax rate was because they usually did not really care about the agriculture in the territory; neither would they improve cultivation technology or carry out effectivebor management, such that the harvests from their soil weren¡¯t high in the first ce. Also, low taxes wouldn¡¯t be able to sustain their extravagant lifestyles. Their luxury and extravagance were truly at the extent of being sensational. A small baron needed to build a castle and provide for a butler, a personal manservant/maidservant, four first-ss servants, and four first-ss maidservants, as well as a significant number of handymen,undry maidservants, kitchen maidservants, grooms, and many more. Moreover, they also had to hold endless banquets and hunting activities. If they were aristocrats with a religious belief, they would also donate a huge sum of riches to the local church ¡ª¡ª and all these would mostlye from taxes, weighing on those poor people whose harvests weren¡¯t high in the first ce. But the Cecil territory didn¡¯t need all these. Besides, Gawain was very clear of one thing ¡ª¡ª in the situation where the magic-energy industry was starting, the economic output of the agriculture society would ultimately be surpassed and reced by this industry. Farnd was once the main economic resource of this world, but very soon, gold coins would be flowing from the chains of factories andmerce. He did not intend on continuing the development model of taking nutrients from farmers ¡ª¡ª only, the magical industry was still a straw in the wind, so he needed to maintain such a situation for the time being. The gold and silver stored in the vault in the mountain would be used up sooner orter. However, Gawain was very confident of transforming the territory from expenditure into a bnce between ie and expenditure. When the territory¡¯s industrial output had satisfied self-use and a surplus appeared, it would be time to send a caravan out¡­ When they passed by the White River bank, Gawain saw a big ship stopped at the pier. Many people clothed in ragged garments were alighting the ship, receiving the routine registration and check. And those responsible for these affairs were clerks selected from the 100-men aid team as well as literate soldiers in the territory. After a period of adapting and learning, these people could undertake such jobs. The poption of the territory was still increasing steadily. After confirming the year¡¯s harvest, Gawain had boldly gotten the ¡®poption recruitment office¡¯ in Tanzan Town to add orders for a new batch of serfs and expanded the publicity of recruiting refugees. At present, almost every three to four days, a full ship of people would be transported from the upstream of the White River to here, bing new residents of the Cecil territory. What was even more delightful was that there were now more and more refugees amongst these people. This meant that those homeless people wandering outside had finally heard and believed the news regarding the Cecil pioneering camp, and once there was a start for such things, it would form a steady flow of poption migration. In ces where there was nock of poption, refugees were indeed a significant, hidden trouble that gave public-security officers a headache. However, at the Cecil territory where theck of manpower was giving both Heidi and Gawain hair loss, refugees were virtually gold that was flowing into the territory. ¡ª¡ªAs long as they could afford to feed them, no amount was too much. Compared to ves with clearly marked prices and a fixed cost, these refugees that would continuously flow in would be the most stable source for poption for the Cecil territory in the future. ¡°How¡¯s the securing of housing going?¡± Gawain¡¯s gazended in the direction of the pier as he casually asked. ¡°The weather is getting colder by the day.¡± ¡°There are enough wooden huts. ording to the new method you stipted, serfs or refugees who arrive at the territory do not need to participate in agriculture and factorybor at the start. Instead, they would work to build their own houses, and through this process, learn thebor system here and receive general knowledge education. This idea is extraordinarily effective ¡ª¡ª they are extremely hardworking in their work and praised, in unison, the benevolence of the Cecil n. By the time they havepleted this work, the basicbor system and general knowledge are already firmly etched in their minds. ¡°When building a home for themselves, every person would do his best, a very simple truth.¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°And education with a subtle influence in the process of such devotedbor would strike root in hearts better than any whip or scolding.¡± With that, he frowned slightly again. ¡°But wooden huts cannotpare to brick houses after all, especially in winter¡­ Even if we¡¯ve prepared ample hay and used mud to ster the walls, it would still be cold inside the huts.¡± ¡°Your benevolence is indeed touching, but the output of the brick and tile nt really cannot keep up.¡± Heidi shook her head regrettably. ¡°The newly added poption is too big. It¡¯s impossible to build a brick house for every person. In fact, if it wasn¡¯t because the logging shed and sawmill had storedrge amounts of wood in advance and that the efficiency of the sawing machine driven by the Magic Powered Engine is exceptionally high, we might not even be able to ensure that there would be sufficient wooden huts¡­¡± ¡°Then at least guarantee the supply of charcoal. Let them tide over the first winter before anything else.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°Has Honeb Magic Web beenid in the new construction area?¡± ¡°Yes, ording to your requests, all areas areying Magic Webs. ¡ª¡ª Even if a full area ofying cannot be achieved, it has been ensured that the honeb structures are connected in a line, linking up every construction area and leaving exposed Magic Web interfaces at every area.¡± The so-called Magic Web interface was actually a small stick of magic-conducting material extending from the Magic Web unit. They were made of steel rods or even cheaper ck stone covered with mithril; one end was connected to the Magic Web underground, while the other would extend out of the ground; it would be considered Gawain¡¯s foundation for the territory¡¯s future developments. Although the Magic Web could provide ¡®wireless energy supply¡¯, where transfer of magical power could ur above the Magic Web or close to it, doing so wasn¡¯t efficient. If they reserved many ¡®Magic Web interfaces¡¯, it would be in preparation for the future urbanization developments: for example, connecting to streetmps or providing magical power to every household. ¡°Now there¡¯s another problem,¡± Heidi hesitated for a moment, but still decided to speak of it. ¡°It¡¯s about the night education that you pushed on.¡± Gawain instantly frowned. ¡°Night education? Those general-studies sses? What has happened?¡± ¡°You required every person in the territory to receive education, but now that people are surging in inrge numbers, and all of them essentially beingpletely illiterate peasants, the number of teachers we have arepletely insufficient,¡± Heidi said in a troubled manner. ¡°We have established learning sites in the middle, west, and south of the territory and got all soldiers, craftsmen, and department heads that are literate to take turns in giving sses after finishing work, but things are still too busy. The capacity of every ¡®ss¡¯ is limited, and those new residentsck discipline. Once there is a big number of people, the extent of the chaos is virtually a disaster. And if we reduce the number of people¡­ we would have to increase the number of sses.¡± ¡°Increasing the number of sses would mean needing more teachers.¡± Gawain frowned. ¡°Didn¡¯t Tanzan Town send some clerical apprentices over?¡± ¡°They¡¯ve been dispatched to teach, but we¡¯re stillcking.¡± ¡°Then recruit them from the ¡®100-men aid team¡¯,¡± Gawain decided. ¡°Other than ¡®high-end talents¡¯ like Jenni, some of the ordinary craftsmen or apprentices are also literate. They would probably be interested in the extra allowance for teachers. In addition, you have to start publicizing job recruitments for the steelworks and mechanical research station. Tell the residents, both freemen and serfs can enter the factories to work, but they must be able to read and count before they can sign up, and by working in factories, they would receive extra food allowance like the craftsmen. Only like this would they be motivated in learning. It would also be easier to maintain discipline.¡± Heidi nodded lightly. ¡°Yes, I understand now.¡± Gawain thought for a while and asked, ¡°Is there anything else you need to report?¡± Heidi looked towards Amber at the side. ¡°Her ability to sleep while walking is really very formidable.¡± Gawain faltered and turned his head for a nce. In the end, he found that this half-elf was really following beside him with her eyes closed as if she¡¯d been sleeping for some time already. ¡°When did this rascal fall asleep?!¡± Heidi wore a helpless look. ¡°When we first started discussing the building of houses.¡± Gawain was stunned. ¡°¡­In a way, she¡¯s also a talent.¡± And he¡¯d just finished sighing when he saw Amber leisurely sober up. Miss Half-Elf rubbed her eyes, stared at Gawain and Heidi, and curiously asked, ¡°You two are finally done discussing?¡± The corner of Gawain¡¯s lips twitched as he intentionally looked at Heidi. ¡°Now about the production output of steel¡­¡± Amber closed her eyes. ¡°Wake me up when food¡¯s ready.¡± Gawain instantly had no way out. He was just thinking of casually grabbing Amber¡¯s ear and twisting it to see if it would wake her up when he suddenly saw a soldier running over from the corner of his eye. ¡°Lord!¡± The soldier ran to Gawain and swiftly stood still before bowing. ¡°A stranger hase to the territory!¡± ¡°Stranger?¡± Gawain faltered, not knowing what was so urgent about such a matter. ¡°Is it a refugee from the north? If he came to seek refuge by himself¡­¡± ¡°No, that person was dressed in clothes of the Church of Holy Light. He seemed to be a missionary, but for some reason, he¡¯s currently working at the building site.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Chapter 155 - Missionary Chapter 155: Missionary When Gawain led Amber and Heidi to arrive at a building site near the brick-kiln yard under the soldier¡¯s guide, the odd priest who had suddenly appeared in the territory had been upied for some time already. This was a slovenly, travel-stained, and exceptionally stout chap. He was currently carrying baskets of heavy bricks with the workers to where they were building walls. Despite it already beingte in the cold Frost Month, he and the other workers had worked out a body of sweat, such that the worn-our priest robes had been removed by him and tied around his waist as a waist-cloth, revealing robust upper-body muscles and bronze skin. The muscles in his arm literally looked like he was ready to perish together with heretics anytime. The workers were upied and working with this man who had suddenly appeared but asionally looked up secretly to survey him. Clearly, they had long discovered that this was an odd stranger. Meanwhile, the supervisor (and recorder) of this building site was watching helplessly from the side. Upon realizing that the feudal lord had arrived, this supervisor immediately ran to him. ¡°Lord! You¡¯re finally here, this is really¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s with this person?¡± Gawain watched the strong chap who was immersed in carrying bricks confusedly. ¡°Priest from the Church of Holy Light? This style? Why has hee to my territory and decided to work all of a sudden?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know where he came from either!¡± The supervisor looked like he was going berserk. ¡°He simply said that he came to the south to do missionary work on orders, then asked the workers if any of them were interested in the Holy Light. ¡ª¡ª Who knew where he came from? Of course, everyone ignored him. I even told him that everyone had yet to finish their work. No one had the time to listen to him. In the end, this person went to lift bricks without a word. He couldn¡¯t even be stopped ¡ª¡ª he¡¯s scarily strong!¡± ¡°¡­You¡¯d know he can¡¯t be weak just by looking at his physique.¡± Amber nced dumbfoundedly at the burly chap. She¡¯d even been inspired for a moment earlier when she heard that a suspected priest from the Church of Holy Light was here and nned to battle for 300 rounds against the other party (or get beaten up) and then extort Gawain for a sum of medical expenses. However, even with her brain circuits as they were, she never expected it to be such a character that came here. She was instantly a little stunned. ¡°This really isn¡¯t a pdin who wore the wrong clothes when he was leaving the house and walked out in robes?¡± The supervisor shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve asked. He imed to be a missionary who traveled from the central region.¡± Gawain frowned and waved a hand to the soldier who followed her as well as the supervisor before him. ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous. I¡¯ll go interact with him.¡± With that, he walked forward with Amber and Heidi. The workers working saw Gawain approach very quickly. Each of them stopped the work they had on hand in nervousness and reverence, preparing to bow, but Gawain stopped them with his gaze and waved his hand. ¡°No need to care about me. Just do your work.¡± The strong chap who was working finally also noticed the change in the atmosphere. He unloaded a basket of bricks from his shoulder and lifted his head to look around; he then turned towards Gawain. ¡°The person-in-charge is here? Are you the person-in-charge?¡± Such a manner of speaking¡­ really unlike the kind of priest one would often see in the Church of Holy Light. This was one rare time that Gawain was dressed in casual clothes. Although he carried the Sword of Pioneers with him, there was the scabbard covering it. Other than his height making him look like a crane standing among chickens, it was probably very difficult for an outsider, at the first moment, to associate this tall fellow ¡ª who didn¡¯t even have a presentable guard around him when he was out ¡ª to the Cecil Duke, Gawain (Amber was an unpresentable guard). Noticing that the burly guy before him had not figured out his identity, Gawain went along and said, ¡°Yes, I am the person-in-charge of this area. What do you do?¡± ¡°Great, I¡¯m finally meeting someone with whom speaking works!¡± The big fellow looked especially delighted. He casually wiped his perspiration. He then felt around in the long robes tied around his waist for a long while before he finally pulled out a creased document and handed it over. ¡°Could you help me hand this to your feudal lord? Previously, I stood on an elevated spot and looked for a long time, but I couldn¡¯t find where his castle was.¡± Gawain took the document and casually found a pile of bricks to sit on at the side. He also indicated for the other party to sit down. Then, he lowered his head for a look yet saw that there was only a simple sentence on this document written on superior quality parchment: Themittee sends The Lord¡¯s loyal servant, Cleric Wright Awiken, to leave for the southern borders, propagate the teachings of The Lord, and spread the way of the Holy Light. There was also the emblem of the Church of Holy Light and the seal of a certain bishop below. He really was a missionary. Gawain faltered and then put the document away. ¡°Alright, I will do so, but I have to first ask you a few questions.¡± ¡°Sure¡­ Ah, hold on.¡± The chap had just nodded halfway when he suddenly stood up and stopped a serf who happened to be walking past him. ¡°Wait a moment, there¡¯s something wrong with your arm.¡± The serf stopped nkly and even revealed a hint of nervousness when he saw Gawain seated right beside him. However, thetter only nodded lightly, indicating that there was no need to be bothered. ¡ª¡ª Gawain was also curious what this puzzling missionary wanted to do. Then he saw the missionary called ¡®Wright¡¯ rest a hand on the serf¡¯s shoulder, while the other drew the emblem of the Holy Light in the air. He chanted words of blessings, and as the blessing progressed, faint white light appeared in both his hands; a peaceful and harmonious aura filled the surrounding air. The unkempt burly chap with a naked top-half actually appeared to be slightly holy and pure in this holy light. Very soon, the treatment ended. Missionary Wright retracted his hand and nodded to the serf. ¡°Done! A little internal injury, it won¡¯t act up during cloudy days or when it rains. May The Lord bless you.¡± The serf moved his shoulder in disbelief, probably feeling obviousfort. He could not help but nod at and thank Wright repeatedly with an agitated expression and then walked back to his work post while stretching his shoulder. Missionary Wright pped his palms like he¡¯d just done something trivial and insignificant. He turned towards Gawain. ¡°I¡¯m done. Ask away.¡± Gawain sat through this entire process indifferently; he was merely a little surprised at the end that this ¡®missionary¡¯ actually only said ¡®May The Lord bless you¡¯ instead of seizing the chance to hang onto the man and talk about the way of the Holy Light for half an hour. Following that, he came back to his senses and nodded to Wright. ¡°You came here to do missionary work?¡± ¡°As it has been written in the document the central parish sent me.¡± The man nodded. ¡°The one who signed it is Bishop Megal. I set off from the ins of the Holy Spirits and walked all the way here. A small part of my time was spent traveling. Most of it was used to preach. Stopping and moving throughout the whole journey, it¡¯s been more than a year already.¡± Then he added, ¡°I only found out recently that the Cecil n was constructing a new pioneering camp here. Originally, myst stop was going to be Tanzan Town, but now, myst stop is here. I intend to settle down in this ce. If I can get the permission of the resurrected Duke, I will build a church here.¡± Amber poked Gawain¡¯s arm, muttering, ¡°Hey, hey, referring to you, referring to you~~¡± Gawain stolidly tensed the muscles in his arm for a moment, making Amber¡¯s fingers retract in pain as if she had poked a steel te. He then looked towards Wright with a frown. ¡°Then why did you suddenlye and help with the work?¡± ¡°The supervisor said earlier, everyone was working so they had no time to listen to me preach.¡± Wright shrugged. ¡°Then if I quickly help them finish up their work, I¡¯d be able to preach.¡± ¡°Simply because of this?¡± Wright wore a look that said it was a matter of fact. ¡°Yeah, simply because of that.¡± At this point, Heidi finally could no longer hold back and spoke, ¡°Excuse me, but I¡¯ve also seen missionaries from the Church of Holy Light who were traveling outside, but none of them were like you¡­ Were you a pdin in the past?¡± ¡°I am a Cleric, always have been.¡± Wright looked down at the muscles on his body and said justifiably again, ¡°But it¡¯s more dangerous preaching outside. I often encounter wild animals, bandits, and whatnot. Clerics¡¯bat theurgies are too few, so training my body is good for self-protection. Besides, sometimes the money I have on me isn¡¯t enough, so I¡¯m bound to have to help the locals with work in exchange for food. That wouldn¡¯t work if my body isn¡¯t strong.¡± ¡°Missionaries from the Church of Holy Light do not have the convention of working in exchange for food.¡± Heidi wore an odd look. ¡°Beyonders do not need to sell their physical strength regardless of where they go, much less selling it toymen. I¡¯ve never heard of such a thing.¡± ¡°Madam, that¡¯s not right of you.¡± Wright¡¯s expression immediately turned solemn. ¡°The way of the Holy Light tells us that humans cannot reap without sowing. The way of the Holy Light also tells us that all are people of the Holy Light. Since we¡¯re all people of the Holy Light, why the need to differentiate betweenymen and not?¡± Amber looked this brawny man up and down in surprise. ¡°You really took those words seriously?¡± Wright revealed a natural and right expression once more. ¡°The teachings of the way of the Holy Light, how could they be taken to be false?¡± Watching this peculiar missionary, Gawain did not say anything for a while. He swiftly pondered whether there was anything suspicious about this person before him, guessing whether he was rted to Princess Veronica¡¯s visit earlier on and surmising how much of what he said was credible. If all that he said was real, then it seemed like there was nothing to worry about ¡ª¡ª this Holy Light cleric had begun his travels a year ago, and at that time, Gawain had yet to rise from his coffin. The arrival of this missionary was a coincidence. But if it all wasn¡¯t real, this Holy Light missionary¡¯s sudden arrival on this territory would be a matter that would be more troublesome in Gawain¡¯s eyes. But for some reason, looking at this Holy Light missionary with an intriguing style, Gawain had a nagging feeling that this matter¡­ really had nothing to do with a conspiracy. Regardless, even if he had developed a trace of vignce and estrangement toward the current gods and the beliefs of this world, as a feudal lord, he could not carelessly chase a missionary away; especially in the situation when the other party had not vited anyws on thisnd and even actively helped with working and treating the sick, he really, really could not do so. ¡ª¡ª Otherwise, thew and order that he himself pursued would be diminished. Besides, he also wanted to observe and find out this person¡¯s background and what objectives he had. As Gawain was pondering at heart, missionary Wright was also surveying the three people before him, and he abruptly asked, ¡°By the way, are the three of you interested in the way of the Holy Light?¡± Gawain andpany weren¡¯t unanimous at all. ¡°I am a believer of the Goddess of Magic. I do not want to believe in other gods.¡± ¡°Are you blind? I believe in the shadows!¡± ¡°Not interested, thank you.¡± Missionary Wright nodded. ¡°Oh, never mind then.¡± Chapter 156 - In The Deep Sea Chapter 156: In The Deep Sea The briefness and understanding in missionary Wright¡¯s reply instead left Gawain stunned for a good while. He had initially prepared a big pile of justifiable, well-grounded, and polite excuses to cope with the missionary¡¯s ceaseless chatter. The contents included and were not limited to ¡®the territory has no money to sustain a church¡¯, ¡®the territory has no money to provide for priests¡¯, and ¡®you¡¯ve got to spend money to buy the bricks for the church¡¯; but he didn¡¯t expect this suspected-diator-turned-cleric missionary to actually forget it just like that¡­ He actually dropped it just like that¡­ This big brother couldn¡¯t be an undercover agent from the dark sects that infiltrated the Church of Holy Light, could he? ¡°You¡¯ll drop it just like that?¡± Even Amber could not help but burst out. ¡°You do not n on persuading more?¡± ¡°The way of the Holy Light tells me that if I do good, the Holy Light will naturally illuminate hearts. If I do not do good, even if I speak till my tongue breaks, it wouldn¡¯t work.¡± The big fellow used his hand to draw an emblem of the Church of Holy Light on his chest. He had a face full of stubble and muscles, yet he forcefully pushed out a holy and pure image. ¡°So it¡¯s all right even if you all are not interested. It¡¯s not toote to approach me again when you¡¯ve gained an interest.¡± ¡°You¡¯re really such an interesting fellow.¡± Heidi shook her head in disbelief. ¡°Say, you¡¯re from the central region, right? Why would a Church in the ins of the Holy Spirits send you to the end of the southern borders to preach? And they only gave you a document¡­ Where are your attendants and guards?¡± The present was no longer the era where it was the dawn of civilization and the various sects were canvassing with difficulty in the wild. Even missionaries who traveled everywhere no longer moved alone like an ascetic monk, especially missionaries setting off from the rich ins of the Holy Spirits. Basically, they would move about the world with a considerable number of attendants and guards. As such, those contingents were also known as ¡®moving churches¡¯, which meant that the armed personnel, the servants, and the priests of a church were all present. However, this Mr. Wright had walked from the ins of the Holy Spirits here with just a tattered document. Don¡¯t mention attendants, even his traveling expenses and food were earned by selling his own hard work. This sudden trance gave one a feeling of the unreal as if this missionary had walked out from the primitive era in history books. And Wright only smiled offhandedly after hearing this question. ¡°I got on my way alone. The bishop gave me a document and told me toe to the south to preach, so I did. As for attendants and guards¡­ For a minor low-level cleric like me, where would I get attendants and guards? Besides, I don¡¯t need them either.¡± With that, he disyed his muscles. ¡°Many pdins are no match for me. Many attendants aren¡¯t as efficient in working as I am. Then what do I want them for?¡± He then lifted his head to look around, realizing that a new batch of bricks had been sent to this building site. He stood up and dusted off his pants. ¡°Looks like there¡¯s work to be done again. Do you all have any more questions? If not, I¡¯ll go help unload this batch of bricks first.¡± Gawain had an odd expression. ¡°¡­Please go ahead.¡± Wright waved his hand. ¡°Then I¡¯ming. Ah yes, don¡¯t forget to help me pass on the document to your feudal lord. I need to get the lord¡¯s permission before I can build a church and preach publicly.¡± Gawain was at a slight loss of whether tough or to cry. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will definitely pass it on.¡± Wright nodded and turned to walk towards the building site but turned around again after taking two steps. ¡°Oh yes, there¡¯s something I forgot to ask.¡± Even Heidi found it both funny and annoying. ¡°Please fire away.¡± ¡°Where do I go to eat after work?¡± Heidi sighed. ¡°¡­Just follow the workers. Everyone who worked gets food, to one¡¯s fill.¡± Only after the missionary had left far did Amber mutter softly, ¡°I¡¯d thought people from the Church of Holy Light would definitely find trouble when they see me. In the end, why is it such a foolhardy¡­ weird person.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be delusional about persecution. He doesn¡¯t even know who you are. Why would he find trouble with you?¡± Heidi darted a look at Amber and then looked towards Gawain. ¡°Ancestor, are you going to allow this¡­ ¡®missionary¡¯ to preach in the territory?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll first observe him for two days,¡± Gawain said coolly. ¡°Send a clerk and get his basic information registered properly. Then arrange lodging for him ording to the criterion of technical migrants ¡ª¡ª have it near the administrative area. At the same time, pay close attention to his movements. If this person isn¡¯t problematic¡­ allow him to preach and move within thews of Cecil.¡± Gawain himself was estranged from the gods and beliefs in his heart, but he did not intend on stopping people from carrying out religious practices in the territory ¡ª¡ªbecause religious practices were the ¡®established facts¡¯ of this world. Theurgies were a part of local productivity Eighty to ny percent of the popce in the territory had beliefs: either in the Goddesses of Fertility and the God of Holy Light, or gods in the domains of craftsmen,merce, knowledge, and warriors. The majority were shallow believers, while a small group were pious believers. In such a context, preventing a missionary from the Church of Holy Light from practicing in the territory was both meaningless and would even breed doubt in hearts. And as long as this strange, candid missionary had no questionable points or blemishes in his background, his arrival would instead be a good thing. Gawain still remembered what Veronica mentioned thest time, and he believed that it certainly wasn¡¯t as simple as a casual mention for the Saint Princess. She would approach him again sooner orter. However, if the territory had built a small church recognized by the Church of Holy Light before that, he would have sufficient reason to decline the infiltration by the church from the capital. A church that a wandering missionary built with financial aid from the local feudal lord would be much easier to control than a church directlymanded by the capital¡¯s church. As these random thoughts spun in his mind, Gawain returned to his tent. Looking at this tent that he had been staying in for several months already, he was also rather emotional at heart. It was indeed time to move out of here, into a residence made of bricks. At the least, the new residence that he designed would have an official study, bedroom, storehouse, and all kinds ofboratories. Whether it was for living or carrying out magic research, it would be much more convenient than things were in this tent. However, it was simply unknown why Amber also appeared to be delighted that Gawain could move into his new residence as soon as possible. Thest time Gawain had asked her out of curiosity, in the end, thetter came up with a heap of strange remarks: ¡®I haven¡¯t climbed through the windows into a house for a long time¡¯, ¡®this tent of yours doesn¡¯t even have a door that can be pried¡¯, ¡®without a basement and vault, how could it be considered an aristocrat residence¡¯ and more¡­ Truly odd. Gawain had no choice but to give Amber a round of knocks on her head to correct her shoring of saying strange things, but it seemed like there wasn¡¯t much effect. Several reports regarding the poption and the territory¡¯s expansion of new residential areas were ced on the desk. Gawain sat down at his desk and began his daily work. With the inherent appeal that an ancient hero had and Gawain¡¯s factual prestige from protecting his people and leading by example, the measures that he promulgated were executed very quickly on thisnd. Even acts ¡ª like nning town roads, constructing waterways before building houses, prohibiting the relieving of oneself on the streets, and more ¡ª that were difficult to advance in this setting and also difficult to exin to the residents had received very good implementation. It seemed like people didn¡¯t really care about the objectives of such acts (even though Gawain had dispatched people to continuously exin and publicize the significance of every policy); instead, it seemed like, as long as it was something that the feudal lord said, it would definitely be right. But Gawain knew that the execution efficiency brought by such blind faith could not be relied on for long. It would inevitably be repeatedly expended through the process of promulgating one policy after another, onew after another. To sustain such an efficiency, there were only two ways. First, as far as possible, let the new policies andws engender beneficial results that could be seen with the naked eye. At the least, make the people believe that the improvement in livelihood was driven by those policies andws. This way, they would be willing to follow the newws. Second, advance education. Let the whole popce understand deliberation and distinction; let them be able to truly understand what the feudal lord was saying and in this premise, still continue to support thews and rules of the territory. The second could, on top of maintaining the current execution efficiency, also greatly raise the efficiency of every job in the territory. But¡­ where would they find the teachers? Especially in Gawain¡¯s n, to carry out Beyonder-knowledge education for the entire popce, such teachers would be even more difficult to find. The average person who could read and count could perhaps be hired using money, but those who truly possessed knowledge, who could carry out rtively high-end education, were very difficult to find. It was unlikely that they would be willing to patiently exin what were runes and calctions to a group of noisy ¡®lowly peasants¡¯; even paying money wouldn¡¯t work. Perhaps he should inquire from Jenni; she might know some Beyonders in the upper ss who were extremely down and out¡­ With the spirit that poverty gave rise to the desire for change, those starving Mages should be easier to buy over¡­ ¡­¡­ Meanwhile, in the open sea extremely far in the east of the continent, the storm was gradually breaking up. The wild and turbulent water elements returned back to the atmosphere and ocean. Nearly all the energy umted in the atmosphere had sshed onto the ind earlier, blowing the entire ind into pieces. And now, that remaining energy was stabilizing together with the water elements, slowly returning to the arms of nature. The blood of heretic cult believers painted the sea red; the metallic scent attracted the predators of the ocean, yet those predators only lingered apprehensively on the periphery of these waters, not daring at all to draw near to this ce that was still emitting a dangerous aura. The Sons of the Storm were ultimately unable to withstand the true storm. Before the natural cmity raised up by the army of sea demons, they did their best to resist for a very, very long time. But ultimately, they were still forced to give up this ¡®miracle area¡¯. With the lives of close to a third of their believers as the price, they forcefully pushed a way out in the raging ocean and escaped this ce. Now this ind was back in the sea demons¡¯ hands once more. There were still many huge and frightening hideous monsters roaming the sea surface. Those bodies covered with carapaces and spurs and filled with the glow of magical power looked intimidating, but soon, these giant beasts sank into the water. Momentster, some female figures surfaced. They had beautiful faces, elegant and well-proportioned bodies, as well as eyes filled with intelligence and spirituality like humankind¡¯s. However, minute scale-like structures could vaguely be seen covering their cheeks and arms. These scales weren¡¯t scary; instead, it brought an unusual, alluring aesthetic. And in the process of stirring the seawater, the lower halves of these females would asionally rise out of the water surface ¡ª¡ªbut they were long tails resembling water snakes or the rear half of fishes. Some even had tentacles with sucking discs like octopuses. These intelligent beings in the water stared at the ind left behind after the heretic cult believers evacuated, but they weren¡¯t interested at all in those so-called sacred articles and altars that the heretic cult believers had risked their lives to defend to thest. A sea demon with long sky-blue colored hair gazed in the direction of the ind, while another sea demon surfaced, swimming towards this leader with long sky-blue hair. ¡°Those deranged humans have escaped, General Vanessa.¡± The sea demon called General Vanessa frowned. ¡°Truly baffling living beings. I remember they weren¡¯t this crazy a few hundred years ago. Why is there no way of evenmunicating now¡­?¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably because they are unable to live in the sea, and it¡¯s so oppressive living onnd that their brains have been damaged.¡± ¡°Forget it, it¡¯s not important.¡± The sea demon general shook her head. ¡°Since those mad humans have run away, we can continue working.¡± ¡°Then¡­¡± An eager expression appeared on the young sea demon soldier¡¯s face. ¡°We¡¯ll go down and continue digging the squid?¡± The sea demon generalughed and nodded hard. ¡°Mm, continue digging the squid.¡± ¡°Continue digging the squid!¡± ¡°Dig the squid!¡± ¡°Big squid!¡± The sea demons¡¯ cheers merged into one. Following that, water foams appeared as they swung their water snake, fish, or octopus-like tails and rushed to the bottom of the sea, continuing the work that they¡¯d long nned to carry out in these waters¡ª¡ª Go to the deep sea, to the seabed, to continue digging the ¡®big squid¡¯ that had died down there for unknown reasons, whose fragments of its body covered the entire seabed and were endless no matter how much they dug¡­ Chapter 157 - Weapons of a New Era and the Unconventional Missionary Chapter 157: Weapons of a New Era and the Unconventional Missionary After sessive days of designing, improving, and trials, Reba excitedly delivered the first heat-ray gun that had actualbat function as well as thebat field pack to Gawain. ¡°This is the result!¡± The Viscountess beamed, looking especially pleased with her own achievement. ¡°Take a look?¡± Gawain looked at the things Reba brought. The first to catch his eyes was that silver vambrace. Compared to the rough and primitive ¡®prototype¡¯ then, the heat-ray gun that had a finalized design looked even more simr to how Gawain had imagined it. Its appearance orded even better with human aesthetic senses; shaped like an inted and thick vambrace, the upper section of it was swelled like an ellipsoid; that was where the magic capacitor and Scorching Ray base te would be held, while the lower section had buckles used to adjust the degree of tightness and fix the structure in ce. In addition, its magic capacitor and rune base te had been designed to be removable, to ensure that the energy crystals or core magic unit could be changed anytime. Compared to the prototype, its front-end now had a mechanism used for aiming; the metal wire and trigger used to activate the rune trigger had also been changed to a grip holder that was sturdier and more reliable. The safety gear was linked to the grip holder; in the situation that the safety gear was locked, the grip holder would also retract to the lower part of the vambrace. This way, it would not affect the soldier¡¯s normalbat movements. And ording to Reba, after adjustments to the internal runes as well as the polishing of the quartz column, its effective range had finally been raised to 340-370 meters (though room for improvement still existed); the precision and might had also increased to some extent. As this world¡¯s first ¡®long-range firearm¡¯, its range of fire and might had exceeded that of Earth¡¯s early rifles. However, Gawain knew very well that this was because it was born in a world where magical power existed. The additional support from magical power made the force of many weapons in this world ridiculously great. If the heat-ray gun could not take advantage of this aspect, then there would be no need for its creation. After all, the early rifles on Earth only had to deal with Earthmen wearing ordinary metal armors, while the heat-ray guns here had to counter Beyonders wearing enchanted equipment and even energy shields, as well as dealing with ordinary soldiers¡­ Then, his gazended on the bat field pack¡¯ that Reba brought. From its outer appearance, it really resembled a hard ¡®schoolbag¡¯ with a strange form, or rather a traveling bag. Its outer material was cowhide, while the inside was probably a metal frame and metal board; as such, it appeared to be hard and stiff. The belt of thebat field pack very clearly could be fixed on the outside of a soldier¡¯s armor, while the rectangr backpack was divided into two parts, top and bottom. Gawain was a little confused about it. ¡°The top is a normal backpack,¡± Reba exined. ¡°It can be used as a soldier¡¯s traveling bag ¡ª carrying rations, water bottles, flints, ointments, and the like. The bag below is used to hold crystals. Look, when you wear it, the lower half happens to be right at the back of one¡¯s waist. You can reach it just by stretching your hand back, and spare crystals can be taken out from this opening at the side. The crystals are clipped by two metal tes and arranged in order inside. After taking a piece out, push the depleted crystal in from the other end. This way, the crystals would be pushed out one by one. I managed to shove twelve magic web units into the entire field pack. Theoretically, it should be able to charge twelve pieces of crystals at the same time. If there are more, though they can be forcefully stuffed in¡­ the charging efficiency would be too low, and I doubt a soldier can use up so much energy in a battle.¡± Gawain looked at thisbat field pack that Reba designed and was suddenly inspired. ¡°Have you thought of other functions for this field pack?¡± ¡°Other functions?¡± Reba scratched her hair and didn¡¯t understand him for a moment. ¡°You¡¯re saying to add another sturdy belt for it so as to swing it out to hit people? Then its weight would have to be re¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be so straightforward in your thinking. What if someone suspects that it¡¯s inherited?¡± Gawain held his forehead with a hand. ¡°Did you not realize, when a big pile of crystals has been stuffed into this field pack, it could be considered a huge magic capacitor by itself?¡± Reba faltered instantly upon hearing that, only letting out an ¡®oh¡¯ momentster. ¡°Oh yes! We can look at it that way too!¡± Soon, she became excited. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean that using this field pack to directly supply energy, it could drive magic of evenrger scales?!¡± ¡°We can¡¯t waste such a big bulk.¡± Gawain looked at thebat field pack. ¡°Other than storing crystals and providing magical power for the soldiers on the battlefield, some magic circle¡¯s base te can also be integrated into it. Think about it, how would it be if we assembled a magic shield for it? Or installed a Wind Shield used to filter poisonous gas? Or, we carved magic circles that strengthened the defense power and physical performance on the armors of soldiers, then leave an external magical-power interface on the field pack. When the field pack is connected to the armor, it¡¯s equivalent to every soldier being followed by an lesiastic who releases strengthening spells nonstop for them all day long¡­ and the energy consumption of these fundamental spells is extremely low. To a field pack that has twelve magic web units, it wouldn¡¯t affect its charging speed in the slightest. Or, it would slightly affect¡­ but it would be rather worth it for the overall gains.¡± Reba was increasingly surprised as she listened on. In the end, she could not help but open her mouth wide. ¡°Lord Ancestor, why are every one of your ideas so cool?!¡± Gawain showed a smile despite maintaining a solemn expression as he always did. ¡°An old man¡¯s wisdom, an old man¡¯s wis¡ª¡± Before Gawain was done showing off, Reba had swept thebat field pack into her arms. ¡°Then I¡¯ll go redo the field pack¡¯s blueprints right now!¡± ¡°Hold on, get back here!¡± Gawain quickly leaped to his feet and stopped this doofus who was extremely action-oriented. ¡°Have youe up with a new rune base te?!¡± Reba turned back dazedly, carefully analyzed the question, and then replied with an enlightened look, ¡°I haven¡¯t!¡± ¡°Altogether, you only analyzed a Scorching Ray. What is it that you are so busy trying to shove into the field pack.¡± Gawain waved his hand, finding it both funny and annoying. ¡°All that I said earlier, list them under the n for the next generation of field packs. Send this current one into production. It¡¯s most important to first allow the soldiers to formbat ability.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Reba nodded and agreed obediently. Gawain waved his hand. ¡°Go find Heidi on your way back and have her make a trip here.¡± Soon after, Heidi arrived at Gawain¡¯s tent. ¡°Ancestor, you asked for me?¡± ¡°I want to ask you about the missionary¡¯s situation. What has he been doing the past two days? Who has he been interacting with? Has he left the territory, or were there any movements of sending messages to the outside¡­?¡± Gawain looked up from his documents. ¡°¡­What happened to you?! For the sake of practicing your aiming, you finally hit yourself with a big fireball?!¡± He stared agape at Heidi who stood before him, only to see thetter looking so miserable that there wasn¡¯t a trace of her usual calm and dignified manner at all. Not only was her hair very messy, a carbon-ck mark still remained on her face; even her clothes showed uneven scorched marks ¡ª¡ª she literally looked like she had been struck by a big fireball. ¡­Reba, that iron-headed girl, couldn¡¯t have used some extremely creative way to get her own Aunt here, could she? Heidi had used magic to tidy up her hair and face to the best of her ability, but she, who¡¯d hurried here, clearly hadn¡¯t cleaned everything up. When she heard Gawain¡¯s words at this point, the corner of her lips could not help but twitch. ¡°When Reba burst into theboratory, I was doing an experiment¡­¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± Although it was different from what he¡¯d imagined, it hadn¡¯t seemed to be too different. After awkwardly keeping silent for a few seconds, Gawain cautiously asked, ¡°Beaten up already?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll give her another when I get backter.¡± ¡°¡­Go easier on her. She¡¯s already a big girl.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try my best.¡± Gawain coughed dryly, ¡°Cough cough. Then let¡¯s get down to business first.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Heidi inhaled deeply, calmed her emotions, and started reporting the missionary¡¯s doings. ¡°That Cleric called Wright hasn¡¯t left the territory these few days. Neither was there any suspicious activity from him. He wakes up slightly earlier than the others every day, mainly to pray and to do physical training. Then he¡¯ll have breakfast like the rest and go to the building site. ¡ª¡ªWe did not assign him any work, but he actively approached the foreman. Now he¡¯s transporting bricks in the newly nned ¡®Market Avenue¡¯. He¡¯s almost a regr worker there.¡± Gawain found it interesting. ¡°¡­He so actively asked for work?¡± ¡°Yes, I got the soldiers to converse with him through chit-chatting. The missionary said that he was doing so because of the ¡®guidance of the way of the Holy Light¡¯. Because the way of the Holy Light educates people that they ought to usebor in exchange for food. He had yet to get permission to build a church, conduct sacraments, and pray for the territory, so he needed to exchange physicalbor for food.¡± ¡°He really said that?¡± Gawain found it incredible. Heidi nodded. ¡°He really said that, and he had also done so.¡± ¡°¡­These are indeed contents that the Church of Holy Light usually propagates, but I¡¯m afraid there are really barely any priests who firmly believe in this, much less personally set an example. All of them only use these narratives to dupe civilians into doing voluntarybor for the church or to solicit contributions.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°Then has he been preaching?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s considered preaching.¡± Heidi¡¯s expression turned a little odd when she came to this. ¡°He¡­ does indeed repeatedly talk about the Holy Light. asionally when he treats people with his theurgies, he would also say something like ¡®May the Holy Light bless you¡¯. But he doesn¡¯t seem like he is seriously preaching with the way he acts. Only when he meets believers who really believe in the God of Holy Light would he seriously provide an ount of the religious doctrine. But when he meets those who don¡¯t, he¡¯d simply carry off with augh.¡± Gawain frowned. ¡°Have the people sent to Tanzan Town sent any news back?¡± ¡°They¡¯re already back. Our people questioned the Cleric in Tanzan Town¡¯s Church of Holy Light and confirmed that there was indeed a missionary called Wright Awikening from the ins of the Holy Spirits traveling in the southern borders, and the characteristics match. But ording to my guesses¡­¡± Heidi paused here and shook her head. ¡°Instead of saying that this fellow called Wright was sent out to preach, he was more likely to have been kicked out by the central church. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be looking like this.¡± ¡°To be honest, that was what I guessed too.¡± Gawain shook his head wryly. ¡°Even in the old-fashioned and strict Church of Holy Light, there¡¯s bound to be such offbeat characters.¡± ¡°Ancestor, how do you intend on handling this missionary?¡± Heidi asked curiously. ¡°Leaving him alone the whole time isn¡¯t a way out either?¡± ¡°Wait another two to three days. If there still aren¡¯t any problems, I¡¯ll meet him.¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°Our territory¡­ could have a church too.¡± Chapter 158 - Refugees Gathering Point Chapter 158: Refugees¡¯ Gathering Point The weather was getting colder and colder. When the big sun was high in the sky, the clouds appeared to be hazy and unreal; more and more grayish-yellow streaks appeared in the sky when day was alternating with night. The stars were cold and bright; all kinds of signs indicated that this was going to be a winter that was even colder than the usual. And it was difficult for the homeless to get through such a winter. ¡®Red-Nose Tom¡¯ hugged a bundle of dry wood that had been gathered with great effort, hobbling on his way back to his habitation. The Frost Month¡¯s frigid winds blew from the north, curling past the surrounding sparse forest and low hills to sting his face and rush into his cor, making him feel as if his entire person was soaked in a tub of cold water that was gradually cooling. He was a youth of merely 17 years of age. ording to thews of Anzu, he was already an adult, yet prolonged malnutrition left him as thin and small as most of his peers. From his physique, it was as if he had yet to be of age; only that ragged and darkening face, as well as those eyes gradually turning dull, could reveal his true age and reveal his terrible living environment. He could already see the habitation. Though said to be a habitation, in reality, it was just a small, simple, and crude camp located in the forest of the southern borders. It was even a bit of a stretch to call it a camp ¡ª¡ª some low and tattered tents and rocks were collected here; a circle of simrly worn-out fences and brambles surrounded them. A small remaining section of the mountain range, extended in the southeast direction from the Tanzan Mine, formed a low blockade here. It barely managed to provide the most basic shelter for the pitiful people hiding out here ¡ª¡ª withstanding the freezing winds from the north, making wintere slightlyter, and letting the people here live just a little longer. Tom walked into the camp holding the dry wood;ing into sight were pairs of impassive and listless eyes. There were 26 families gathered here, 102 people. But a few days ago, this number had been 109. Most of them were refugees who escaped from the Bald Eagle territory; a flood that happened there had left these people homeless. The rest came from various Viscount¡¯s territories. They were all peasants who had lost theirnds and shelter due to all sorts of reasons. They wandered to the different cities or towns and were evicted, arrested, killed by the local feudal lords or local wild beasts, or they died from the cold and hunger. The southern borders were barren; it was difficult for most territories to provide for even more people, and to those aristocrats who only knew how to scrape the blood and sweat from theirnds and their serfs, any refugee that wandered into their territory was a detestable mouth that needed to eat. Hence, the refugees could ultimately only choose to ¡®settle down¡¯ in the wilderness. Tom found his temporary lodging: it was a shabby small tent ¡ª¡ª and this was already considered pretty good circumstances because not every family had a tent. Many people had lost almost all their belongings long ago in the process of exile; they could only sleep in the tree stumps or wind-eroded habitats, passing the days wrapped in ragged clothes or a heap of weeds. And the reason why Tom could still have a small tent to keep out wind and rain waspletely because he and his sister still had their curved de and bow and arrows with them. The fire before the tent had died out, but it wasn¡¯t night yet, so Tom carried the firewood into the tent. After his eyes adapted to the darkness inside, he saw a pair of bright eyes watching him in the dark. ¡°Sister.¡± Tom looked towards the ck-haired girl. ¡°I didn¡¯t find mushrooms. I only found this firewood.¡± The ck-haired girl was in a daze. Only a few secondster did she suddenly murmur, ¡°The Bomer¡¯s two children have died from starvation.¡± ¡°¡­Oh,¡± Tom responded softly. He sat down in the dark and only asked several secondster, ¡°Today¡­ is there food?¡± The ck-haired girl fell into a daze again. A bad feeling involuntarily rose in Tom¡¯s heart, but a whileter, the ck-haired girl suddenly moved her upper body, groped for an item, and tossed it over. It was a fairly small pheasant, and it still carried a fresh metallic scent of blood ¡ª¡ª only in this tent that was filled with all sorts of peculiar odors, Tom wasn¡¯t aware of its existence at all. A puny little pheasant waspletely not enough to fill the bellies of the siblings, especially with the premise that they could only eat this one meal a day. However, this still lifted Tom¡¯s spirits ¡ª¡ªpared to grilled mushrooms and grilled lichen, meat could allow one to sustain longer in this weather that was getting increasingly colder. He was overjoyed. ¡°You hunted something? We don¡¯t have to go hungry today!¡± ¡°Take the hunting knife with you when you go out to remove its feathers,¡± the ck-haired girl said coolly. ¡°Wear it somewhere conspicuous.¡± ¡°Mm!¡± Tom nodded hard, but as he got more and more used to the darkness in the tent, he finally noticed the anomaly with his sister ¡ª¡ª she had been lying in the corner in a weird position throughout; her energy when she spoke was also clearly not as usual. Tom leaned forward with a bad hunch and finally saw the bloodstains near his older sister¡¯s shoulder as well as the arm that hung weakly by her side. ¡°Sister, you¡¯re injured?!¡± ¡°I was bitten by a stray dog. I injured my tendon.¡± The girl¡¯s voice finally trembled. ¡°I¡­ can no longer hunt.¡± It was as if a bucket of iced water rained down from above him. Tom was instantly cold from head to sole ¡ª¡ª unable to hold a knife, unable to draw the bow. The injury on her arm meant that his sister, the only person who could go hunting in the forest, had lost the ability to obtain food, and this concurrently meant that the two of them¡­ already faced certain death. Everyone was starving; it was impossible for anyone toe help them. To these people who had lost everything, even slight injuries on their limbs or brief periods of losing their ability tobor were fatal threats! Moreover, people who were bitten by stray dogs got infected very easily, and once she was infected in this situation, it would be impossible to save her. ¡°I¡­¡± Tom gritted his teeth, making up his mind. ¡°Tomorrow, I¡¯ll bring the bow and arrows¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t go,¡± the ck-haired girl said in an unyielding tone, her gazending on Tom¡¯s legs. ¡°If you go, you won¡¯t return. Going to hunt in the forest is different from collecting firewood nearby!¡± Tom wasn¡¯t born a cripple: his leg had been broken by his feudal lord¡¯s knight. It was because that knight had gone to listen to a sermon in the church; the cleric from the Church of the Blood God said that only by personally breaking a man¡¯s leg would hisbat skills and courage break through the bottleneck, so the knight broke Tom¡¯s leg without the slightest hesitation. ¡ª¡ªAfterwards, he¡¯dpensated them with half a bag of wheat. ¡°I will set traps,¡± Tom insisted. ¡°I remember how to differentiate between the trails of bears and wolves. I will bypass¡­¡± ¡°But if you die outside, I will definitely die too.¡± The ck-haired girl stared fixedly at Tom¡¯s eyes. ¡°Go pick mushrooms in the forest. Look for seeds under the tree roots and fruits. If all else fails¡­¡± What could they do if all else failed? She no longer knew. Tom bit his lips, thinking hard, and finally uttered the thought that he had mulled over for a long time. ¡°We can¡­ approach the feudal lord here¡­¡± ¡°Have you forgotten how everyone was driven away from the Carol territory?¡± the ck-haired girl burst out sternly. ¡°It¡¯s Frost Month now, the month when people no longer farm and it¡¯s hard to hunt. The aristocrat lords would not allow even one more mouth in their territory at this time!¡± ¡°Then¡­¡± Tom thought again and offered hesitantly, ¡°The mine might need ves ¡ª¡ª the feudal lord of Tanzan Town has a big mine. Even in Frost Month, the mine needs veborers, right¡­?¡± ¡°Can you be a veborer?¡± The ck-haired girl stared at Tom¡¯s legs. ¡°I can¡¯t work now. Neither can you. Even if they want ves, they won¡¯t want those like us!¡± ¡°How about moving further south? I heard that the south of the White River is the Cecil n¡¯s newly pioneered territory. They probablyck all sorts of workers, pioneering such a ce¡­ At the least, I can tan[1] leather.¡± ¡°Stop thinking about it.¡± The ck-haired girl finally let out a deep exhale, her eyes dull as she leaned back on the already moldy heap of straw. ¡°The aristocrat lords¡­ are all the same¡­¡± The howling wind blew from the north once again, rolling past this bleak and impoverished camp. Hunger and the cold made people end their only activity for the day. Everyone curled back into their tents or heaps of straws, trying their best to reduce the loss of physical strength and heat through such a method, and in this process, the camp gradually quietened down. However, outside the campsite, in the slightly denser forest, some moving shadows were gathering. They brought equipment that were of all variety but also especially sophisticated. There wasn¡¯t any unified symbol on them, and they clustered in groups in the mountain forest, eyes glued to that small settlement through the vegetation and darkness of the night. Just like hyenas watching their prey in the dark, their eyes were full of greed and hunger. ¡­ In the feudal lord¡¯s tent in the Cecil territory, Gawain Cecil received Philip¡¯s report. A refugee gathering point? North of the White River, in the mountain forest east of Tanzan Mine?¡± ¡°Yes, Lord.¡± The young knight nodded and said, ¡°It was supposed to be Sir Byron reporting to you, but he¡¯s currently exploring the ruins in the mountains, so the news came to me.¡± Gawain put down the dip pen in his hand. ¡°How big is the scale? Have people been sent to get in touch?¡± At the same time, excitement filled his heart. After asking and opening up channels everywhere, the investigators were finally starting to discover those hidden refugee gathering points!¡± ¡°The scale isn¡¯t big, about a hundred people, but we might be able to contact other refugee gathering areas through them,¡± Sir Philip answered. ¡°But our people have yet to interact with them¡­ Because there¡¯s some trouble.¡± ¡°Trouble?¡± Gawain brows knitted together. ¡°Some armed personnel of unknown background are active near that gathering point, probably a mercenary ¡®ve-capturing team¡¯ waiting to strike.¡± A hint of loathing appeared on Philip¡¯s face. ¡°ording to the information sent back, the group¡¯s equipment is of excellent quality, and it is confirmed that Beyonders exist. There might even be one or two spellcasters overseeing things. Only their grades are unknown.¡± ¡°Several Beyonders running things?¡± Gawain was slightly surprised. ¡°The strength of this mercenary team is fairly decent.¡± Sir Philip nodded. ¡°Lord, how should we handle this?¡± ¡°Of course we¡­ go bring back those residents who ought to be protected by the Cecil n.¡± Gawain Cecil smiled. ¡°With the Tanzan Mine as the east and the various aristocratic territories as the south, the mountainous region, forest, and river are all no man¡¯snd. In this ce in the south, all that are unowned belong to the Cecil n!¡± [1] Tanning ¨C the process of treating skins of animals to produce leather Chapter 159 - Sortie

Chapter 159: Sortie Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Mercenaries weren¡¯t considered rare in this world. In fact, the history of this upation could trace back to the Gondor Empire¡¯s era of darkness. No matter how the dynasties were reced or how civilization had risen or fallen, it seemed that people would always need such military personnel who operated in the gray zone to fill up the vacancies in the operations of that society. They were the nobles¡¯ ¡®bloody gloves¡¯, the merchants¡¯ ¡®warriors for hire¡¯. When they didn¡¯t have any employers, they would be the fugitives in the wilderness. Mercenaries were legal, and there were even an official guild and a crude registration system. However, almost every mercenary had done something illegal, but what was that? In this uncivilized and backward world, the w¡¯ itself wasn¡¯t something upright or just either¡­ ording to the information ryed back by the scouts, there were roughly twenty well-equipped mercenaries targeting a refugee group that had a poption of about one hundred individuals. Furthermore, the mercenaries had at least three low-ranked Knights and around two Mages overseeing the group. Even if the rest of the mercenaries didn¡¯t have any upation, theirbat ability should still be better than regr soldiers. Such ¡®elite¡¯ mercenary groups were truly rare and had attracted Gawain¡¯s curiosity and suspicion. In order to eradicate these uwful mercenaries, Gawain quickly ordered Sir Philip to organize a team of 30 individuals and was preparing to lead on them a ¡®campaign¡¯ personally. It didn¡¯t matter where those mercenaries came from; they were threatening the refugees of thisnd, which meant they were threatening the future poption of Cecil territory. Gawain wasn¡¯t going to permit such a situation to carry on as those people were all potentialbor forces! It might seem like they were making a big fuss over a minor issue for a legendary Knight to lead 30 fully equipped Cecil Combatants to deal with 20 mercenaries, but Gawain had his own intention. Those 30 fully equipped Cecil Combatants were the new-generation ¡®magic infantry¡¯ that had just changed their gear. The first batch of standardized magic equipment already had its own production line, while these 30 soldiers were equipped with the brand new heat-ray guns andbat field packs. Although they had gone through basic shooting and coordination training, this was actually an inexperienced team. Even if half the members were veteran soldiers, theycked experience with their new weapons. Gawain believed this new kind of warrior that could casually shoot out high-energy beams would have superiorbat ability aspared to the traditional soldier. It was why he wanted these soldiers to be inspected in actualbat. Thirty ¡®magic infantry¡¯ soldiers were gathered at the southern bank of the White River. Behind them was the bridge, which was recentlypleted, to cross the river. After hearing the news, the residents rushed over. Even those serfs and ve workers who had yet to obtain their status as free residents were also gathered at the nearby vicinity. They looked with curious eyes at the army that was different from their normal impressions. The soldiers were wearing tidy, magical light armor that were reinforced with magic. Each soldier was equipped with a peculiarly shaped steel vambrace on the left hand. On their backs, the traditional marching sacks were reced with a new-generation, hardenedbat field pack. The magical longswords and the spare des were fastened onto their waists and the sides of the field packs. Each of them looked awe-inspiring. Gawain had used strict discipline and a reward and punishment system to train these soldiers over a long period of time. They too knew that as the first batch of ¡®magic infantries¡¯, it was a kind of special honor; therefore, they were all standing upright. Even though arge group ofmoners were gesturing and pointing at them with exmations of surprise and admiration, none of them turned around. Sir Philip walked over and said, ¡°Your Excellency, the soldiers and the supply carriage are ready. We can depart at any time.¡± Gawain nodded and took a nce at Amber who was beside him. This time, apart from Amber and Philip, he didn¡¯t bring any additional manpower. He believed that with 30 magic infantry soldiers and him to hold the line, the over twenty mercenaries wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything to them. ¡°Then let¡¯s¡­¡± Before Gawain finished, he suddenly noticed a slightmotion among themoners in the distance. A loud voice echoed from the crowd. ¡°Excuse me, excuse me¡­ Thank the Holy Light for bestowing spare time to me¡­ The Holy Light, ah, you stepped on my foot¡­ Excuse me, thank you. Please see it as for the sake of the Holy Light¡­¡± Gawain was astonished to see the crowd getting split in the middle. The Arnold Schwarzenegger-style Cleric called Wright was rapidly approaching in this direction. He was wearing the shabby Holy Light Cleric¡¯s robes. The unfitting robes were tightly hugging his body, while his muscle contours that were impossible to conceal bulged from under the robes. It looked as if he was preparing to end his life together with a few heretics. ¡°Oh Holy Light! I am here¡ª¡± Wright arrived at the front of the army and looked up at Gawain who was riding on the horse. However, he was stunned after just a few words. ¡°It¡¯s you? Aren¡¯t you¡­ the supervisor at the construction site?¡± Without Gawain¡¯s permission, no one had told this Cleric that thisnd¡¯s feudal lord was actually the big fellow who had sat and chatted with him at the pile of bricks¡­ Gawain didn¡¯t think that he would meet again under such conditions. Furthermore, he wouldn¡¯t be able to conceal his identity anymore. As such, Gawain smiled and nodded. ¡°I didn¡¯t cheat you previously. I am indeed thisnd¡¯s supervisor¡­ A feudal lord is also considered a supervisor, right?¡± ¡°Oh Holy Light! You are thisnd¡¯s feudal lord?! The legendary Gawain Cecil who jumped out from the coffin due to your unworthy descendants?!¡± Wright eximed while drawing the symbol of the God of Holy Light in front of his chest and said, ¡°I thought you were a foreman!¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± Sir Philip drew his sword with a swish and said, ¡°Missionary! Mind your words! Or else¡­¡± ¡°Cough, cough.¡± Gawain quickly stopped Philip from issuing the duel request and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be agitated. This¡­ is one of the rumors that I asked Byron to disseminate previously.¡± Amber rolled her eyes and said, ¡°You reap what you sow. It is unknown what kind of othermoner versions of you will continue to appear in the future.¡± Philip and Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± After an awkward moment, Gawain couldn¡¯t help but shift everyone¡¯s attention and said to Wright, ¡°I apologize that I didn¡¯t tell you my true identity during our first encounter. I merely wanted to have a conversation with you as a normal person so that I can understand more about the divine upation holders of this era.¡± ¡°I can understand. It is a prudent and wise action.¡± Wright revealed a natural smile and said, ¡°It seems like I don¡¯t have to continue worrying about the document as it really was delivered to the hands of the feudal lord.¡± Gawain smirked and looked at this missionary with curiosity. ¡°Why are you looking for me? You should be able to see that we are about to set off for a campaign.¡± ¡°I am here precisely for that reason.¡± Wright straightened his body and said, ¡°I wish to depart together with the army.¡± Gawain was greatly surprised by this. ¡°Why? You are not my soldier nor an advisor of the territory. Why would you wish to go with us?¡± ¡°How can an army set off without an apanying Cleric?¡± Wright said it as though it was expected. ¡°Furthermore, as the only Cleric from the Church of Holy Light, I am obligated to use my power to assist each and every individual in this territory, especially when carrying out justice. I heard that you are about to rescue refugees that are starving in the wilderness. I must be involved with such matters.¡± Gawain¡¯s brows couldn¡¯t help but twitch. Wright¡¯s every word and statement were in ordance with the virtue and ideology of his creed. However, in this era, how many of the Clerics and Priests from the Church of Holy Light would actually treat such creeds seriously? This fellow¡­ No wonder he was chased out from the central church. Just by thinking, Gawain had guessed that this unfitting person wouldn¡¯t be treated well in the church. Philip ¡ª who had simr convictions, was pious, and pursued the Knight¡¯s spirit ¡ª was filled with admiration towards Wright¡¯s speech. This young and inflexible Knight seemed to have forgotten that he had drawn his sword earlier and wanted to have a duel. Philip sang praises, ¡°That is truly the speech of a righteous person. Cleric Wright, you are not just a good Cleric, you also possess the Knight¡¯s spirit!¡± Gawain sized up Wright and thought rapidly in his mind. His first reaction was to reject this entric Holy Light Cleric. This was a military operation: even if it was a small-scale operation to eradicate a small group of mercenaries, it should still be strict and solemn. Gawain instinctively felt that it was inappropriate for a Holy Light Cleric to suddenly request to ¡®cut in line¡¯. However, after a brief consideration, Gawain felt that it was fine to bring along this Cleric. Perhaps, it was a good chance to observe the Cleric. Moreover, Wright¡¯s words made sense¡­ It was necessary for the army to have an apanying Cleric. The soldiers might already have the healing medicine that Pittman and his helpers have concocted, but it was definitely better to have a professional healer in the group. Since the old Druid was currently conducting the crucial experimentation to boost the medicines with nts and to mass-produce it, Wright just happened topensate for the empty position. As long as this Cleric was able to obeymands. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. This isn¡¯t the first time I am taking the role of an apanying Cleric.¡± When Wright heard of Gawain¡¯s request, he smiled with confidence. ¡°The central region might be peaceful, but it is normal for the feudal lord to organize armies to eradicate bandits and monsters in the mountains. I am frequently sent by the Church to be the apanying Cleric. I am very familiar with all these.¡± Gawain looked at this Cleric who was covered in sinews; he was rather suspicious about this Cleric apanying the army¡­ or charging at the front lines. In the end, the team had an additional Holy Light Cleric who was strange and entric. Under the eyes of the residents, the team departed. At the same moment, across the northern mountains, forests, and wilderness of the White River, across the starving refugees in the wilderness and the insatiable bandits who treated the refugees as prey was the n castle that the Kant n had inherited for generations. Even though several centuries had passed, the castle was still standing erect silently on the hill beside ¡®Quelin Town¡¯. This glorious n had governed thisnd for over three hundred years. Before the Cecil n regressed, they were considered the rare ¡®independent n¡¯ in the southern region. After the Cecil n declined, the Kant n was fortunate enough to escape the storm that turned the entire southern region upside down. They were still established firmly in ce until today. Three hundred years was enough to grind down the most majestic castle into a weather-beaten state. Even after multiple repairs and renovations, the Kant Castle inevitably revealed its age. Those traditionally narrow and long windows were embedded in the thick stone walls. Even though it was noontime, every room in the castle was still filled with great darkness. The aged Viscount Victor Kant was seated in his study while a hint of sunshine poured in from the narrow window behind him. It made his crooked body even gloomier. His head was lowered as he flipped through the stack of parchments that he had just finished writing. Those papers were filled with symbols and graffiti-like words that had an unknown purpose. Subsequently, he lifted his head and spoke to the equally aged butler, ¡°Mister Carter, have those ¡®hounds¡¯ found new prey?¡± ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡± The old butler bent over slightly. ¡°At the southern side of the mountains and forest, there is a group of malnourished and homeless people. They still do not know of their imminent fate. But those hounds have yet to make a move.¡± ¡°They want money, more money.¡± Victor Kant¡¯s head was trembling as though he was furious, yet his tone was delighted. ¡°Dogs need food as a reward to work for the owner. It is the same for those dogs with two legs¡­ Give them their ¡®food¡¯ then. Mister Carter, send someone with a bag of money and look for those hounds. Tell them to do it quickly, and bring those refugees to me. If they continue to dy, there will not be anymore coborations. This is the Frost Month, and they should clearly know that there will not be as many opportunities to earn such money.¡± ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡± After the old butler left, Victor Kant lowered his head again and buried himself into those chaotic symbols and words. The afternoon sun was having a hard time illuminating the study through the narrow windows. It felt as though there was a thickyer of mist that was dark and fuzzy. In this dark and fuzzy sunlight, Victor Kant¡¯s shadow was elongated by the study table, making his shadow indistinct and inhuman¡­ Chapter 160 - Settlement

Chapter 160: Settlement Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The refugees¡¯ settlement wasn¡¯t far from the White River. After crossing the wilderness north of the White River, it would be the mountains and forests. The refugees had hidden themselves in the forest and were using the scarce food produced by the forest to survive. The forest was the connector between the Tanzan Mine and the eastern hills. The undting mountains reduced the wind¡¯s force and allowed those seeds that rode the wind to have a chance to germinate in this ce. It then formed the lush woond that extended along the hills. This patch of woonds had an owner a very long time ago. The short-lived Carlo n had been the temporary feudal lord of these woonds and also the wilderness at the northern bank of the White River. But a gue had ended the rule of the n, and that was already a few centuries ago. Right now, Mother Nature had already erased most evidence of human civilization, while the Carlo n¡¯s copsed castle remained in a silent slumber behind some unknown hill. As the forest and the wilderness were close to the Dark Range, the castle was something that no one was willing to seek out. Whenever a n along the Dark Range was destroyed, everyone would unanimously determine that it was due to the curse and the chaotic magic from the Gondor Wastnd. Due to such cases, there were plenty of unimednds in the extremes of the southern region. Even though the woonds were only separated by the Tanzan Mine from the rest of Viscount Andrew Leslie¡¯s territory, the viscount obviously didn¡¯t have any intention to send his men across the massive Tanzan Mountain to develop this piece ofnd. The Cecil Combatants were wearing light-weight magic armor that was convenient to move in. Armed with the new heat-ray gun andbat field pack, they used theirbat training to traverse through the forest prudently but quickly. They had already departed from the territory for one day and one night. They had just rested and ate recently; therefore, they were at their prime. The refugees¡¯ hideout was already close. After entering the forest, it was difficult to ride on the warhorse; therefore, Gawain immediately dismounted and pulled the horse while walking together with Sir Philip. Amber was hooked up to the saddle of Gawain¡¯s ¡®Krieger Superior Warhorse¡¯; she was swaying left and right while dozing off. The reason ¡®hooked¡¯ was used as a descriptor was due to the inferior riding skills that this half-elf youngdy had. In order to prevent herself from falling off, she used several straps and buckles to secure herself on the saddle. If they were to encounter any emergency situation, she could instantly roll into darkness and wasn¡¯t afraid that getting strapped up would actually keep her from escaping. A person with an elven bloodline actually couldn¡¯tmunicate with a horse; she was truly the disgrace of the elves. ¡°We are almost there,¡± Sir Philip spoke while looking at the front. ¡°In fact, this zone has plenty of refugee settlements, but they are all concealed in ces that are extremely hard to find. As long as we can find one of them, we will be able to contact the others.¡± Gawain nodded and frowned lightly. ¡°To be honest, I feel that this situation is rather strange.¡± ¡°Strange?¡± Sir Philip couldn¡¯t understand and asked, ¡°What is strange?¡± ¡°It was rare for people to conduct arge-scale ve capture after the Frost Month as the temperature would decline after the Frost Month, and farm work would be suspended; thus, they wouldn¡¯t need so muchbor force. Instead, most of the people would be in a food-consumption state. If they were to capture ves at this timing, they wouldn¡¯t be able to make them work, and they would need to feed them for nothing.¡± Gawain shook his head and said, ¡°Unless, it is for the mines, which aren¡¯t affected by the seasons, as ve workers are needed there for the entire year. However, thergest mine in this area is near Tanzan Town, and Viscount Andrew doesn¡¯t have any intention to increase the number of ve workers¡­ Furthermore, he doesn¡¯t seem like the kind that would capture refugees to use as ves.¡± ¡°Only heaven knows who hired those mercenaries,¡± Sir Philip said. ¡°Perhaps they are going to be sold to the central region as there are plenty of mines and merchants there. Moreover, the price of ves in the central region is expensive, and there are plenty of people there who are willing to take the risk of buying ¡®private ves¡¯.¡± Gawain didn¡¯t express any opinion, but soon enough, a faint stench of blood drifted into his nose. ¡°Stop!¡± He immediately waved his hand while each of the squad leaders shouted for their troops to stop and stood on guard. Even Amber who was tied up on the saddle had instantly felt the change in atmosphere (it was only this vignce that made her barely worthy for her bloodline even though it seemed like it was due to cowardice). She opened her eyes and immediately turned into a shadow before scuttling to Gawain¡¯s side and said, ¡°Stench of blood ahead!¡± ¡°Oh Holy Light!¡± The apanying Cleric Wright immediately drew a holy symbol on his chest and said, ¡°Someone is bleeding and dying.¡± Under the lead of Gawain, the army traversed the woods and shrubs swiftly. The situation of the refugee settlement was then revealed to them. Those mercenaries had made their move. The settlement was surrounded with worn-out wooden fences and thorns, but those weren¡¯t able to resist the savages with des. In between the scattered and shabby tents, there was a spaciousnd. Eighty to ny refugees with ragged clothes and haggard expressions were driven to thisrge space. The over-twenty fully equipped mercenaries were split into two groups. Half of them were standing guard outside of the settlement, while the other half had their des drawn toward the gathered refugees. There, an individual wearing ck half-armor paced back and forth in front of these pitiful refugees, who would soon be ves, while constantly yelling something. In their vicinity, one could see seven or eight corpses that were struck dead, and each of them had died due to multiple de wounds. It was obvious that when the mercenaries attacked in the beginning, the refugees conducted a short resistance but were quickly taken down. Those chopped up corpses had prevented the resistance from escting into a situation that would go out of control. ¡°Their equipment is indeed exquisite.¡± Gawain analyzed as he watched. ¡°Furthermore, half of them are mixed with the refugees. Once the battle starts, they might use those refugees as hostages¡­¡± ¡°Hostage? Aren¡¯t you thinking too much?¡± Amber looked at Gawain and said, ¡°Those are refugees that are treated as livestock by nobles and mercenaries. The nobles and their military forces would never bother about their lives. Those mercenaries will also be thinking the same thing of us. Therefore, they will not use those refugees as hostages. However, during crucial moments, they might use the refugees as meat shields¡­ As long as we can make a hugemotion to catch them off guard, those refugees will immediately scatter and escape. The situation will then be outside of the mercenaries¡¯ control. This is the best time, before those refugees are tied up.¡± After hearing the logical analysis from the half-elf youngdy, Gawain was instantly astonished and quickly realized that he was still affected by his experiences on Earth. Hostages¡­ It would only be useful when one treated the hostage as a human. In this ce, there would never be a scenario where a viin would put the de on a ¡®lowlymoner¡¯ and threaten the noble by shouting ¡®Take one more step, and I will kill him!¡¯. Because a ¡®normal¡¯ noble wouldn¡¯t hesitate to kill the ¡®lowlymoners¡¯ along with the bandits. When thinking until this point, Gawain sighed before taking out two crystal grenades and said, ¡°Then let¡¯s make a hugemotion.¡± ¡­ When the mercenaries of unknown origins attacked the settlement, a few of the refugees subconsciously chose to resist, and they were instantly dismembered. Cries and miserable screams had engulfed the entire settlement but had quickly regained peace in a short while. The refugees were herded like livestock by these de-wielding bandits and driven out from their tents and habitats. The refugees were all gathered at the center of the spaciousnd. As refugees, even thest bunch of rice straw in their hands could be snatched by others. As such, the refugees here weren¡¯t unfamiliar with getting plundered. However, when they saw these people¡¯s attire and imposing presence, those slightly more knowledgeable refugees realized that these people were even more horrific than bandits. These people were mercenaries, hired mercenaries. The red-nosed Tom¡¯s elder sister, the ck-haired youngdy with ck eyes, ¡®Joan¡¯ was mixed among the refugees. She had carefully averted her gaze to prevent her eyes from making contact with these vicious people. She was using her left hand to hold onto her injured right arm while enduring the pain from her face and also the pain from dirt entering her wounds. The moment these vicious people barged into the settlement, she used charcoal and mixed it with mud to paint her face. However, as she was doing so, one of the leaders among the mercenaries quickly saw it andughed while praising that she was a smart youngdy. Immediately after, he used a whip tosh and nearly disfigured half her face. When he wasshing, heughed and said that doing this would allow her to have permanent ¡®makeup¡¯. Blood that was mixed with mud was dripping onto the ground, but Joan was feeling joy in her heart as that mercenary leader was currently being berated by a source of rage. ¡°You bunch of lowly people! Lowly dirt! You are whores and bastards that are only good enough to sleep in the sewers! Where is thatme kid?! I know one of you has run off. I know! Damn it¡­ Eight of you died earlier. Do you know how much money I lost?! Where have you hidden thatme kid!!¡± Tom had already left in a new direction to search for edible mushrooms and moss. He was fortunate enough to avoid the mercenaries¡¯ eyes during the way. When he returned, he would surely be able to notice the abnormal situation at the settlement and would escape. While thinking this, Joan took a peek at the armored mercenary leader who was armed with a silver longsword at his waist. She knew that the refugees would soon break from the pressure; therefore, she wanted to say that she was Tom¡¯s elder sister, and she was already prepared for the worst-case scenario of death, making these long-legged savages suffer more losses. She could see that this group of refugees including herself was going to bring a lot of money for these mercenaries, and each death would only make them even more enraged. On many asions, this was the greatest form of protest that these ¡®lowly people¡¯ could use against the nobles. Just as Joan had such thoughts, a strangemotion suddenly echoed from the vicinity, and she heard it with her sensitive ears that had been tempered by many days of hunting. Suddenly, there were, seemingly, two rocks thatnded a few dozen meters apart. Before she could figure out what those ¡®rocks¡¯ were, she heard two thunderous roars from the back of the mercenaries! The thunderous sound was unfamiliar to everyone. Even though des were pointed at them, the refugees who were herded to the spaciousnd had jumped with fright before running desperately toward the tents, which was also the opposite direction of the explosions. The mercenaries who had experiencedbat were much moreposed. They might also have been frightened, but the first reaction in their minds was: Enemy attack! Prepare for the attack! This was the right reaction, be it for them or for Gawain. Chapter 161 - Concentrated Fire...

Chapter 161: Concentrated Fire¡­ Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios The attack happened suddenly, and no one was able to react and figure out what kind of attack it was. Even though the veteran mercenaries were experienced and knowledgeable as they had witnessed all sorts of attacks from vicious people (or vicious beasts). They were still stunned when they were sted by an exploding Fireball that didn¡¯t emit any magical waves. Due to the short moment of shock, it had caused them to lose control of the situation that was in their grasp. ¡°Enemy attack!¡± The mercenary leader with the half armor immediately yelled out. Subsequently, he calmly activated his protective aura while the other mercenaries who were only slightly dyed had turned swiftly towards the direction of the attack. Those attackers had already revealed themselves from the forest. A mercenary sub-leader who had the upation of Knight was the first to see the appearance of the attackers. He saw a few soldiers stepping out of the woods, and they were wearing light armors that were strange in form. The soldiers were armed with unusual and almost superfluous and unfittingrge vambraces. They were also wearing marching backpacks during the battle, and it seemed like they simply didn¡¯t have anymon sense orbat ability. The sub-leader couldn¡¯t help but find it ridiculous. That eye-catching vambrace was elegant but not feasible and would only affect one¡¯s bnce during closebat. As for the cumbersome backpacks, it was simply a sign that theyckedbat experience as such things should have been taken off beforebat! Of course, the thing that made him belittle these strange soldiers was because he couldn¡¯t feel any trace of magical waves from them. Ordinary people wearing strange equipment and wanted to go against Beyonders? 1After consideration of the previous two strange magical explosions, the Knight mercenary was worried there would be spellcasters hidden in the forest. However, he still waved his hand and called to the nearest subordinates, ¡°Charge!¡± The subordinates instinctively obeyed themand and brandished their des while charging at the strange enemies at the borders of the forest. At the same moment, the rest of the mercenaries had also reacted as they let out intimidating shouts while charging at the attackers. However, the thing that happened next was something that none of them could react to. Those soldiers with strange equipment started to raise their left arm and aimed at the mercenaries like they were going to shoot crossbows. Immediately after, there was a series of dull buzzing sounds as high-heat rays of light pierced through the air. The consecutive Scorching Rays had prated each of the mercenaries that charged at them. The Knight sub-leader was stunned by the scene as his mind exploded and shed with fantasy-like thoughts: Scorching Ray? Mage? A Mage who wears armor and wields a longsword? A group of mages that wears armor and wields long swords?! He used his lifetime¡¯s fastest speed to activate his protective aura. Ayer of dense magic radiance floated on the surface of his body. Just as he assumed he would be able to block the low-grade magic from those strange ¡®armored mages¡¯, there was a series of buzzes that suddenly echoed from the forest. Immediately after, over a dozen red lights assaulted his face. Consecutive Scorching Rays sted his body. The Knight mercenary¡¯s aura was able to disperse the Scorching Rays at first, but he felt only fear in his heart. As he noticed that those ¡®armored mages¡¯ didn¡¯t need any buffer time or chants to cast the spells, he also realized that the rays were pouring out from the forest unendingly! An extremely painful and scorching sensation came from his abdomen; subsequently, his limbs were all struck at the same time. The sub-leader of the mercenaries who was a low-grade Knight had been blown into pieces. Before his thoughts had ended thoroughly, there was only one thought in his mind: Mages¡­ When were they somon? During the process when those underlings and their sub-leader were instantly killed by the concentrated fire of the Scorching Rays, the mercenary leader with the half-armor was fortunate enough to survive. He didn¡¯t charge with the others, and when he noticed that the situation wasn¡¯t good, he had time to look for a ce to hide behind and avoid the attacks. He used a near-rolling and crawling method to rush behind the nearest boulder. But during this process, he saw a ck-robed figure still hesitating and standing in ce. That person was one of the two Mages in the mercenary group. The Mage mercenary had actually brought up his magic shield and started to chant an attack spell. Shielded casting was a fundamental and standard move for every Combat Mage when going against other Mages. But the mercenary leader immediately realized that this foolish Combat Mage was done for. He watched as dozens of scorching red rays were shot at the figure wearing mage robes. After the magic shield was destroyed with ease, the mage robes that had a certain level of magic resistance were shivering, with countless ripples. The ck-robed mage used his magic shield and expensive magic-resistant robes to endure the first wave of shots, but the second wave of shots had turned him into scorched ashes after a vertical explosion. This wasn¡¯t even a battle; it was a one-sided massacre. The difference in strength between his group and the enemies was as drastic as when he led his subordinates to ughter the refugees. The mercenary leader had given up resisting such power. He scanned the surroundings and made sure that he wasn¡¯t in the sights of the enemies and started to move alongside the haystacks and corpses while preparing to escape from this horrific ce. However, as soon as he moved, he felt an icy cold aura that extended from his back to his entire body. A cold de was ced at his neck. ¡°If I were you, I would put my hands behind my head.¡± Amber used a dagger and ced it at the back of the mercenary leader¡¯s neck while issuing an effective threat and having this resolution in her mind: if this capable-looking mercenary leader tried to resist, she would immediately escape. 3If the mercenary leader didn¡¯t resist, she would use this contribution to redeem a grilled chicken and half a bucket of beer from Gawain. The mercenary leader didn¡¯t resist as there were over two dozen Combat Mages surrounding this ce. Even if they looked strange, their magic was real. The mercenary leader believed that in the face of a Mage Corps like this, no matter howpetent a person was, they would cower. Without making a move throughout the entire process, Gawain who was observing and recording the battlefield walked over with Philip. Together with the ¡®magic infantry¡¯, they started to clean up the battlefield, while the mercenary leader stood up and walked out from behind the boulder under the threat of Amber¡¯s dagger. The mercenary leader then submitted obediently. Looking at all the charred corpses and thinking back to a few minutes ago when they were still a well-equipped group of elite mercenaries with Beyonders leading them, Gawain had an additional sense of pride and trust towards the new model of the heat-ray guns. At the same time, he realized that this first generation of magic soldiers was stillcking in experience and battle tactics. Many of the soldiers were still unable to free themselves from traditionalbat. They didn¡¯t understand the significance of concealing themselves in the bunker while ambushing the enemies with concentrated fire. There were some who exposed themselves too quickly. Some were overly excited as it was the first time they were using magic to kill enemies, and they had forgotten about the concentrated-fire tactic that was given by their squad leaders, making it very chaotic. There were even two soldiers who made mistakes when operating the heat-ray gun. They had been ¡®shooting¡¯ at the enemies without removing the safety on their heat-ray guns and had only realized that they weren¡¯t hitting anyone when their squadmates notified them¡­ Bringing 30 magic infantrymen to deal with these mercenaries was indeed overkill. With the firepower of the heat-ray guns and the new equipment that brought confusion to the enemies on the battlefield, Gawain determined that they actually only required 10 soldiers to eliminate these well-equipped but unorganized mercenaries. As long as their concentrated-fire andbat tactics were appropriate, conventional-minded or low-grade Beyonders would have a hard time trying to conduct an effective counterattack against them. But it was still necessary to bring this number of soldiers. As long as everyone made only one effective shot (there were two who were only looking at others shooting), these soldiers would be able to understand the traits and usage methods of this new equipment in livebat. At the same time, Gawain was able to verify the training and education progress of each of these soldiers. Be it for the heat-ray gun or this new ¡®type¡¯ of soldier, today had been a very valuable livebat test. Missionary Wright had also walked out of the forest with the soldiers. This was the first time he saw the Cecil Combat Corps in battle, and those unbelievably mysterious weapons had stunned this Cleric who was as powerful as a bear. But his attention was quickly shifted away from those unknown weapons. Wright was moving across the battlefield that was filled with the corpses of the mercenaries and would constantly squat down and draw the symbol of the Church of Holy Light on the foreheads of these corpses. At the same time, he would be chanting: ¡°May the Holy Light purify your sinful soul.¡± ¡°May the Holy Light purify your sinful soul.¡± ¡°May the Holy Light purify your sinful and especially ugly soul.¡± ¡°May the Holy Light purify your sinful, ugly soul with garlic breath.¡± The pious Holy Light believer was like a qualified apanying Cleric who used his conviction to pacify the souls of these mercenaries who had lived lives of brutality and blood. It was to prevent the environment which was filled with deathly aura from producing a dangerous malicious spirit or a cursed gue. As he prayed, he lifted his hand from a crossbow-wielding mercenary¡¯s forehead and walked to a mercenary wearing short gray robes. ¡°May the Holy Light purify y¡ª Mm? You¡­!¡± As Wright let out a suspicious voice, the ¡®corpse¡¯ with the short gray robes suddenly moved. This Mage that feigned death had suddenly opened his eyes that were overflowing with chaotic streams of light. A dangerous arcane bullet was formed in front of his chest, ready to be used against Wright! At such a close distance, it was already impossible to protect the body with theurgy. However, Missionary Wright still lifted his right hand and chanted a Holy Light skill with unwavering determination. ¡°Commandment ¨C Silence! (this was actually just a punch).¡± A casserole-sized fist descended from the sky and knocked out the Mage mercenary who was feigning death, filling his face with blood. To be more urate, the Mage mercenary had been nearly beaten to death, almost removing the need for pretense. Subsequently, the missionary stood up and yelled out to Gawain, ¡°Your Excellency! There is a Mage who feigned death here. He gave me a shock!¡± Amber saw the entire process, and she eximed from a nearby distance, ¡°God damn¡­ Did you actually beat him to death?¡± Wright had a calm expression as he replied, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he isn¡¯t dead. The ¡®Silence¡¯ spell cannot kill anyone.¡± ¡°Tie up these two survivors.¡± Gawain was already a little immune to this unusual fellow and simply sighed before seriously distributing the tasks. ¡°Philip, take half the men to patrol the woods and make sure there are no remaining enemies. Wright,e here. There is an injured person here.¡± Chapter 162 - Finalization

Chapter 162: Finalization Trantor: As Studios Editor: As Studios Not long ago, an elite mercenary group that looked powerful and seemed undefeatable had been turned into ashes just like that. They were eliminated in a new, unprecedented method of battle, their lives taken as easily as harvesting wheat. A group of fully-equipped soldiers walked out from the forest and started to clean up the battlefield and count the corpses. Refugees were poormoners who lived at the lowest rung in society. Even in the best cases, they were merely free citizens living difficult days. These people who had never been educated nor knowledgeable couldn¡¯t see the difference between the equipment of these soldiers and the other noble ns¡¯ armies. To them, they all looked like expensive steel armor, and they were also wielding des (although they didn¡¯t use the des at all). They looked simrly vicious and terrifying. Due to the explosions, the refugees had nowhere else to retreat to apart from running deep into the settlement. Soon enough, these mysterious soldiers had found all of them in the stone caves and shabby tents. They were then gathered at the same spaciousnd as before. The soldiers didn¡¯t use any violence on the refugees, but these apprehensive people were still trembling and didn¡¯t feel any more at ease than when the mercenaries were using their des to threaten the refugees. To the people of this generation, bandits, mercenaries, and soldiers were all the same. In fact, these three upations could be switched around whenever one desired. Joan was shrinking within the crowd and was carefully lowering her presence. She didn¡¯t know where the soldiers came from, but they had uniform equipment, moved orderly, and were obviously a squad that belonged to a certain noble lord. Why would a noble lord suddenly arrive to eliminate a group of mercenaries? This was truly hard to say, but no matter what, they definitely weren¡¯t rushing here to save a group of ¡®lowlymoners¡¯. Maybe they were also doing the same thing as the mercenaries earlier and were capturing some ves. Even though orthodox noble ns wouldn¡¯t do such things personally, but in the chaotic and barbarous southern region, unorthodox noble ns existed. The man who was abnormally tall and sturdy should be the leader of these soldiers. He wasmanding another Knight and a youngdy who seemingly had elven bloodline. The soldiers were all very respectful to him, and after distributing the tasks, the tall and sturdy man walked towards them. The refugees gathered together with fear. Many of them had bruises after getting shoved and pushed to the ground. Gawain truly wasn¡¯t able to differentiate the ¡®leader¡¯ of this group of refugees. As such, he stood beside them and spoke loudly, ¡°I am the feudal lord of thisnd. You do not have to be afraid. I am here to protect you. Are all of you here? Is there anyone missing or people immobilized by injuries?¡± The refugees were all shocked by Gawain¡¯s loud voice and got another subsequent shock by his feudal-lord status. Their first reaction was to retreat uniformly before they looked at one another; no one dared to answer. Gawain frowned, but just at this moment, Cleric Wright walked to Gawain¡¯s side after wiping off the fresh blood on his hand from the ¡®Silence¡¯ spell earlier. ¡°Oh Holy Light! Look at the health condition of these pitiful people!¡± The robust Cleric eximed and drew a holy symbol at his chest before opening his hands to chant. A hazy but radiant aura that was pure and holy had spread out to the surrounding air. As soon as Wright recited the Holy Light prayer¡¯s specific term, a faint radiance gradually formed a recovery energy with arge area of effect. It was a theurgy that cured minor injuries. ¡°May the Holy Light cure all of you.¡± Apart from getting disciplined, the poor and lowlymoners seldom had the chance to have close contact with true theurgy or magic. The wide-ranged ¡®Minor Holy Light¡¯ spell was only the most fundamental Grade-1 theurgy, but everyone still revered it, and they were even in a slight uproar. When Wright finished executing this fundamental theurgy, he noticed that there were a few individuals with more severe injuries and that the mild theurgy wasn¡¯t working on them. As such, he pulled out those people from the group and conducted individual treatment. There was a ck-haired and frail youngdy who had injuries that were more severe than others. Furthermore, her injuries had been worsening for more than a day. One of her arms and her shoulder had been bitten by a sharp-toothed beast, and this injury went deep into her muscles and bones. An infection had developed, likely due to such harsh living conditions. Apart from those wounds, the fresh injury on her bloody face wasn¡¯t really worth mentioning. ¡°You are rather lucky.¡± Wright used the Holy Light to purify the infected wound on Joan¡¯s arm and said, ¡°Look, it was already starting to fester. A few dayster, you would have been experiencing a high fever, and your life might be done for by then!¡± Joan could feel that her injury was recovering at an unbelievable pace. The self-proimed feudal lord at the side had already shifted his attention to her and asked, ¡°The injury on your arm isn¡¯t caused by those mercenaries?¡± ¡°¡­It is a bite from a wild beast,¡± Joan restrained her anxiety and replied apprehensively. ¡°What about your face?¡± ¡°My face wasshed by them with a whip.¡± ¡°¡­Don¡¯t be afraid. Those mercenaries will not be able to hurt any of you again.¡± Gawain consoled the youngdy who was covered in injuries and asked, ¡°What is the total number of people here? Are all of you here?¡± Joan¡¯s mind instantly shed with Tom¡¯s figure as she bit her lips and didn¡¯t know if she should say. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry. I have already said that I am the feudal lord of this ce. This piece ofnd belongs to the Cecil n, and you are all under the protection of my army.¡± Gawain smiled and said, ¡°The Cecil n is devoted to restoring thisnd¡¯s order. We are currently searching for and recruiting homeless people that are stranded in this area.¡± When saying until this part, Gawain lifted his head and raised his voice. ¡°Not just all of you¡­ If you know of other refugee settlements, you can also inform me. As long as you abide by thews of the Cecil n, I will permit every homeless individual to live on thisnd. Those who provide information on other refugees will receive additional rewards!¡± Everyone was bing slightly restless. Such things like ¡®a noble n opening their doors to receive homeless people and allowing them to live on theirnd¡¯ were unprecedented. Most of these people¡¯s first reaction was shock, then disbelief; there were even some who suspected this was a kind of trap. But the ¡®additional rewards¡¯ had their attention. Joan felt that the people behind her were wavering as there were some panions¡¯ who had been starving for many days; therefore, they werecking in willpower. Suddenly, she heard someone talking¡­ ¡°My Lord, most of us have escaped from the Bald Eagle territory.¡± A shriveled and weak man with tanned skin had spoken boldly. ¡°A flood ured over there. Thend and houses were all destroyed. So was the stored food. The feudal lord closed up the castle gates and allowed us to wait outside and die. Therefore, a group of us escaped¡­ Are you really going to allow refugees like us to live on your territory?¡± COMMENT ¡°As long as you abide by thews of thisnd and behave ording to my rules,¡± Gawain spoke firmly. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry. The Cecil n¡¯sws are much more merciful than thews you originally abided by.¡± ¡°Then¡­¡± Just as the shriveled man was going to say something else, there was an echo that could be heard from the forest. Sir Philip had returned from the patrol in the forest with over a dozen soldiers. Two of the soldiers were holding a limping and red-nosed kid in custody. ¡°Your Excellency!¡± Sir Philip reported with a loud voice. ¡°We found someone in the woods¡­ He might be a refugee that had escaped. He used a bow and arrow to attack us, but no one was injured, and he has been captured.¡± Joan¡¯s heart tensed up as she looked up in an rmed state, and as she expected, she saw Tom being detained by two soldiers at the border of the forest. One of the soldiers was buckled with a familiar hunting bow that was passed down by their father. She instantly understood what had happened. Tom said he was going to look for mushrooms but had secretly taken the bow and arrows. He was probably going to take the risk to hunt in the depths of the forest. He wasn¡¯t able to hunt anything and, fortunately, didn¡¯t get eaten by the starving wild beasts in the forest, but now, he had fallen into a worse situation. This reckless fool had actually used the bow to attack the feudal lord¡¯s Knight and soldiers! Joan felt the world spinning as her body went soft and was about to fall over. Wright, who had just finished her treatment, got a shock. ¡°Oh Holy Light! Could there be a problem with my healing spell?!¡± The young man at the border of the forest had also seen his elder sister and the situation within the settlement. He still didn¡¯t know what had happened and eximed in surprise, ¡°Elder sister?! What is going on here?!¡± ¡°Do you know each other?¡± Gawain motioned with his hand for Sir Philip to release that thin and weak young man over. ¡°Why did he attack my people?¡± ¡°Tom! You have gotten into big trouble!¡± Joan grabbed Tom¡¯s arm and nearly wanted to pinch his flesh off. ¡°You attacked the feudal lord¡¯s soldiers!¡± ¡°I¡ªI thought they were bandits¡­¡± Tom had a terrified expression as he exined, ¡°I heard them discussing how to deal with the corpses¡­¡± Gawain¡¯s mouth twitched as he figured out what had happened. ¡°It seems like this is a misunderstanding.¡± He looked at the seized hunting bow. Such inferior bow and arrows could only be used to deal with the wild beasts in the forest. To the Cecil Combatants who were wearing magic armor or to a Knight like Philip, these arrows couldn¡¯t even be considered toys. ¡°Philip, who was the one that got attacked?¡± A magic infantryman stood out and said, ¡°Reporting to Your Excellency, it was me, but I am fine!¡± ¡°Your Excellency, this is indeed a misunderstanding.¡± Philip spoke with initiative, ¡°A Knight should be lenient. I believe that it isn¡¯t necessary to put the responsibility on this young man excessively¡­ He just needs a punishment to remember this lesson and to be less reckless in the future.¡± Gawain was having an increasingly favorable opinion of Philip, who would always take the supporting role and offer a way out of an awkward situation. Furthermore, it all seemed genuine¡­ ¡°Since it is a misunderstanding, then I shall not issue a harsh punishment. However, you have attacked first after all. Therefore, a suitable punishment is still necessary.¡± Gawain looked at the red-nosed young man and noticed that when he was half way through his statement, the young man and his elder sister had trembled at the same time. Their faces were filled with anxiety and fear. It seemed like they were very familiar with the ¡®suitable punishment¡¯ that the nobles always ordered¡­ But on Gawain¡¯s side, his so-called suitable punishment was truly just suitable punishment. ¡°You will work topensate for your mistake¡­ Are you and your elder sister able to find the other refugee settlements?¡± Chapter 163 - Additional Population and Heidis Worries Chapter 163: Additional Poption and Heidi¡¯s Worries Probably because they hadn¡¯t expected the so-called punishment to actually be so mild, the hunter siblings didn¡¯t react for a long time after hearing Gawain. Only after Gawain repeated his question did Red-Nose Tom nod dazedly. ¡°Yes¡­ My sister and I can find the other settlements.¡± The homeless refugees would wander everywhere between the territories. Typically, their routes had no order to speak of. They trudged in the ces that nobody knew of and would also die in ces that nobody knew of. However, on the whole, the areas they settled down in had fixed boundaries. These boundaries were usually the remote wilderness in between the various aristocratic territories. And the north of the White River, east of Tanzan Mine, and south of Kant territory was such an area. There wererge numbers of refugees from the Bald Eagle territory, Carol territory, and many other scattered viges and towns from the northwest, and they had wandered along the river to arrive at this district. They could have migrated to the central region that was slightly more fertile. However, the poor harvests of the central and southern regions of the kingdom in recent years had caused a deficiency in stored rations everywhere. Although many areas had recovered this year, aristocrats of the various territories were still strictly guarding against foreign refugees. The aristocrats of the central region even regarded those hungry people from the ¡®poor south¡¯ as thieves and bandits. As such, to these homeless people, all roads leading to the central region had been blocked off; they could only wander to this forest in the south. ording to a rough grasp of the information avable, there were currently as many as thousands of hungry homeless scattered and dwelling in this mountainous forest and wilderness. And as the majority of the refugees had once migrated along the same route (or even came from the same ce), the settlements formed by these homeless people maintained a connection to an extent. ¡ª¡ªThough this connection was extremely loose; it was like a; so long as one of the points was held in hand, the entire could be taken in if one followed the threads. A good half a month had passed since Sir Byron released the news in the south through his underground channels. Some news that the Cecil territory was taking in refugees would definitely have entered the ears of these homeless, but these pitiful people had lost their trust in aristocrats. ¡ª¡ªBefore Frost Month arrived, almost every few days, there would be mercenary teams sent by aristocratsing to capture them. Hence, to have people easily believe that there was still an aristocratic n in the world willing to amicably take in and protect them was something almost impossible. However, if there could be a group of refugees ¡ª a group of refugees who had escaped together with them and also lived in the wild for months, or even years ¡ª running about the various settlements and spreading the message, it would be much easier to recruit the homeless. Gawain Cecil prepared to select a group of smarter, bolder people whose words were more credible from these dozens of refugees to serve as guides and messengers for him. He would depend on their persuasion to attract more homeless people to settle down in the Cecil territory. Frost Month was ending; with the start of Fog Month, it would officially be winter. He had to rush toplete as many arrangements as possible before even more people froze or starved to death. This red-nosed youth (perhaps he was already of age? But he was really too thin and small) before him, though he was a little impetuous, he wasn¡¯t timid, and his gaze wasn¡¯tpletely numb like the majority of the poor, so he could take the role of such a messenger. ¡°The Cecil n is changing the order of thisnd. Before the Cold Month this year arrives, all homeless people wandering in this mountainous forest and the nearby wilderness may report to the Cecil n and be permanent, legal residents of thisnd.¡± Gawain looked at the youth in front of him, but at the same time, his words were also meant for every person near them. He intentionally emphasized that all these were only effective before Cold Month arrived, yet he didn¡¯t intend to truly impose this restriction; it was just to make the entire matter more believable as well as encourage pressure and feelings of urgency in these people. ¡°In order to let all who need help receive the news in time, I want you ¡ª and also others who are able ¡ª to search for those refugees in hiding. I will dispatch soldiers as escorts, to ensure that you all canplete this task.¡± Tom listened to all these with wide eyes, while Gawain turned to these southern-border refugees with haggard appearances and only dullness other than nervousness in their expressions. ¡°I know all of you were originally honest and dutiful people, people who abided by thews and worked hard. But your feudal lord abandoned you. All the aristocrats in the southern borders abandoned you. Not a single n or territory allowed you to get a foothold and survive. All of you could only wander in the wilderness, relying on grass roots, tree barks, and even lichen and rats to fill your bellies. Despite so, the ws of those aristocrats were still seizing and harming you, and they even hunted you people all the way here! However, from today onward, you are standing on thend of the Cecil n. From today onward, I am your feudal lord! All of you can freely and safely live on the Cecil n¡¯snd, and I want you to tell those people you know, who were suffering with you in the wild, let them know that there is a ce where they can settle down here!¡± Some slight radiance finally emerged in their dull and numb eyes. They were still humans after all; they still had hearts. Gawain did not expect these worn-down starving people to be able to respond to him with cheers. He took half a step back after finishing what he had to say. Seeing that Wright had released the Holy Light and treated all the wounded, he turned towards Sir Philip. ¡°Bring out the extra food, and distribute some to these people. ¡ª¡ªOtherwise, given their conditions, it would probably be very difficult for them to walk all the way to the camp. Aside from that, send a soldier on a fast horse back. Ry the news to Heidi and have her make preparations.¡± Distributing food after an encouraging speech, this would always be the most effective method, especially in this era. When the ¡®feudal lord¡¯ ordered for food to be brought out, these people would then truly feel that they were back in ¡®human society¡¯ and be convinced that their new ¡®feudal lord¡¯ would really fill their bellies; they would obey orders and maintain the most basic loyalty for this. The thinking of the popce of this era was this simple and direct. It could be said that this was one of the few gestures of goodwill that Gawain had seen in this world filled with evil intentions. At this point, the ck-haired girl who¡¯d just received Wright¡¯s treatment suddenly walked over. She uneasily and nervously gripped her clothes, seeming like she had something to say. Seeing this, Gawain spoke up. ¡°You have something for me?¡± ¡°Ye¡ªYes, feud¡ªfeudal lord.¡± The ck-haired girl seemed to stumble a little when she said the words ¡®feudal lord¡¯, but still managed to voice it smoothly. ¡°Is everything that you said earlier true?¡± ¡°Of course it is.¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°Do I need to lie to you all?¡± But the words said by aristocratic lords would never be true. Joan only dared to think thisment in her mind, but what she said was, ¡°May I join my brother to look for the other settlements? His leg is troublesome. He needs someone to care for him.¡± ¡°I will arrange a horse or a carriage for him if there¡¯s a need.¡± Gawain had already noticed the problem with the youth¡¯s leg earlier but still nodded. ¡°Of course, you can still move about with him.¡± The youngdy bowed her head deeply. ¡°Thank you very much for your benevolence.¡± A dayter, Gawain and Amber led half of the soldiers and escorted the two mercenaries captured alive to first return back to the territory. Meanwhile, Sir Philip was with the remaining half of the soldiers, escorting the dozens of ¡®newly added poption¡¯ behind them. As the refugees were frail, with a considerable number of them having chronic diseases, Wright also stayed behind to attend to them. That Holy Light Cleric could also carry thebat ability of a mad warrior while he was at it¡­ Gawain was in a very good mood. Although he had only brought back several dozens of additional poption after all the hassle this trip, which wasn¡¯t even as many people as a ve-transporting ship from Tanzan Town carried, he had sessfully built a connection with the refugees in the wilderness north of the White River. The initial trust was about to be developed on the foundation of these several dozens of people. Thinking of how much of thebor force that the territory urgently needed was gathered in this vast barrennd, he was extremely delighted. Not to mention that the majority of these refugees possessed some craftsmanship or were freemen with at least some knowledge. Their fundamental quality was higher than that of the ves who were bought. This would reduce a lot of costs in the subsequent education. It was almost impossible for serfs to be refugees. This was because they were bound to the territory. When a famine came, the local aristocrats would gather their serfs and keep them alive at the lowest cost until the famine ended so as to reinstate production. Whereas, serfs who attempted to escape would be captured back and put to death. On the contrary, it was the freemen, whose statuses were slightly higher, who would lose all support in such situations, with no choice but to flee their hometown after a cmity. Hence, there would asionally be jokes that ¡ª¡ª on some aristocratds, the price of freedom was instead costlier than bing a serf. But Heidi who managed the territory¡¯s internal affairs was rather weighed down with worry. She approached Gawain. ¡°Ancestor, are you really nning to take in all the homeless people in the wilderness north of the White River before the Cold Month?¡± Gawain had long expected Heidi toe to him. He showed a smile. ¡°Is there pressure on the ratios?¡± ¡°Indeed. ¡ª¡ª If the hearsay is true, that there are refugees everywhere in the wilderness, we would be providing for about four thousand people through this winter. Through this period of poption expansion, there are, now, still only two thousand people in the territory. This would be equivalent to providing for a number of refugees more than twice our current poption. And this is only a secondary problem. After all, rations can be bought using money. Tanzan Town is fertile and is also willing to sell us provisions at low prices, so this would be easy to resolve. The real problem is how to maintain order after taking in so many additional people. We barely managed to digest and absorb those purchased serfs and veborers, making them residents who understand rules and abide by thews. If another four thousand people were to be recklessly brought in, I really worry that the gains from our earlier effort would be lost ¡ª¡ªeven if those refugees do not mean to intentionally do so.¡± ¡°We increased from eight hundred people to two thousand. The poption more than doubled, but order did not copse.¡± Gawain looked towards Heidi with a smile. ¡°So what¡¯s there to be worried about?¡± ¡°That was because the previously added poption had arrived before Frost Month ¡ª¡ª the weather was warm, and there were ample jobs for those people. They could join the residents to cultivatends, do logging, and construct houses. ording to you,bor brings transformation. Ample jobs would be the best way to digest and absorb the newly added poption. But it¡¯s alreadyte Frost Month now. It will soon be the snowing Fog Month, then Cold Month when dripping water freezes into icicles. We will no longer have enough jobs at that time¡­¡± ¡°Who said we don¡¯t?¡± Gawain¡¯s smile became even wider. ¡°Why does winter mean no work and staying at home, consuming rations? In fact, it¡¯s quite the contrary¡­ I¡¯ve got heaps of projects here waiting for manpower toplete them.¡± Chapter 164 - Winter Development Plan Chapter 164: Winter Development n Heidi¡¯s worries were actually sensible in this situation, because in the outlook of the overwhelming majority, even in the reality of this era, winter only meant one thing: everything withered; life gradually dwindled; all work ceased. Humankind would store enough food and fuel before this, then stop work, return to their homes, and switch to a pure consumption state. Just like the animals that stored food in tree stumps in advance and hid in caves to pass the winter. Such a way of living was decided by reality ¡ª despite the existence of all sorts of ¡®magic¡¯ which worked like ck technology ¡ª that only belonged to the extreme minority of upper-ss elites. The entirety of this world was still firmly bound to the soil. Serfs were the most basic producer of almost all societal wealth. Agriculture, as well as the various endeavors that have agriculture as their foundation, was the main production activity of this society. Once winter arrived, agriculture stopped; then, 80% of people would be idle. And the backward aristocratic code forbade these people from freely engaging in business or taking up any ¡®side upation unsuited to their identity¡¯. Without the permission of aristocrats, civilians would be severely punished for even fishing in the river and hunting or chopping firewood in the mountains. In addition, the food that most of the civilians could store up for winter was limited. It was to the extent that in the entire winter, they could only sustain a half-full condition, so they did not dare to waste their stamina to do anything that ¡®broke the rules¡¯ too. ¡ª¡ªEvery hot breath that they exhaled in winter was expending their reserve of physical strength (which wasn¡¯t much to begin with) and could lead to them dying from hunger or the cold before spring. However, at the Cecil territory, the situation waspletely different. The Cecil Cecil n currently had no extravagant spending of any form. This greatly cut down their expenses, while the new production model had ensured that they would be able to store up enough supplies before winter came. Pittman and the apprentices he had trained also guaranteed adequate food for the territory. ¡ª¡ªAdded to that, the rations purchased from Tanzan Town, as well as supplies from the King¡¯s aid, residents of the Cecil territory didn¡¯t have to take into ount consumption in the winter at all. Here, he had to mention the supplies from the King¡¯s aid again. ¡ª¡ªGawain admitted, he had cheated Francis II a little here. This was because the agreement he¡¯d signed with the King stated that the royal court would provide the provisions for the entire Cecil territory in the initial stage. He didn¡¯t mention how many people the territory would be having and how much popce would be added in just a short term. Thus, he¡¯d already fairly and squarely asked the royal court for supplies several times¡­ Having guaranteed food supplies, Gawain had plenty of jobs here. Nothing to be done when winter had set in? That was the other territories; the Cecil territory still had lots that could be done. The steelworks was expanding its scale: two big factories were added beside the Mechanical Manufacturing Facility; the furnace-kiln area where Reba Crystals were baked had also been reconstructed into an official factory named ¡®Magic Crystal Refinery¡¯. On top of being used to bake Reba Crystals, aboratory had been set up to experiment for what other new substances the various minerals dug from the Dark Range could synthesize. The doofus had to throw more than two hundred fireballs at the crucibles and small furnaces before she would be happy¡­ Other than these, the iron mine in the east and the territory¡¯s countless building sites all needed manpower. In winter, the ground became hard; water froze easily too. All construction-rted work would progress very slowly, but this did not mean that construction work would stop. Although the ¡®otherworldly cement trial product¡¯ that Reba came up with had a rtively lower yield, it worked well in low temperatures. In addition, the territory presently did not have constructions of excessivelyrge scale, so the projects at the various building sites would not stop. Moreover, there was a big project that was about to unfold. As the White River entered its dry season with water levels falling, Gawain nned to build a truly sturdy bridge that could be used in the long-term to rece the current temporary bridge. In doing so, when spring came next year, the development work of the White River¡¯s northern bank could smoothly begin. He was even worried that even with those refugees in the wilderness, manpower in the territory would still be insufficient. ¡ª¡ªAfter all, those people needed to be trained; at least at the very start, they wouldn¡¯t be able to adapt to having a terribly powerful Magic Powered Engine turning non-stop beside them as they worked¡­ After Gawain had presented the proposals of these ns and sets to Heidi, thetter sunk into a long period of astonishment. ¡°How is it? Now you¡¯re no longer worried that those refugees would have nothing to do, right?¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°We have ample jobs to keep them busy for the entire winter. And in this process, everyone will get used to the Cecil territory¡¯s uplicated newws. In this case, are you still worried?¡± Heidi quietly nced at the proposals on the desk and inhaled deeply. ¡°Worried about being exhausted to death¡­¡± ¡°¡­Cough, cough¡­¡± At the thought that the pressure this granddaughter had to bear was rather considerable, Gawain could onlyfort her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Viscount Andrew has tried to gather a group of down-and-out Knights, bankrupted merchants, and schrs and used money to get them toe work in the Cecil territory. I n on putting half of them to teach in the night schools and give the other half to be your assistants. This way, when winter sets in, you¡¯d be able to put up the skeleton of the internal affairs department.¡± At this point, Heidi finally heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°Thank you, Ancestor¡­¡± ¡°Why does this sound so much like what those barbarian tribes from those years used to say,¡± Gawainmented with an odd gaze. ¡°Back then, regardless of what they did, they had a habit of praising their ancestral spirits first¡­¡± Heidi thought for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m unlike them. My ancestor can indeed hear me thanking him¡­¡± ¡°Then, your ancestor would lessen your workload, huh?¡± Gawain didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry as he looked at this granddaughter who rarely made a joke. ¡°Alright, alright, get back to your work first. When the next batch of manpower from Tanzan Town arrives, I¡¯ll take priority in selecting a batch of assistants for you. Would that do? Just don¡¯t say things like ¡®thank you, Ancestor¡¯ in a pious manner to my face¡­ I have psychological traumas from dealing with the barbaric tribes in those years. If you kept thanking your ancestors, I feel like I would be a spirit again¡­¡± Heidi: ¡°¡­¡± Not long after Heidi left, Amber¡¯s figure emerged from the nearby air. Gawain swept everything valuable on the desk to his front with ease. Then he lifted his eyes to look at this half-elf bandit. ¡°How is it? Are the two captured mercenaries willing to cooperate already?¡± ¡°Not yet. After all, you do not allow maltreatment of captives, so those two are still dawdling with the soldiers.¡± Amber staggered over to Gawain¡¯s desk and pursed her lips when she realized there was no way to strike. ¡°I say, are you really not going to consider tying those two mercenaries who simply won¡¯t speak on a pir and giving them a few whips? Such mercenaries are actually very easy to deal with. They may look malicious in front of the refugees, but if you take a heavier hand with them, they will obediently betray their employers right away. This ispletely because you won¡¯t whip them nor bribe them with money that they won¡¯t speak up now¡­¡± ¡°The ones you¡¯re referring to are mercenaries who canmit unscrupulous acts for a few coins, and these mercenaries are essentially at the level of an armed militia.¡± Gawain darted a look at this half-elf. ¡°But those two that we captured¡­ Did you not realize? A Grade 3 Knight and a Grade 2 Arcanist. There were also the low-rank Knight and Mage who were shot to death. Though these are all low-rank upations, in the southern borders, they could be an armymander or ¡®mysteries¡¯ consultant for a feudal lord without much effort. If they went east, just by getting a share of a military achievement and currying favor with Ss Lnd¡¯s family, they could even rank amongst the aristocrats as a conferred Baron or Viscount. Yet they were willing to be mercenaries in such a remote ce. Why do you think that is so?¡± Amber thought hard. ¡°For their dreams? Look, I¡¯m such a formidable shadow master, and I even dug graves¡­¡± Gawain never counted on this ultimate disgrace to have a decent answer. He listened as Amber continued muttering to herself after her nonsense. ¡°There would indeed be powerful Beyonders amongst mercenaries, but such mercenary units often work in the north, near the Sacred Dragon Kingdom, or in the east, close to the Typhon Empire. This is because those ces have nock of danger and opportunities. The riches that they¡¯re able to gain while taking risks orpleting entrusted tasks are enough to make Beyonders choose this not-too-respectable path. However, the south has been peaceful for a long time. Mercenary units that work here often don¡¯t amount to much in both ability and wealth. And for those mercenaries overseen by several Beyonders and who could even be equipped with Beyonder gear ¡ª¡ª there is usually only one exnation ¡ª¡ª they are a ¡®hidden team¡¯ that specially work for an aristocrat or a group of them. At this point, Gawain smiled. ¡°Such mercenaries are extremely strong psychologically, and they most likely have something they value or hostages in the hands of aristocrats, so they do not fear severe torture. Some whipping just isn¡¯t going to work.¡± Amber looked curiously at Gawain. ¡°Then how are you going to pry open their mouths?¡± ¡°Pittman said he has a way, but he needs to prepare some rituals and ointments with special effects. That is why I¡¯m not anxious.¡± Gawain nced at Amber with a beaming smile. ¡°Besides, I don¡¯t believe you haven¡¯t raked anything from those two mercenaries. I know your character. Usually, when I ask you to get ink from the storehouse, you can even drink up half a bottle of it on your way¡­¡± Amber¡¯s face instantly flushed red. ¡°When have I drunk ink?!¡± ¡°I was just using a figure of speech, figure of speech. Understand?¡± ¡°Tch.¡± Amber made a sound through her teeth to express her displeasure. Then, sure enough, she began to feel around on herself with a conflicted expression. ¡°Let me tell you, these are my spoils of war. You have to return it to me after you¡¯re done looking¡­¡± ¡°What return? The rules that I¡¯d just enacted prohibits plundering on the battlefield. Spoils of war are all to be handed over to the territory, and the credits given are standardized. Have you forgotten?¡± Gawain brought the various small articles that Amber had pulled out to his front to look through them as he spoke, ¡°Don¡¯t get sulky. You are my personal guard, and you still want to take the lead in breaking rules? Besides, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m not giving youpensation. You get rewards for services of merit¡­ Ke, quite a number of things, huh? No wonder that soldier reported earlier that there were no valuable belongings found on those two captives¡­ You actually got your hands on everything, huh?¡± The corner of Amber¡¯s eyelid twitched, her heart aching so badly as if it was dripping blood. She only felt slightly better after hearing Gawain¡¯s promise ofpensation. Meanwhile, Gawain¡¯s gaze had been abruptly attracted by a dagger amongst those trivial items. On the handle of the dagger was a symbol that resembled the heraldry of a certain aristocratic n. Chapter 165 - What Happened in the Kant Territory Chapter 165: What Happened in the Kant Territory That was a dagger of excellent craftsmanship. Although it wasn¡¯t an enchanted weapon, a considerable amount of adamantite and purple steel had been used to make it ¡ª¡ª this made it reflect a distinctive faint purple luster under light. Weapons of such materials could not tap into Beyonder power, but if it were to be used against enchanted armors, the effect was often pretty good. And on the handle of the dagger, Gawain found a symbol that looked like the head of a brown bear. There was also the embellishment of a gand around the symbol. In this era, many emblems could not be freely misused. ¡ª¡ªA considerable number of beasts and flowers and nts were seen as aristocrats¡¯ privately owned symbols. Thebination of a beast¡¯s head sculpture and flowers and nts signified the mark of a certain n in many circumstances, and civilians would have unknowingly infringed on the rights of aristocrats by freely using these symbols. ording to the heraldry and aristocraticws of Anzu that Gawain had grasped, the symbol on this dagger was clearly the mark of a certain n as seen from itsyout. For 700 years, these n symbols of the aristocrats still adhered to the ancient tradition. This dagger possibly came from the ¡®bestowing¡¯ of a certain aristocrat. ording to what Gawain knew, aristocrats had extremely strict practices when it came to bestowing another person a weapon: only the King was entitled to gifting battle axes, war hammers, halberds and simr weapons, and they would only be given to aristocrats with meritorious military services. On the other hand, swords of all kinds (mainly longswords) were moremon gifts. Any aristocrat could gift another person a sword for any reason, but the person receiving it had to be an aristocrat too, and at least of Knight ss; whereas daggers, pocket knives, short bows and the like were weapons seen to be ¡®unpresentable¡¯. Aristocrats would gift such items to ¡®civilians¡¯ that they favored, and the targets were often guards, attendants with excellent performance, or¡­ckeys. ¡°Seems like it¡¯s just as I¡¯d judged. Those mercenaries were ¡®tamed¡¯ by aristocrat ns.¡± Gawain picked up that dagger and took in every detail. ¡°Only we don¡¯t know if they¡¯ve pledged allegiance to one family or several families at the same time¡­¡± ¡°Do you recognize the symbol on it?¡± Amber leaned over curiously. ¡°Ah, initially, I just thought this thing looked nice¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± Gawain carefully studied it and finally shook his head. ¡°This n had probably yet to emerge when I was alive. Go get Heidi here. She should know the aristocrats of the southern borders better.¡± Very soon, Heidi came to Gawain¡¯s tent. After carefully scrutinizing the symbol on the dagger, she asserted, ¡°This is the emblem of the Kant n.¡± ¡°Kant n?¡± Gawain recalled with a frown and finally found the source of this name in the general knowledge of the present era that he had been cramming recently. ¡°The Viscount north of the Leslie n?¡± ¡°Yes, beyond the wild mountainous forest north of the White River, further north from where you brought the refugees back previously, is the territory of the Kant n.¡± Heidi began providing a simple introduction of the Kant n. ¡°It is a n that rose up three hundred years ago, granted the territory there because of military service. When the Cecil n got into trouble, they happened to be serving the current royal family, so they escaped the great purge of the southern borders. Currently, they¡¯re considered to be one of the few ns in the southernnds with hundreds of years of history.¡± Gawain casually asked, ¡°How¡¯s their rtionship with the Cecil n?¡± ¡°Not considered distant, but not close either,¡± Heidi replied. ¡°During the great purge of the southern borders a hundred years ago, they didn¡¯t help nor did they add insult to injury. They maintained a neutral stance throughout. They are a n that is rtively more mysterious. They do not interact much with the outside world, and their members rarely appear in the upper-ss social circle. ¡ª¡ªAlthough the upper-ss social circle here at the southern borders is very loose in the first ce, members of the Kant family are still the ones who appear the least.¡± ¡°What is their main estate? Farnd? Mines? Or ranches?¡± ¡°The Kant territory mainly produces grain and all kinds of quality medicinal herbs, including magical medicine, but they do not have mines.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a problem then, a big problem¡­¡± Gawain tapped the table. ¡°An aristocratic territory with no mines and mainly relies on farnd, what are they nning to do, capturing a big bunch of ves before winter sets in? And judging based on this dagger, this group of mercenaries work specially for the Kant n. It¡¯s definitely not their first time capturing ves in the wild. ¡ª¡ªWhat are so many ves being sent to the Kant territory for?¡± ¡°This¡­¡± Heidi had also be aware of the bizarreness in the problem and suddenly recalled another matter. ¡°Speaking of this, there¡¯s another matter that is very odd. The Kant territory¡¯s main output has always been grains, and medicinal herbs and magical medicine were both sideline productions. However, in recent years, the amount of medicinal herbs and magical medicine that they sell has been increasing year after year. Especially magical medicine, not only has output doubled, the quality is also getting better and better, showing signs of surpassing their grain output to be the main pir of the Kant n. However, from the rules of magical power dispersion, such a situation is very difficult to exin¡­¡± Due to the existence of various Beyonder powers, the ¡®medicinal nts¡¯ of this world were divided into two types. Other than medicinal herbs with average results, there were also ¡®magical medicine¡¯ that could be used in various magical rites or directly used as spellcasting materials. In normal circumstances, the growth of magical medicine would be highly restricted by the local magical environment. Its output would naturally have an upper limit. If the magical environment is poor, then regardless of how intensive the cultivation was or how seeds were improved, it would be impossible to increase the yield of magical medicine ¡ª¡ª increasing the amount alone could instead cause the magical power in the herbs to lessen. Yet the magical medicine output of the Kant territory had been rising year by year. In this era where everythingcked statistics, other than merchants who specialized in doing business, aristocrats rarely noticed the fluctuations in the crop yield of the territories around (in fact, they might not even be very clear about the crop yield of their own territory. All these were matters for advisors and supervisors to pay attention to). However, as a mage, and a mage whose family was in decline, Heidi naturally paid great attention to the changes in the magical medicine market around them in usual times, so she observantly caught this abnormal phenomenon. Amber had only been idly listening at the side, but at this point, her sharp ears abruptly quivered. She wore a look ofplete horror. ¡°Damn! The Kant territory couldn¡¯t have been using living humans as fertilizer to grow those herbs, could they?!¡± ¡°¡­Although I believe that they could reallye up with such a thing given the moral outlook of those aristocrats, to really do so isn¡¯t quite possible.¡± Gawain waved his hand as the corner of his eyelid twitched. ¡°Farnds used to nt magical medicine usually cannot be hidden. Outsiders can spot them at one nce. Moreover, using living humans as fertilizer cannot increase the concentration of the magical environment either. ¡ªWhat kind of ck magic would it be?¡± Gawain was speaking when Betty¡¯s voice suddenly came from outside the tent. ¡°Lord! Lord! Pittman is here for you!¡± Gawain faltered. Recalling the task that he had handed to the Druid earlier, a smile could not help but appear on his face. ¡°It seems like his ¡®special ointment¡¯ has worked.¡± As he had long expected that the average interrogation would do nothing to those mercenaries, Gawain had requested Pittman toe up with a way to tackle those two ¡®captives¡¯ right from the very start. The Druids weren¡¯t an upation skilled in ¡®interrogation¡¯. Their spells in this aspect couldn¡¯t bepared to those believers of the Blood God or those undead Mages whose expertise were in torture and the ways of anguish. However, if one could just change one¡¯s way of thinking, ¡®interrogation¡¯ wasn¡¯t the only way of getting information. At least in Gawain Cecil¡¯s memories, there were lots of methods of digging the information out of the enemy with the help of Druid potions and rites. Even though 700 years had passed, these methods still worked very well. In a little hut that was used as a temporary prison, Gawain met the two captives who had potions forced down them, ointment smudged on their foreheads, and also inhaled ritual incense for a good hour. These two people were already in a state of delirium by this time. Pittman still stood at the side with a conceited look. ¡°I told you, my potions and rites are all very effective, especially this incense. Even the strongest person would lose himself in its magical power¡­¡± It was indeed as the little old man had said, the entire room was suffused with the fragrance of an incense that was so thick that it was almost nauseating. Even though Pittman¡¯s rite had ended and this incense no longer possessed the power of interfering with the mind, this smell still had Gawain frowning hard. Even Amber made a big fuss beside him. ¡°Wah¡ª¡ª old man, are you about to make smoked meat?¡± ¡°With the way you¡¯re doing the smoking, most people would¡¯vee clean without even needing to chug the potion.¡± Gawain had to add an aura protection effect for himself before he dared to stand still in the room. ¡°I¡¯m even suspecting that this rite of yours is simply smoking the people till they¡¯re unconscious. What has it got to do with magic¡­?¡± Pittman nodded as he chuckled. ¡°You¡¯ve really hit the point. ¡ª¡ªActually, I¡¯d considered improving this spell many years ago. I believed that even without using magical medicine, just smoking the targets with excrement was also useful. ¡ª¡ª Unfortunately, I was given a beating by my mentor when I came up with this idea back in those years. In the end, I had to give it up. But you¡¯ve given me a reminder this time. Perhaps¡ª¡± ¡°I dare you to try putting it into practice?!¡± Gawain instantly glowered at the little old man upon hearing him. ¡°If you really smoke them with excrement for an hour, even if they woulde clean, I wouldn¡¯t want to question them!¡± Pittman immediately shrunk his neck. He examined Gawain¡¯s sinews and came to a preliminary judgment that this excavated legend could at least beat twenty of his mentor; thus, he decided to give up on his bold ¡®reformed rite¡¯ n. Meanwhile, Gawain was looking with a frown at the disorientated mercenary captives before him. They were staring at the ground in front of them with a lifeless gaze. The power of magic potion, ointment, and incense had dragged them into a state between reality and dreand. In this state, they could no longer distinguish whether they were answering questions in reality or reviewing their memories in their dreams. Before the power of the magic faded away from their bodies, they would answer almost all questions. ¡°Was it the Kant n¡¯s¡­?¡± Gawain questioned but suddenly forgot the name of the current patriarch of the Kant n once he began. Thus, he turned his head, slightly embarrassed. ¡°Heidi, who is the current head of the Kant n?¡± Heidi turned her head slightly. ¡°Viscount Victor Kant. He¡¯s an aged Viscount.¡± ¡°Yes, Victor Kant.¡± Gawain turned towards the two mercenaries. ¡°He was the one who sent you to capture the ves?¡± The Mage of the two mercenaries still seemed to be a little resistant, but the head of the mercenaries spoke up first, ¡°Yes¡­ Viscount Victor Kant sent us to capture refugees in the wilderness for him¡­ But it isn¡¯t to make them ves.¡± ¡°Not as ves?¡± Gawain¡¯s brows knotted. ¡°Then what is it for?¡± ¡°To help him¡­¡± The head of the mercenaries initially answered with a dull gaze, but he suddenly lifted his head; his eyes fixed on Gawain, and he revealed a strange smile. ¡°Enter his dreams, Lord Gawain Cecil.¡± Chapter 166 - Eternal Sleepers Chapter 166: Eternal Sleepers Generations of the Kant n had resided in this ancient castle located in the north of the Kant territory. The aging Viscount Victor was currently in a meeting with the territory¡¯s merchant association¡¯s representatives. The reception hall was lit up with plenty of lights, but the constant radiance emitted by the magic crystalmps weren¡¯t able to eliminate the darkness that lingered in this castle for many years. The rectangle-shaped hall only contained the viscount, a few of the representatives from the merchant association, and a few servants. Each of their shadows was pulled into long, bent, and hazy shapes due to the illumination of the magic crystalmps. Despite the case, none of the people that stood in the hall realized anything sinister or horrific in this ce. In the opinion of the merchant association, the feudal lord was still as friendly and graceful as before. Furthermore, he was magnanimously promising benefits to the merchants and the residents. ¡°This year¡¯sst batch of herbal medicine and magical medicine has been harvested. The provisions also had quite a good harvest.¡± One of the merchant association¡¯s representatives bowed and said, ¡°We have already found buyers for the magical medicine, but the sales of the herbal medicine aren¡¯t as good.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mister Parques.¡± Viscount Victor smiled gently and consoled the territory¡¯s merchant. ¡°Very soon, the merchant group from the ins of the Holy Spirits will arrive. Frost Wood Castle will purchase arge batch of medicinal ingredients so that this year¡¯sbor will not be in vain.¡± The aging viscount smiled very gently while his eyes constantly emitted kindness. It was very rare for a noble to use such an attitude to converse with someone that wasn¡¯t from a noble n. Their standard of etiquette made sure that even when they were speaking with people of low status, they would do so with wless courtesy. However, their eyes and expressions wouldn¡¯t be as ¡®on point¡¯; Viscount Victor was an exception. He was famous for being a good person who was ¡®amiable tomoners, friendly, just, and lenient¡¯. He seldom appeared in noble society; however, he was an old feudal lord who was revered with love and respect by hismoners. ¡°Lord Viscount, thank you for your help to the people on the territory.¡± Another merchant association¡¯s representative spoke with sincerity, ¡°I hope you can also pay attention to your body.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. My set of old bones is still healthy.¡± Viscount Victorughed and said, ¡°My ipetent son is about to return from his travel at the ins of the Holy Spirits. It wouldn¡¯t be toote for me to rest after he takes over the n¡¯s businesses.¡± Subsequently, the viscount started to ask the merchants about the territory¡¯s trader traffic and the procuring of cotton and ores. His questions were detailed and professional, which was very rare among the current era¡¯s nobles. But suddenly, there was a faintly discernible wind that blew across the castle¡¯s hall. The magic crystalmps shouldn¡¯t be affected by the wind, but the radiance in the hall felt as though it was like a candle me swaying to the wind, dimming the surroundings. The merchants didn¡¯t notice the changes in the hall, while the servants standing around didn¡¯t have any odd reaction either. But Victor Kant had suddenly stood up to look at the castle¡¯s gloomy ceiling. His eyes flickered with a purple magic halo that was like starlight. He then revealed an apologetic smile to the merchant representatives and said, ¡°Apologies, gentlemen. I am afraid I have to end the meeting today as I recalled that I have an important matter to attend to¡­¡± ¡­¡­ At the same time, in a secret cave in the eastern region of Anzu Kingdom, the twisted and intertwined vines were meandering and growing. The vines formed arge vesicle on top of a giant boulder in the cave. All of a sudden, the vesicle opened, and a beautiful yet strange female figure was revealed. She had dark green long hair, fair skin, and great looks. But underneath the priest-like female clothing, a terrifying body was revealed and looked just like the twisting tree roots. She was the Oblivion Association¡¯s female dean, Beltira. Since she left the extreme south region, she had been hibernating in this eastern frontline¡¯s secret base. She made use of the nts everywhere to observe the entire eastern region¡¯s situation changes. But one of the secret channels suddenly ryed information that ¡®awakened¡¯ her from her symbiotic state with the nts. The female dean frowned. The dark green long hair at the back looked as though it was alive, as it squirmed slightly. ¡°A bishop-ss Eternal Sleeper¡­ sessfully approached and invaded Gawain Cecil¡¯s spiritual world?!¡± ¡­¡­ Gawain was walking in the darkness. He could still clearly remember what happened previously. The suspicious mercenary leader suddenly lifted his head and revealed a weird smile to him and used a monstrous ent, which felt like it was mixed out of numerous voices, to call his name. Subsequently, he was brought to this dark, chaotic, and strange space by an unknown force. He waspletely certain that he had been tricked by a powerful force. But this force shouldn¡¯t be from the mercenary leader. His physical attributes and intensity of his aura were undoubtedly that of a low-grade Knight. When that mercenary leader suddenly lifted his head, Gawain could still remember that he felt a powerful and chaotic energy that suddenly emerged from the mercenary leader¡¯s aura. The entire process was like an ¡®arrival¡¯. As such, he guessed that the mercenary leader was just a medium or a kind of sacrifice that was meant to bring this powerful force to Gawain Cecil. After the initial panic, Gawain had alreadyposed himself. He walked randomly in the darkness for a moment and felt that his stamina didn¡¯t decrease at all. It was an indication that this ce was possibly a nonexisting world; it might even be an ¡®imaginary space¡¯ that existed only in the mind. Gawain suspected that he was trapped in a spiritual prison, but as a satellite who had been trapped for at least hundreds of thousands of years (possibly millions of years. After all, he didn¡¯t even calcte the years at theter part), his soul had already been changed. As such, he wasn¡¯t nervous at all even when he was trapped. Would the most formidable expert in this world have a lifespan that was longer than this satellite in the sky? This old man was suspended in the sky while watching how all of you learned to walk in an upright posture! It was because of his arrogance andposure as a satellite spirit that Gawain didn¡¯t feel any fear in this situation. After verifying that he wasn¡¯t able to walk out of this space, he simply stood still and quietly looked at the darkness. It felt just like the time when he observed the unchanging ocean andndmass. He believed that an unknown existence in this space of darkness had pulled him here with an objective. The opposition might already be quietly observing him from some unknown location. But the absolute majority of people in this world ¡ª or should he say, all of the living beings in this world ¡ª didn¡¯t have patience that was superior to his. ¡®It¡¯ definitely would be patient enough and would appear on its own ord. There was only one thing that Gawain was worried about. He hoped that this ¡®imaginative space¡¯ would have the same setting as most of the stories and had a different flow of time aspared to the outside world. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be good if Heidi and the others thought he was dead again. His two granddaughters might just bury him again, while Amber would steal everything in his tomb after he was buried¡­ Damn, just the thought of it was already terrible. Gawain¡¯s mind revolved with all sorts of thoughts, and it was unknown how much time had psed in this imaginative space. Soon after, he suddenly noticed an illusory glimmer appearing in the darkness before his eyes. It seemed like the ¡®existence¡¯ that was observing quietly wasn¡¯t able to hold back anymore. Gawain smiled and could see that the glimmer was materializing and getting closer to him. Ultimately, it turned into a spotlessly white gown and a face with a glossy white mask. It was unknown if the figure was male or female, and he could hear a heavy voice that had a simrly indiscernible gender. ¡°Duke Gawain Cecil, you are more patient than I expected and also moreposed. No wonder you were a great hero seven hundred years ago. Your nature is something that I have never seen from others.¡± ¡°Your patience is far inferior than I expected,¡± Gawain spoke calmly. ¡°I thought you would squander eighty or a hundred years in this ce with me.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t resent me. My method of invitation might be a bit rough, but my objective is to have a conversation with your distinguished self. Perhaps you would feel a little morefortable if we changed the environment?¡± The white-masked individual in the white gown asked while waving the hand. The surrounding darkness suddenly turned into countless colors and lines. The colorful lines instantlybined into various kinds of objects. Gawain noticed he was now standing in a garden that was full of vitality, surrounded by lush flowers and short shrubs. There were servants walking around busily in the garden whose faces looked rather familiar. Not far away, he was able to see the castle¡¯s tall and massive main building. Everything looked rather familiar. Gawain considered for a little bit and was able to find the corresponding image from this body¡¯s original memories. He looked at the person in the white gown suspiciously and asked, ¡°What is the meaning of this?¡± ¡°Could it be that I didn¡¯t restore it properly?¡± the person with the white gown spoke with an intentional astonishment. ¡°I have already done my best to restore this ce with those ancient memory fragments. Look at these servants. Don¡¯t you feel their faces are familiar? Most of the scenery in this castle is retrieved from their memories. Take a look at these nts and those buildings¡­ Is it different from the Cecil Castle in your memories?¡± Gawain didn¡¯t reply while the person with the white gown continued to talk, ¡°Ah, the memories retrieved from dreams might be a little distorted. The castle that doesn¡¯t fit with the actual castle might make you unhappy. What about this environment?¡± After speaking, the scenery in front of Gawain had changed again. The Cecil Castle and garden from 700 years ago had vanished, and it was reced with a tall tform. There were exquisite tables and chairs ced on the tform, and there were all sorts of pastries and tea on the table. Outside of the tform, one could oversee a magnificent city. The city had numerous spotlessly white buildings, towering Mage spires, and floating crystals to decorate the city. An abundant magical radiance flowed within the buildings as blue light, illuminating the entire city like a human-realm paradise. At the skies of the city, one could vaguely see the translucent shield that had countless giant floating runes. From further away, one would be able to see a blue pir of light that connected the sky to the ground, and it rose from outside the city. It looked just like the legendary Tower of Babel of Earth that rose straight into the horizon¡­ The ancient Gondor Empire, and¡­ the Well of Deep Blue?! ¡°Do you prefer this scenery?¡± The person with the white gown sat down by the round table. While the pure white and glossy mask didn¡¯t have any expression, the voice sounded happy as the person said, ¡°After all, you are also a person who has experienced the glorious moments of the Gondor Empire. Perhaps, you would prefer the magnificent scenery during the human empire¡¯s flourishing period?¡± ¡°Apologies. When the Gondor Empire was at its prime, I was only a Knight Apprentice at the northern borders of the empire. I don¡¯t even know what the flourishing imperial capital looked like.¡± Gawain casually sat down at the round table, directly opposite to the person in the white gown. ¡°But this scenery isn¡¯t bad at all. I am still able to see how the Well of Deep Blue looked like back then.¡± ¡°Then I am at ease,¡± the person in the white gown said pleasantly. ¡°Then since the Eternal Sleepers have already expressed respect to you, next would be your turn to cooperate.¡± Chapter 167 - Seeking Death Chapter 167: Seeking Death Eternal Sleepers. Upon hearing the name, Gawain wasn¡¯t excessively surprised. He had pondered about who or what faction would try to deal with him and use such an ¡®unconventional¡¯ method. The nobles in the royal capital who harbored unfathomable motives would only dare to create some disturbances secretly, while the royal n didn¡¯t need to oppose him for now. Apart from them, the Cecil n didn¡¯t have any dispute over benefits with any of the current factions in the world, with the exception of those heretics who were opposed to everyone by nature. Among the major heretic factions, the Eternal Sleepers were the strangest and most unpredictable; they were also the most proficient in spiritual sorcery. Gawain nced at the surrounding scenery again with curiosity. He was amazed by the exceptional skills disyed in this ¡®illusion¡¯ as everything looked real. Be it the towering Mage spires or the giant energy shield that enveloped the imperial capital from above or the radiance from the Well of Deep Blue near the imperial city ¡ª there weren¡¯t any ws in this illusion, and it even provided a genuine sense of touch. The round table and the chair below all gave a very real sensation. Gawain even had reason to believe that the pastries on the table would actually have taste if he put them in his mouth. This was a world that would cause a person to immerse in it easily. However, the more realistic this world felt, the more vignt he was. As such, he controlled his expression properly and tried his best not to reveal any emotions as he praised, ¡°I heard that the Eternal Sleepers are adept at creating illusions and dream realms, but this is the first time I am experiencing it personally. I have to admit that your skills in this aspect are brilliant.¡± ¡°If a person relied on the so-called sight, touch, and smell to perceive the world¡¯s existence, then if those things are perfectly simted, is there any difference between the so-called reality and illusion?¡± the white-gowned individual spoke in a strange tone that sounded neutral. ¡°Aspared to a reality that is depraved and dark, wouldn¡¯t it be better to have a perfect dream realm?¡± ¡°But in this ¡®perfect¡¯ dream realm, isn¡¯t your attire a little too dazzling?¡± Gawain looked at the white-gowned person and finally criticized the opposition who was in novel attire and had a neutral tone of voice. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what you wish to discuss with me. You have to reveal your true identity, right? Moreover, you have yet to introduce yourself to me until now. This doesn¡¯t seem to be appropriate for a person who wishes to have a discussion.¡± ¡°I am merely a person seeking the truth. The members of the Eternal Sleepers don¡¯t need any personal name or n name. As for my true identity¡­ it is indeed something that people constrained to the real world would ask for.¡± The white-gowned person sighed while his image suddenly changed: the mask seemed to melt onto his face like water, but the face underneath the mask was constantly changing. It was constantly switching between man, woman, old, young ¡ª all sorts of faces. ¡°It is a pity that people constrained to reality would never understand the greatness of the Eternal Sleepers¡¯ dream realm. In this perfect world, the so-called ¡®individual appearance¡¯ is already meaningless. Which face do you think suits me better? This face¡­ or this face?¡± The white-gowned person¡¯s face was constantly changing, but each face was filled with mockery and contempt. Gawain looked at him quietly while the white-gowned person altered his face and waited for half a minute before responding dully, ¡°Just let it continue changing like that. It is rather nice for it to keep refreshing.¡± The white-gowned person¡¯s face suddenly stopped changing and fixed on a stern middle-aged man¡¯s face. ¡°It seems like you have ample patience to idle away with me. It is a pity that I do not have such patience.¡± The stern middle-aged man finally stopped the nonsense and looked straight at Gawain. ¡°I have called your distinguished self here merely to understand something from you.¡± ¡°What thing?¡± ¡°What exactly did you see in those frustrating sea regions?¡± Gawain¡¯s previousposure was partially acted out, but his confused expression now was real. ¡°What did you say?¡± However, the white-gowned middle-aged man treated Gawain¡¯s confused look as a kind of deception. He frowned and said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to pretend. You and I both know clearly that the so-called ¡®Sea of Eternal Darkness¡¯ is what I¡¯m referring to. Outsiders might not know of your secret voyage, but there were still survivors on the same voyage as you that returned. We know clearly that you had a clear objective when entering the Eternal Darkness Sea and that you had obtained some enlightenment and also returned with something¡­ We are very curious about those things.¡± Gawain¡¯s heart was suddenly filled with a great wave. This heretic of the Eternal Sleepers actually knew of a secret that Gawain Cecil couldn¡¯t remember! What was the Sea of Eternal Darkness that he mentioned? What was the secret voyage that he mentioned? What were the enlightenment and the object that was brought back?! Gawain suddenly associated it with those crystals. Those crystals were handed to the Mithril Vault to safeguard by the original owner of this body. But there wasn¡¯t a trace of the memories about those crystals remaining. Could everything be associated together in this ce?! However, Gawain needed to forcefully conceal all of his astonishment and other reactions as he hoped he would be able to trick the heretic in front of him to provide more information. The opposition would never have imagined that Gawain Cecil¡¯s body was hiding a foreign soul and that this was just a method to deceive the opposition! ¡°Do you wish to know, or do the Eternal Sleepers wish to know? Perhaps¡­ other people wish to know?¡± Gawain used a stern expression to look at the middle-aged man with an unwavering tone. ¡°You probably wouldn¡¯t believe it if I said that it was just my personal curiosity.¡± The middle-aged man revealed a stiff smile and said, ¡°This matter concerns the entire Eternal Sleepers. Please believe me that we are different from those heretic factions that dered their intention to destroy the world. The Eternal Sleepers might be considered ¡®heretics¡¯ by everyone, but everything we are doing is actually to protect the world and all living things. Our methods of doing things might not be understood by others, but I believe that the enlightenment that you obtained in the Sea of Eternal Darkness concerns the truth of this world¡­ If that is the case, you must understand the doings of the Eternal Sleepers.¡± The enlightenment that Gawain Cecil obtained in the Sea of Eternal Darkness would make him approve of the doings of the Eternal Sleepers that was an evil cult? This statement contained a lot of information! Gawain tried his best to make a stiff face while staring at the middle-aged man¡¯s eyes. ¡°In regards to the incident when I was in the Sea of Eternal Darkness, does anyone else know? How did your faction find out about it?¡± ¡°I have mentioned that there were survivors on the same voyage as you, and there were more than one. I can tell you clearly that there were spies from the Eternal Sleepers among those survivors,¡± the middle-aged man answered honestly. ¡°As for anyone else that knows of this secret, please be at ease. They are very few. Even among the Eternal Sleepers, only a few individuals above the nightmare bishop ss would even know a portion of the information. We do not have the intention to disseminate this secret as it will not be beneficial to us. To those forgetful and mediocre people, an ancient secret from seven centuries ago is something they wouldn¡¯t be concerned with.¡± ¡°It is true that I have brought something back from there.¡± Gawain decided to reveal a little information before he continued with the trickery. ¡°But how can your faction be so sure that if I understood the so-called world¡¯s truth at that ce, I will definitely understand the thoughts of heretics like you? In other words, how can you be sure I will cooperate with you?¡± Gawain attempted to make this superfluous heretic speak of everything he knew and to speak of the entire process of Gawain Cecil¡¯s voyage to the Sea of Eternal Darkness. However, the middle-aged man suddenly shut his mouth and revealed a pretentious smile after a few seconds and said, ¡°Yes, I knew that you wouldn¡¯t cooperate with me, and I knew that you wouldn¡¯t answer any of my questions. You are a great hero from seven centuries ago. How is it possible for you to trust a heretic who spoke of some nonsense and speak of all your secrets? ¡°With the same reasoning¡­ Why do you think I would stay here and talk with you while continuously answering your questions?¡± As soon as the middle-aged man¡¯s voice ended, the scenery around Gawain swayed abruptly and violently. The Gondor Empire¡¯s city was starting to copse, and the magic dome above had also shattered. Noises started to appear in this spiritual world! Gawain finally knew what was the true danger in this ce; he finally knew why a crafty heretic would be having a conversation with him and would voluntarily reveal so much information. Gawain might have been suspicious from the beginning and was vignt against any schemes, but he had only realized now what the opposition¡¯s scheme was. There was something invading his consciousness! It was prying into his memories! ¡°Inside the Eternal Sleepers¡¯ dream realm, even a giant dragon would gradually sumb.¡± The middle-aged man stood up, while the pastries and red tea on the table turned into constantly twinkling star lights and gradually vanished. ¡°The consciousness is very incredible. People rely on it to be human, but humans are seemingly unable to control it. In a person¡¯s subconscious mind, almost everything is operating automatically. Even a legendary figure would reveal the greatest w in this ce.¡± Gawain felt that his memories were starting to loosen. A foreign ¡®reader¡¯ was searching for an entry point to his memories, and Gawain was struggling to control his thoughts, to control thosentern slides that started to appear in his mind like memory fragments. While controlling all these, he experienced an extreme spiritual pressure, causing him to be speech impaired, and he could only stare at the middle-aged man¡¯s eyes. ¡°When you were having a conversation here with me, you were gradually opening the gates to your memories. It doesn¡¯t matter if you answer our questions as the ¡®conversation¡¯ will still get established¡­ including now. When you are listening to my voice, you are receiving information that I transmitted, and during this process, your consciousness barrier is constantly disintegrating. But it is a pity that it is almost impossible for you to stop the process¡­¡± The middle-aged man smiled resplendently, and it was obvious that he felt he had victory in his grasp. ¡°Ah, your resistance is indeed very tenacious, and it is rather fitting for your status as a great hero. But don¡¯t you know? The Eternal Sleepers¡¯ greatest power isn¡¯t illusion or some spiritual attack. It is the ability to seize memories from others and to process those memories and turn them into our new power¡­ At the same time, it is to make such a ¡®memory path¡¯ be a springboard. You will forget this meeting, and after I finish reading your memories, I will leave a transfer channel in your subconscious mind. It will allow my will to ¡®descend¡¯ onto your body at any moment¡­ That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. Your mind appeared with the figure of that pitiful mercenary. Yes, it is that kind of springboard. The Eternal Sleepers traverse the world of dreams and thoughts using such springboards¡­¡± Gawain silently organized the memory fragments in his mind and didn¡¯t respond to the heretic¡¯s provocation. Finally, when the noise in his mind was so intense that it was unbearable, he then finished the final organization. In the white-gowned man¡¯s vision, Gawain lifted his head, and his face had a smile that had been hidden for a long while now. ¡°Are you sure¡­ you want to see my memories?¡± The middle-aged man was startled. ¡°You¡­¡± Gawain released his consciousness¡¯s restraintspletely. ¡°If in every individual¡¯s consciousness there exists a barrier for the memories, then my barrier isn¡¯t actually to protect myself. It is to protect rude intruders like you.¡± Gawain stood up straight while he silently watched the middle-aged man slowly widening his eyes that were filled with extreme horror. Gawain watched as the man let out hysterical screams, as his face melted like wax, as his body distorted and crumbled. Even after the body crumbled into a pile of blood and flesh, the hysterical screams could still be heard. ¡°You actually dared to see hundreds of thousands of years of observation data? Do you even want your brain anymore?¡± Chapter 168 - The One Who Was Devoured Chapter 168: The One Who Was Devoured Gawain didn¡¯t know what kind of changes happened to his soul, but he was sure that his soul had already transformedpletely when he transmigrated. Otherwise, there was no exnation as to why a person could remain in the sky for millions of years and still remain sane. Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t just a sane state of mind, he also had a clear memory. The horrific and massive amount of data that he had collected from millions of years of observation had actually been preserved in his memory; it didn¡¯t have any damage and was unscathed. Even until now, Gawain could still urately retrieve the data. However, there was something certain: the souls of the Eternal Sleepers¡¯ followers obviously didn¡¯t go through such reformation. In just a few short seconds from reading the massive observation data, it caused a destructive impact to the heretic who still had a fundamentally human soul. When the Eternal Sleepers follower¡¯s wisdom and soul were gradually copsing into insignificant shards, Gawain made a vague and indirect contact with those consciousness shards. Chaotic and shattered data flowed into his mind, causing a nearly indiscernible ripple in his massive memory pool. If Gawain didn¡¯t concentrate his mind, he probably wouldn¡¯t have noticed that he had seized something from the shattered soul of the heretic. After a detailed scan, he was able to confirm that it was some remnant memories from the heretic. It was a pity that the amount was minuscule, and it was so scattered that it was illogical. The memories of the heretic were in disorder, and the memories contained a massive amount of irregr and subjective ideas that were distorted, dark, and insane. What¡¯s worse, the Eternal Sleepers were always immersed in the dream realm, and it was hard to discern if these memories were true or false. Gawain wasn¡¯t sure if these scenes were factual or created from the dreams of the heretic. With just a small amount of information, Gawain understood the method of ¡®existence¡¯ of this Eternal Sleeper. The heretic seemed to have abandoned his physical body or had turned his physical body into some horrific and non-human form. Gawain saw some of the insane rituals in the heretic¡¯s memories as those rituals would dissolve the body and cause the souls to escape from the body. Afterward, the heretics would be roaming between new bodies or in the dream realms and memories of other people. This Eternal Sleeper seemed to have ¡®ascended¡¯ with his soul and had the dreadful ability to shift between the psyches of humans. Fortunately, such ascension rituals had requirements that were extremely high. Furthermore, during the earlier conversation, the heretic had already revealed that he held the position that was beyond bishop in the entire Eternal Sleepers. Therefore, there should only be a rare few heretics with such a horrific ability. Moreover, most of them probably weren¡¯t even active in the real world. The surrounding primal chaos space was constantly crumbling since the force that was supporting this ce was gone. Before the ¡®dream realm¡¯pletely vanished, Gawain quickly concentrated his consciousness and quickly searched through the memories left behind by the Eternal Sleepers follower to find if there was any valuable information. ¡­¡­ In the Kant territory¡¯s ancient castle, Victor Kant was rushing through the alley that led to the lower levels of the castle. The magic crystal¡¯s light had vaguely illuminated the alley, but the old viscount¡¯s shadow was like a decoration that constantly lingered by his side. His body cast a fuzzy shadow on the ground, and the shadow would constantly extend and transform as Victor Kat walked hurriedly. It felt as though the shadow had its own will. The old viscount¡¯s eyes were flickering with more illusory star lights, and his walking pace was getting faster and seemingly starting to stagger. He arrived at the lower level of the castle, and there was an oaken door that looked rather heavy that was in front of him. Viscount Victor stood in front of the door while his face suddenly emerged with a hesitant and vacant expression. It seemed like there was something attracting him from behind the door, yet he didn¡¯t dare to open the door and verify it. Just like that, he paused for a moment before he finally ced his hands on the door. But before he used his strength to push the doors, the doors suddenly opened up a rather wide gap. A fuzzy light leaked out from behind the door. There was a white-dressed, long-haireddy who held onto a portablemp and looked out from the gap. It was ady that wasn¡¯t even thirty years old; she had white and fair skin, a beautiful face that had a hint of sickness, and her body revealed a tender and pitiful aura. She had a surprised and curious expression when she saw the viscount standing at the door before she revealed a smile and said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong my love? Are you going to let me go out?¡± ¡°I¡­ No, nothing.¡± The old viscount¡¯s face shed with hesitation, but at the next second, all his distractions and concerns had vanished. He revealed a smile as though nothing had happened and looked at his young wife and said, ¡°Everything is fine. I am just here to see you. There is still a moment before sundown. Go back and sleep to replenish your energy. Afterward, wake up to have dinner with me.¡± The particrly young viscountess bit her lips and spoke softly, ¡°But my love, I am no longer sleepy.¡± ¡°Be good and return to sleep.¡± The old viscount shook his head while smiling gently and said, ¡°I wille over and look for youter.¡± The young viscountess blinked her eyes and was seemingly at ease as she nodded her head. She then held onto the portablemp and returned inside the door before the heavy oaken doors closed back together. The empty castle hallway echoed with a creaking sound as the axis of the door turned. Victor Kant stood at the door for a moment before his expression briefly turned vacant. He then reverted back to his steady and calm expression before turning and walking back in the direction he came from¡­ In the eastern region of Anzu Kingdom, within the ancient and concealed cave, the Oblivion Association¡¯s female dean Beltira suddenly opened her eyes. As one of the ¡®foreign-affairs bishops¡¯ who frequently had contact with other evil cults, she had a long-term spiritual connection with several higher-ups of the Eternal Sleepers. She was rather resentful towards one of the Eternal Sleepers¡¯ bishops who had recklessly made contact with Gawain Cecil. However, this was still the affairs of another cult, and she didn¡¯t have the authority to interfere or to dissuade. She could only wait until the bishoppleted the contact before asking if there was any gain. She believed that the bishop would certainly gain something¡­ After all, the current Gawain Cecil was no longer at his prime, and sleeping for seven centuries had weakened his flesh and spirit. For a nightmare bishop that had close to legendary strength in the spiritual aspects to contest with a ¡®pseudo-legend¡¯, it was impossible for the bishop to be at a disadvantage. However, what arrived wasn¡¯t the information of great sess from the Eternal Sleepers¡¯ bishop but a shrieking howl that echoed from the bishop¡¯s soul and also the extreme horror from the spiritual connection. Immediately after, the spiritual response from the Eternal Sleeper had vanished. It felt as though something horrifying had devoured his soul and digested itpletely. Beltira had also felt the surprise and panic concealed in the horror. But she wasn¡¯t able to imagine what was inside Gawain Cecil¡¯s consciousness world that could devour a bishop-ss Eternal Sleeper. It was even able to make the bishop experience such horror before his death. These heretics who were adept at ying with people were experts that created and enjoyed nightmares. How could their willpower be so fragile?¡± With these doubts, Beltira chose to visit the other minds that were connected with her. Those were the Eternal Sleepers¡¯ spies who were in the upper echelons of the Anzu Kingdom. They were also people that maintained contact with the fallen Eternal Sleeper bishop. But after establishing a spiritual connection, before she could even inquire, one of the nightmare bishops gave the information first. ¡°Bishop Roderick has fallen.¡± ¡°He was devoured after making contact with Gawain Cecil¡¯s consciousness.¡± Another nightmare bishop supplemented. ¡°What exactly happened?¡± Beltira couldn¡¯t withhold her curiosity and asked, ¡°Did he release any information before he fell?!¡± The spiritual connections between the Eternal Sleepers were far closer than with outsiders. Beltira didn¡¯t hear any dying words from Bishop Roderick, but the other Eternal Sleepers that maintained connection might know something. There were a few seconds of silence in the spiritual connection before one of the nightmare bishops finally replied, ¡°He was only in time to release one sentence¡­¡± Subsequently, Beltira¡¯s mind exploded with the yelling from Roderick that contained intense feelings and emotional imprints. ¡°Do not pry into this inhuman soul!!¡± ¡­¡­ Gawain opened his eyes and realized he was still standing in that small house that imprisoned captives. That sacrificial mercenary leader who was treated as a springboard for the Eternal Sleeper was already dead on the ground. The sturdy mercenary leader was bleeding from all his seven orifices, and his entire head was flushed red as though it had been boiled, and was even fuming with heat. His distorted expression was enough to show what kind of horrific pain he experienced before death. The Mage mercenary was still in a daze as he sat by the side and was seemingly ignorant about the things happening around him. Heidi, Pittman, Amber, and the others were standing around Gawain and looked at him with nervous and concerned eyes. ¡°What happened?¡± Gawain shook his head and eliminated the remaining ufortable sensation in his mind before letting out a long breath and asking, ¡°Did I lose consciousness earlier?¡± ¡°Ancestor, it is great that you¡¯re fine!¡± Heidi finally let out a breath while cold sweat rolled down her forehead the moment she rxed. She disregarded everything and rushed over to inspect Gawain. ¡°Are you okay? Are you okay? That mercenary abruptly burst out with powerful magic, and you were immobilized. All of us were frightened!¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, I¡¯m fine.¡± Gawain consoled his overreacting great-granddaughter and immediately frowned. ¡°How long was I unconscious for?¡± ¡°Not long, just a few minutes.¡± Pittman had also wiped off the cold sweat on his body and said, ¡°It is fortunate that you are fine. Otherwise, I might have to be carried out. Someone would certainly say that something went wrong with my ¡®bogus¡¯ medicine.¡± Amber immediately red at the little old man and said, ¡°It is really unrted to the suspicious ointment and incense that you made?!¡± ¡°It is indeed unrted to him.¡± Gawain shook his hand and confirmed that the flow of time in the consciousness world was indeed different from the outside world. He felt he had stayed there for at least half a day, but it was only a few minutes on the outside. ¡°Earlier on, a heretic from the Eternal Sleepers attempted to invade my consciousness.¡± Everyone was shocked: ¡°Eternal Sleepers?!¡± Chapter 169 - Into Another Dream Chapter 169: Into Another Dream After hearing Gawain¡¯s words, everyone was shocked. ¡°Eternal Sleepers?!¡± This waspletely outside of their expectation. Even the normallyposed Heidi had nearly dropped her magic staff. She red at the dead mercenary leader and said, ¡°This mercenary is actually the disguise of an Eternal Sleepers¡¯ follower?!¡± ¡°No, he was merely a springboard for the Eternal Sleeper.¡± Gawain rubbed his brows and spoke about the information he obtained from the heretic. ¡°This fellow probably had an unfortunate nightmare some time ago while the powerful Eternal Sleepers¡¯ heretic made use of the nightmare to leave a marker in his consciousness. As such, he became a one-time ¡®carrier¡¯, allowing that heretic to rapidly ¡®arrive¡¯ when required.¡± The bizarre incident caused Amber to have goosebumps as she said, ¡°Why does this evil cult heretic sound even more evil than the Oblivion Association?!¡± ¡°The Eternal Sleepers are indeed stranger than the Oblivion Association,¡± Pittman said in a deep voice. As a Druid who received the true inheritance, he had much more understanding of the evil cult followers. ¡°The fallen Eternal Sleepers are converted from the church that followed the God of Dream Realms. They were originally clerics that appeased the people¡¯s hearts and expelled nightmares. But after they were corrupted, they turned into experts that created nightmares and horrors. The best bishops of the Eternal Sleepers all have the ability to roam in the dream realms of others. Furthermore, they could connect dream realms from different individuals, making them even more elusive and harder to guard against. Their special ability allows them to be even more horrifying than regr evil cult heretics. But there is something that is considered good news¡­ The Eternal Sleepers aren¡¯t as extreme and bloody like the Oblivion Association or the Sons of the Storm. They would only pull people into all sorts of nightmares or illusions and do the asional kidnapping. They would rarely conduct any massacres.¡± After hearing until this part, Heidi spoke pensively, ¡°I have also heard about the Eternal Sleepers. It is true that they seldom conduct anyrge-scale deaths, but their behavior is much stranger and more freakish than the other evil cults. I personally feel that they seem to be hiding some gigantic n and that such evil cults that don¡¯t kill frequently are much more terrifying.¡± Gawain had a simr feeling. ¡°As long as they are an evil cult, they will be dangerous. If they don¡¯t kill, it just means they will do things more terrifying than killing, and it is harder to defend against than actual killing. Furthermore¡­ the Eternal Sleepers are the only evil cult that contacts the Oblivion Association other than the Sons of the Storm. The Oblivion Association and the Sons of the Storm are both cruel and bloody factions, and if the Eternal Sleepers are associated with them¡­ it is impossible for them to be good.¡± ¡°The more I hear it, the more I find it frightening.¡± Amber couldn¡¯t help but rub her arms as though she was soothing the goosebumps and immediately looked at Gawain curiously. ¡°You said that you were dragged into the ¡®nightmare¡¯ of the Eternal Sleepers earlier? What happened next? You escaped?¡± Gawainughed and said, ¡°We had a contest in the consciousness world, and that fellow died. He must be some minor character.¡± Amber replied with an ¡®oh¡¯, while Heidi looked at her great-great-great-grandfather with eyes of worship and was convinced. Pittman was the only person who suspiciously sized up Gawain and asked, ¡°An Eternal Sleep who could ¡®arrive¡¯ as he please¡­ is actually a minor character?¡± ¡°In any case, he isn¡¯t as incredible as me.¡± Gawain shrugged his shoulders and said, ¡°Since that fellow is already dead, it isn¡¯t important how incredible he was in the past.¡± Heidi was obviously a little worried. ¡°Why would an Eternal Sleeper attack you? Previously, the attack from the Oblivion Association was considered an ident as that corrupted Druid¡¯s target was Tanzan Town. But this time, the Eternal Sleeper is obviously targeting you. Before that mercenary leader was ¡®possessed¡¯, he clearly yelled out your name!¡± Gawain¡¯s expression turned serious as he knew that Heidi was worried for a reason. The revived Gawain Cecil had indeed attracted the attention of some evil factions. The memories from the heretic¡¯s remnant soul might not be much, but after putting it together with his recent thoughts and experiences, Gawain could confirm that the heretic had been active in the south region for many years. He had left behind plenty of nightmare markers on thousands of victims, and the mercenary leader just happened to be one of those victims. It was just a coincidence for Gawain to capture the mercenary leader during the process of capturing ves. However, the Eternal Sleeper that worked behind the mercenary leader didn¡¯t just observe Gawain for a day or two. From the conversation, Gawain knew that the heretic was paying attention to Gawain Cecil¡¯s secret voyage to the ¡®Sea of Eternal Darkness¡¯. Therefore, since the information of Gawain reviving from his tomb was made known, the heretic was probably already making a n for contact. By coincidence, the mercenary leader that was imprisoned by Gawain had given the Eternal Sleeper a perfect opportunity in advance. But the heretic never would have expected that he would actually perish in this perfect opportunity¡­ A bishop from the Eternal Sleepers had a dubious death, but it didn¡¯t mean that the assault had ended. Gawain believed that other evil cults or mysterious organizations were observing the so-called giant secret of the ¡®Sea of Eternal Darkness¡¯ and the ¡®secret voyage¡¯ that involved him. Since the secret was enough to make the most cautious and most concealed evil cult to take the risk, it would naturally incur the curiosity of other hidden factions. The problem was that Gawain was also very curious about the so-called ¡®Sea of Eternal Darkness¡¯! As matters stood, Gawain¡¯s only constion for himself was that the Eternal Sleepers¡¯ bishop had died in a straightforward manner and didn¡¯t cause a hugemotion by dying on Cecil n¡¯s territory. This might be a warning to those people who wished to pry. If they were bold enough toe seeking trouble, Gawain wouldn¡¯t have a choice but to receive the attack. After all, he currently had an entire territory to feed, and he couldn¡¯t possibly cower and leave like the wind, right? Pittman looked at the serious Gawain before turning to the concerned Heidi. He let out a light sigh and revealed a simrly serious expression while saying, ¡°Lord Duke, I think this time, you need to consider my resignation seriously¡­¡± ¡°If you truly wished to run, you would have already vanished without a trace. Are you the kind of person toe and greet the boss before escaping?¡± Gawain looked at the shame of the Druids before waving his hand. ¡°If theye, I will endure it. A few minions and pawns aren¡¯t enough to cause a huge wave. I don¡¯t believe the evil cult heretics that have been hiding for seven centuries would dare to organize a huge army to attack us.¡± Immediately after, Gawain looked at the dizzy Mage mercenary at the side. Heidi immediately asked, ¡°Ancestor, do we need to continue the interrogation?¡± Gawain shook his head, ¡°We don¡¯t need it anymore. Continue to lock him up, and we will decide after a period of time.¡± He didn¡¯t consider executing this Mage mercenary, but he didn¡¯t intend to release him either. If the attack on those refugees from the northern wilderness was considered an act of war, then this mercenary was considered the Cecil n¡¯s prisoner of war. ording to thews of this era, such prisoners of war would be directly considered ves. They would be using eternalbor topensate the victor of the battle for the weapons and manpower that were used. However, Gawain had yet to think of abor reformation for such ¡®war ves¡¯. The Cecil territory was in need of manpower; therefore, Gawain didn¡¯t mind allowing this prisoner of war to serve as abor force to utilize his value. This was much more worthwhile than to execute or banish him. But the Mage mercenary was a Grade 2 spellcaster, and it would be a waste to throw him to the western mines to dig for ores. Also, Gawain wasn¡¯t at ease yet; therefore, he truly had to consider properly before assigning a task to him¡­ Heidi didn¡¯t have any objection to Gawain¡¯s arrangement, but she still couldn¡¯t put down the question of why would these mercenaries be capturing refugees in the vast wilderness at the northern side of the White River? ¡°Are we not going to investigate why the Kant n hired these mercenaries to capture the refugees?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ right.¡± Gawain couldn¡¯t help but rub his forehead. It seemed like the conflict with the heretic in his consciousness world still caused an impact. He had actually forgotten the original objective for interrogating these two mercenaries. ¡°I am a bit tired and forgot about it. Alright then, Heidi, Pittman, I shall leave this matter to the two of you. Take advantage of the fact that the medicine and the ritual had yet to end and find out why the Kant n are capturing ves during the Frost Month. I need to rest. Just tell me the interrogation reportter on.¡± After making arrangements, Gawain returned to his tent. He was indeed tired. He was fatigued after such a long period of time inside the consciousness world. He realized that it wasn¡¯t as easy as he imagined to contest with that heretic. Even if he was a satellite spirit, organizing a massive amount of memory to devour another mind wasn¡¯t easy. After returning to the tent, he went into a deep sleep on his bed and quickly entered a dream. He ¡®opened¡¯ his eyes in an unfamiliar ce and realized he was standing in a long hallway. The hallway had the ssic Anzu style that had the same architecture and interior decor like the castles that the southern nobles preferred. The support pirs on both sides of the hallway were half-buried into the walls, and each pir was embedded with a magic crystalmp. This wasn¡¯t the ancient castle of the Cecil n, nor was it the Leslie n¡¯s castle in Tanzan Town. It wasn¡¯t like any of the castle interiors in Gawain¡¯s memories. At the first moment, Gawain thought that he might have entered another dream realm. Furthermore, he was in a sober state of mind as he entered the dream realm. After the experience with the heretic, he was instantly vignt and couldn¡¯t help but mutter to himself. ¡°Why did the next attacke so quickly? Is this evil cult a group of Cbash Brothers trying to save the grandfather?¡±[1] Soon enough, Gawain realized that the situation this time was different from earlier. He didn¡¯t awaken in apletely chaotic space nor did anyone barge into his dream realm to chat. He had a feeling that he could wake up at any moment as long as he desired it. Aspared to the time when he was dragged into an illusory space by the Eternal Sleeper, this was more like a normal dream. The only difference from a normal dream was the abnormally sober consciousness that he could maintain. No, there were more differences¡­ Gawain felt something in his hand when he had subconsciously thought of a certain object. In the next second, he realized that his hand held a can of c. In this sober dreand, he was seemingly able to create anything he wanted. [1] Cbash Brothers is a TV show about seven brothers making consecutive attempts after each brother¡¯s failure to save their grandfather. Chapter 170 - Breeding in the Shadows Chapter 170: Breeding in the Shadows Gawain wandered in this lucid dream realm. He didn¡¯t know the theory behind such a change, but he guessed that the reason for this change most likely had to do with that heretic of the Eternal Sleepers ¡ª¡ª in the process of engulfing those remaining shards of consciousness, he came into contact with the gleanings of Eternal Sleepers. Those gleanings weren¡¯t as simple as mere memories. As ¡®knowledge¡¯ of the Beyonder realm, it itself was a form of power. They brought Gawain the ability to be active in such a lucid dream realm. Gawain walked while molding some items in his hands ording to what he had in mind from time to time and discovered the limitations of such molding in this process. Probably because he had not acquired the true power of the Eternal Sleepers, the items that he molded in the dream realm were still ¡®imaginative¡¯ in every sense. They merely had appearances that could be passed off as real ones but had no true function. The drinks that he created were absolutely tasteless; the cellphone that he had molded ording to his memory couldn¡¯t be switched on and used either. And even the appearances of those imaginative items that didn¡¯t exist in the real world at all were difficult to maintain permanently. However, it was from this iplete and useless ability that he continuallyprehended the nature of Eternal Sleepers, this unique heretic sect, as well as their possible aims. Immersed in an eternal dream realm, attempting to seek relief in an illusory world ¡ª¡ª this was probably the pursuit of the Eternal Sleepers. In Gawain¡¯s opinion, their ability to shape illusions in the dream realm was already at the level of a perfect fake. As a matter of fact, if not told about the truth in advance, any person who entered the Eternal Sleepers¡¯ dream realm would instantly get lost in that deceptive world, and for people of weak will, even if they had learned the truth in advance, they would still easily wallow in the beautiful things of the illusory world. Although the outside world¡¯s evaluation of Eternal Sleepers was ¡®experts in making nightmares¡¯, after Gawain swallowed the remaining consciousness of that heretic, he somewhat realized that what those believers who wove wills were pursuing was actually a wonderful dream ¡ª¡ª and making nightmares was only a certain means to help them achieve their objective. Gawain walked through long corridors. In this unfamiliar ce, his mind was calm like water, and his thoughts were especially sharp. Quoting a saying from his previous life, people who lose themselves in the virtual world more often than not do so to escape reality, and the Eternal Sleepers, in Gawain¡¯s opinion, were like fanatics of a virtual world who were collectively escaping reality. However, specifically which part of the real world were they running from? Was it the copse of society and deterioration of their living environment caused by the Dark Wave? Was it the changes in religious structure and ostracism by the other sects? Or¡­ the truth that the gods were already dead? The corridor ahead of him reached an end. A heavy oak door stood before him. Gawain frowned; he saw a slightly familiar emblem on the oak door. It was the emblem of the Kant n. Was it because he had been paying attention to matters of the Kant n recently, so their n emblem appeared in a scene in his dream? Or¡­ was this really the Kant castle? Gawain surveyed his surroundings with knitted brows. He was sure that he had nevere to this ce before, and in normal circumstances, things that exceeded one¡¯s memories or cognition would not appear in one¡¯s dreams. Even if strange and unusual things appeared, they were most likely distorted in their subconscious from the things that they saw usually. However, all the scenes in this dream realm were stable and orderly; even the patterns on the walls and glows emitted by every single magic crystalmp werepletely wless. Associating this to the Eternal Sleeper¡¯s consciousness that he had engulfed, Gawain suddenly suspected that this scene was probably born out of that heretic cult believer¡¯s memories. That heretic cult believer had been active in the Kants¡¯ castle? After hesitating for less than a moment, Gawain reached out and pushed open the big oak door in front with force. There was a cer-like space behind the big door ¡ª spacious, deep, and shrouded in dim light. As an underground structure, the scale of this ¡®cer¡¯ had far exceeded what was necessary such that it was as if a banquet hall had been moved underground. And in such an unusually vast space, Gawain saw many upright pirs connecting the ground to the stone ceiling. There seemed to be writing on the surfaces of these erected pirs. Gawain moved closer to one of them and saw that they weren¡¯t writings but countless deep dents carved out using fingernails. Upon seeing these dents, Gawain felt the vision before his eyes abruptly blur. Following that,rge amounts of water-like ripples appeared in the space that was dim everywhere. Within the poppling of the ripples, numerous shadowy things left the ¡®disguise¡¯ of the subconscious and appeared before Gawain. They were faint shadows shaped like humans, with translucent, grayish-white forms and blurry faces that indistinctly revealed numbness. They loomed inyers uponyers here; those hollow eyes gazed emptily at the center of the ¡®cer¡¯. These shadows¡¯ emergence gave Gawain a scare, but thetter quickly realized that these figures weren¡¯t aware of his existence at all ¡ª¡ª or these shadows probably didn¡¯t possess the ability to think at all. After collecting himself, he followed in the direction that these shadows were focusing on and looked over. He found that a stone tform had appeared in the middle of this ¡®underground hall¡¯, and on that tform, a huge and magnificent coffin was set. Gawain frowned. Passing through the countless vague shadows, he headed towards the huge coffin. However, midway through, an indistinct and unreal sound appeared by his ears. It seemed to be two people conversing but was so disjointed that it was difficult to distinguish. Gawain perked up his ears attentively before he caught some slightly clearer contents: ¡°¡­How I wish this was only a nightmare. After waking from the nightmare, everything would still be fine¡­¡± ¡°¡­dreams and reality, what¡¯s the difference¡­?¡± ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know what to do. I¡¯ve lost them¡­¡± ¡°The Eternal Sleepers will help you. Don¡¯t be afraid. Don¡¯t believe those rumors that nder us. Just like 700 years ago, we¡¯re still devoted to saving all beings from suffering. Only, 700 years ago, we got all beings to keep clear of nightmares, but today, we get all beings to get away from the nightmarish reality¡­¡± ¡°You just have to ce it here, provide ample nutrients for it. Trust me. Everything will get better.¡± ¡°That which has passed away will ultimately return, return not only in the dreams, but also in reality¡­¡± This conversation was soft yet fuzzy and was heavily distorted such that Gawain was unable to determine the genders of the speakers. However, there was one thing that he could almost be sure of, one of them speaking was the heretic of Eternal Sleepers that he had engulfed! After awakening from the dream, Gawain immediately called for Heidi and Pittman. ¡°Ancestor, we¡¯ve finished questioning that mercenary Mage.¡± Heidi thought that Gawain had called her here to ask about the interrogation progress of the prisoner; thus, she reported once they met. ¡°They were indeed working for the Kant n, but they do not know what their employer got them to capture refugees for. There¡¯s only one point that can be confirmed ¡ª¡ª they¡¯ve never seen the refugees that were captured subsequently appearing in the Kant territory as ves, nor have they seen ve traders taking those people away. The captured refugees vanished from thatnd like they¡¯d evaporated.¡± Gawain frowned. ¡°As expected¡­¡± ¡°As expected?¡± Heidi faltered, not understanding what Gawain meant. ¡°Do you know something?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid I have to immediately head to the Kant territory.¡± Gawain had made the decision before this and bluntly informed them at present. ¡°The earlier, the better.¡± This time, Heidi was really startled. ¡°Head to the Kant territory? What are you going there for? Are you going to personally inquire about the refugees from Viscount Kant? Such matters¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s more serious than that,¡± Gawain said solemnly. ¡°I came into contact with a portion of the fragments of his consciousness when I defeated that heretic of the Eternal Sleepers previously. Just earlier, the contents of those fragments emerge. I saw that heretic cult believer hand an item to someone from the Kant territory ¡ª¡ª it is highly likely the current Viscount Victor Kant. And that item is a heretic item. It has been on thatnd for many years, more than ten years, even decades. All this time, it¡¯d been absorbing the souls of living humans and growing!¡± ¡°Heretic item that absorbs the souls of living humans?¡± Pittman was startled. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me those refugees captured to the Kant territory¡­¡± ¡°They¡¯ve mostly been fed to it.¡± Gawain frowned. ¡°That thing has grown to a very critical point, but it has yet toplete the final transformation. But once it does¡­ I¡¯m worried that all areas ¡ª including Tanzan Town, the New Cecil territory, and the more northern Carol territory ¡ª would be enveloped in its power.¡± Gawain wasn¡¯t being rmist. Before that dream realm was about to end, he clearly sensed the existence of this ¡®item¡¯ that supported the dream realm and was continuously growing. He could sense the power creeping out of that item; he could sense its influence on all human minds within a considerablyrge range. Perhaps because he had engulfed the fragments of consciousness of the item¡¯s original owner, Gawain had built a certain subtle connection with that item. This had him almost a hundred percent certain: once it had absorbed enough energy, that cursed object set in the Kant n¡¯s old castle by the heretic cult believer would burst out with a significant and frightening power. And theymen of the Cecil territory and Tanzan Town would be embroiled in it, with no one spared. Since the threat was already upon him, he could not sit by with indifference. Gawain¡¯s solemn attitude had also influenced Heidi; thetter grew nervous as well and felt a hint of worry. ¡°Ancestor, you¡¯ve already tempted fate once at Tanzan Town. This time¡­¡± ¡°No, on the contrary, it wouldn¡¯t be as dangerous this time.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°So long as I find it in time, then it would bepletely non-threatening to me ¡ª¡ª I have a way of controlling it.¡± His answer was rather confident, and this had Heidi slightly relieved, but she still could not help but be concerned. ¡°If Viscount Victor Kant has beenpletely bewitched and controlled by that heretic cult believer, wouldn¡¯t he be dangerous to you?¡± ¡°In this entire event, only one person has the ability to threaten me.¡± Gawain looked at Heidi, who wore a look of concern, and smiled. ¡°But that person has already been destroyed by me in the space of consciousness.¡± Chapter 171 - Legend of the Sea of Eternal Darkness Chapter 171: Legend of the Sea of Eternal Darkness Regardless, a trip to the Kant territory had to be made, and Gawain was going to do so personally. The system of the Anzu Kingdom wasx; the royal court¡¯s defense of the remote border areas was low, just like its dominance. Moreover, the south had been peaceful for a long time. Even the military n with the strongestbat ability would slowly wane in such an environment. Hence, Gawain who was settled in the extreme southern region could almost never count on support from any third party (such an environment was probably one of the reasons why the heretic cult believers were able to wantonly corrode this region), and theck of support was only one of the factors in Gawain¡¯s decision to go forth personally. The other reason was because he had seen one thing in that ¡®dream realm¡¯. He¡¯d mentioned to Heidi and Pittman that the Eternal Sleepers had left behind a heretic item in the Kant castle, but he did not exin what it was. Yet in reality, he had already seen that item and identified it. That item was located before the magnificent stone coffin in the center of the underground hall. It was ced on a small altar like a ¡®sacred object¡¯ being worshiped. It was an exquisite magtern, and more than 700 years ago, Gawain Cecil had given it as a gift to Selena Gerfen, who served as the apanying Cleric in the pioneering team back then. That was once a gentle and quietdy: a priestess of the God of Dreams deeply trusted by the pioneers and who¡¯d used dreams to heal the traumas of countless soldiers in an era of darkness and fear. Her devout belief and outstanding contributions made her the Dream Bishop of the northern pioneers before she was thirty years old. If fate hadn¡¯t yed that terrible joke, she could¡¯ve even been one of the candidates for Pope of the Church of Dreams and could¡¯ve be a famed pioneer hero like Gawain Cecil. However, for that mysterious ritual which was an attempt tomunicate with the gods, she headed to the Ancestral Peak with the Pope of the Church of Dreams then. No one knew what exactly happened at the ritual or the meeting held after it. Gawain only knew that after that fateful day, several sects including some Druid sects, the Church of Dreams, and the Church of God of Storms became the enemies of human society. With no publicly announced break, no debates about religion and the royal court, the few sects rushed out of the Ancestral Peak¡¯s conference hall like they¡¯d gone mad at the same time. Following that, their believers scattered everywhere on the continent and also simultaneously left their respective churches and meeting ces as if they¡¯d received some order to do so. A certain huge spiritual seemed to envelop the members of every dark sect from that day onwards. In a mere few days, the big sects degenerated sessively andpletely disappeared from the eyes of the world. As the entire Ancestral Peak had then been sealed by the armed priests of the Church of Holy Light and the Sect of the God of War, no one knew the actual events of that day. The spokespeople of the major gods¡¯ subsequent exnation was that ¡®a few of the extreme churches were unable to ept the conditions of peaceful coexistence with other beliefs and, as such, chose to go rogue¡¯. However, in the hearts of Gawain Cecil and the future Gawain, he was always doubtful of this exnation. As for Selena Gerfen, she too never appeared again after that day. The gentle priestess who used dreams to soothe the pain of soldiers and was trusted by them had vanished. She could have rushed into the Gondor Wastnd like a small group of the fallen Druids did or possibly be some existence that was even darker and more twisted. Gawain was unaware of the ultimate oue of that old friend. He only knew that today, 700 yearster, one of Selena Gerfen¡¯s belongings appeared here, ced in the old castle of the Kant n as the core of a certain heretic sacrificial ceremony. He believed it was necessary for him to retrieve that item. It could perhaps aid him in figuring out what exactly happened at the Ancestral Peak 700 years ago or, at the least, understand what changes happened when that batch of priests degenerated into heretic cult believers. The evil force that was growing and transforming in the Kant n¡¯s old castle had yet to enter a flourishing stare. ording to the progress he had sensed in the dream realm, Gawain could prepare slowly and arrange an opportunity for himself where he could enter that castle, yet it would not have Viscount Victor Kant on his guard and be suspicious of him. ¡ª¡ªHe did not n on charging in, armed to the teeth, but to find a chance to stop it before the matter blew up. A Duke paying a visit to a Viscount was very troublesome and conspicuous, but it wouldn¡¯t be thatplicated if it was a Duke who only had a title and was essentially only a feudal lord going to visit his ¡®neighbor¡¯. Gawain knew that a big portion of grains and herbs from the Kant territory would be transported to Tanzan Town and then purchased by the Cecil territory. Moreover, the Cecil territory had also bought a batch of ves recently (they were normal ves sold by ve traders). This meant that the two territories actually had considerable trade flow between them. This was a reason to pay a visit. He prepared a narrative and told Heidi to handle it. ¡°Send a messenger over. Just say that I¡¯d be visiting to discuss the issue of purchasing rations and herbs next year. ¡ª¡ª The Cecil territory will purchase supplies in bulk, and it is a great waste of time, on top of higher prices, when these things switch hands at Tanzan Town. We can build a new trade route between the Cecil territory and Kant territory since we¡¯re preparing to open up the northern bank of the White River anyway. This issue is deserving of me going to talk to him. Heidi nodded. ¡°I understand.¡± After he¡¯d settled this matter, Gawain rubbed the space between his brows and set his attention on another matter. ¡°Have the two of you heard of the ¡®Sea of Eternal Darkness¡¯ before?¡± Heidi and Pittman instantly faltered and looked at each other. And when Gawain saw their expressions, his heart immediately sank. It seemed like the prospects were low. Heidi was a Mage who¡¯d gone through legitimate aristocrat education and who even had considerable knowledge of mysteries; she should be considered an expert in orthodox history and natural science. On the other hand, Pittman was a funny man who¡¯d received the education of society and learned quite a lot about swindling and bluffing. He was also considered an expert in unofficial history, anecdotes, and spinning weird tales. The knowledge of these two people wereplementary. When put together, they could almost be the otherworldly version of Zhihu[1]. ¡ª¡ªIf even these two hadn¡¯t heard of the ¡®Sea of Eternal Darkness¡¯ before, then he probably wouldn¡¯t get anything about this from the knowledge domain of normal people. ¡°This sounds like a term that superstitious seamen would make up,¡± Heidi guessed with a frown. ¡°The ocean is shrouded in vortexes and storms of magical power throughout the year. There is almost no boat that dares to challenge the deep sea. Few peoplee back alive when the asionally bold adventurers go to sea, attempting to look for a new route. With thepse of time, seamen made up all sorts of superstitious stories rted to the ocean and even gave all sorts of names to the various strange sea areas that those mad returning adventurers repeatedly spoke of¡­ Ancestor, where did you hear this name from?¡± ¡°Also from the memories of the heretic of the Eternal Sleepers.¡± Gawain did not conceal anything in this aspect and then looked towards Pittman. ¡°You look like you have something to say?¡± Although the old Druid also had a nk look when he¡¯d heard the few words ¡®Sea of Eternal Darkness¡¯ at the start, he had gradually revealed a thoughtful expression when Heidi was recounting the superstitious stories of those seamen. Thus, Gawain asked him out of curiosity. ¡°Yes, Lord. If you are interested in some unofficial history and weird tales, I can tell you about those unpresentable stories that circte among the people.¡± Pittman nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve indeed heard of the ¡®Sea of Eternal Darkness¡¯ before, but it isn¡¯t a term created by humankind. In fact, it originated from the silver elves. ¡ª It is a story circting mostly among the elves, so I didn¡¯t recall it all at once earlier.¡± ¡°Unofficial history and weird tales of the silver elves?¡± Gawain was instantly immensely surprised. He¡¯d never thought that the ¡®Sea of Eternal Darkness¡¯ mentioned by a heretic of the Eternal Sleepers would actually be a term that originated from the silver elves. ¡°That bunch of long ears with tenacious lives would circte such things?¡± ¡°The silver elves living in the south of the continent built the oldest civilized society of thisnd, close to tens of thousands of years earlier than humankind¡¯s rise on the continent. At present, although the earliest Elven Empire has already been lost in history, the new Silver Empire inherited many historical documents of the ancient Elven Empire. However, as the era was too ancient, all kinds of elemental creatures and beasts active during the ancient times could be easily confused with myths and legends, so there are also a great deal of errors and omissions in those historical documents. It¡¯s very normal that they evolve into weird tales. After all, the elves are merely an ordinary species.¡± Pittman chuckled. ¡°And the one regarding the Sea of Eternal Darkness is the most bizarre one amongst the various elven legends.¡± Following that, he cleared his throat and went on, ¡°Cough, cough. In the legend about the Sea of Eternal Darkness, the elves speak of the beginning of their species. ¡ª¡ªIt was said that there were initially no silver elves in the world from the start. Neither were there gray elves, dark elves, and all the other kinds of elven subspecies. There were only immortal ¡®primordial elves¡¯ born with formidable powers living on another continent far away.¡± ¡°One day in the ancient times, a disaster urred on that continent; thus, that group of primordial elves escaped their ancestralnd on an ¡®ark¡¯ that could speed away as it floated above the sea surface. Those elves got lost in the Endless Sea that was shrouded by dense fog and whirlpools of magical power and suddenly broke into a sea area that was forever in the night, forever enveloped by starlight, half a month after getting lost. And in the middle of that sea area stood an extremely grand and tall tower. That huge tower was shaped like a mountain, and it¡¯s peak pushed right into the starry sky. ¡°The lost primordial elves were moved by the huge tower and starry sky. Thus, they prayed sincerely under the starlight, hoping to find a new habitat, and their prayers were actually conveyed to the ears of the gods in the stars through the huge tower. Then, the starlight bestowed blessings, and the huge tower opened its doors, allowing the primordial elves to step through. ¡°All of the primordial elves entered the tower. They saw infinite intriguing things in the tower ¡ª there were projections of the universe and starry skies, and evolution of every kind of animal, mineral, and nt in the world. They realized that this tower contained unimaginable knowledge. Thus, some covetous thoughts emerged. ¡ª¡ªThey were no longer satisfied with temporarily taking shelter from the stormy waves at the outeryer of the tower and attempted to enter the inner and higheryers of the tower to touch that knowledge. ¡°Thus, the huge tower gave its punishment. A brilliance filled the entire tower. Those primordial elves who attempted in vain to steal the knowledge were wrapped in the light. ording to the differences in the extent of their intrusion, their race was transformed in the light, turning them into dark elves that feared sunlight, short gray elves, sea elves who couldn¡¯t be out of water for a long time, and silver elves with the least ws. ¡ª¡ªThis was because the silver elf poption were those who were in awe of the power of the tower and did not step too far into the forbidden area, so the punishment they received was the smallest. ¡°Just like that, the immortal and powerful primordial elves became subspecies elves with all kinds of defects. These subspecies escaped the huge tower in terror and returned to their ark. They left the mysterious area ¡ª forever shrouded by the night and starry sky, with a looming huge tower ¡ª that they called the ¡®Sea of Eternal Darkness¡¯. And them drifting to the current Loren Continent was ater happening.¡± Pittman caught his breath and stroked his beard. ¡°Lord, this is the legend regarding the Sea of Eternal Darkness.¡± [1] Zhihu ¨C a Chinese question-and-answer website Chapter 172 - Guests of the Kant Territory Chapter 172: Guests of the Kant Territory This story narrated by Pittman piqued a great interest in Gawain; at the same time, it also made lots of associations that couldn¡¯t be suppressed emerge in him. Many people would treat unofficial history and weird tales as absurd stories that weren¡¯t worth mentioning. But at the same time, there were also lots of people willing to acknowledge them. Even the most absurd and unreasonable tales would always contain some reflections of reality. And for those elves with their long lifespans and who held history records with far more detail and consistency than humankind, Gawain believed even more that facts were present in their legends and stories ¡ª¡ª especially those aspects regarding the ark floating and speeding above the sea surface, the sea area in eternal night, and the huge tower that connected to the heavens. These affairs that exceeded theymen¡¯s knowledge of the Loren Continent were actually so detailedly described, so irrefutable in the legends of the silver elves. Thispelled Gawain to make associations to some extent. Aside from the Loren continent, other continents indeed existed? Before civilization on this continent had developed, civilization had already emerged on another continent? The ¡®primordial elves¡¯ escaped their homnd on an ark that could float and speed across the sea surface. What was the ark itself? Judging by the descriptions¡­ Could it be a certain object that resembled a ground-effect vehicle[1]? Or arge hovercraft? What about the sea area that was eternally shrouded in night? Could it be located within the region of the pr night? Did the phenomenon of midnight sun and pr night simrly exist in the north and south poles of this? And what was that huge tower in the legend? It clearly wasn¡¯t some kind of natural structure; instead, it seemed more likely to have been made by some being or beings. There were even projections of the starry sky and video materials of animals, nts, and minerals¡­ Could it have something to do with that ancient advanced civilization that left behind the surveince satellite?! If Gawain Cecil had really found the Sea of Eternal Darkness and that huge tower on the secret voyage that he went on back then, those crystals would be what he brought out from the huge tower? Countless pieces of information seemed to link together in this instance. It was as if some progress about the sequence of events was about to be revealed, but when Gawain carefully sought and analyzed, he realized that he was still unable to arrive at any oue. The information was too messy and broken; there were also lots of vaguely mentioned legends, strange tales, and spections mixed up in them. There was too much uncertainty; it waspletely insufficient to piece the truth of those years together! At this moment, Gawain even developed an uncontroble impulse, the impulse to build a big ship and head directly to the north of the kingdom, going out to sea for an exploration. He wanted to go to the sea area forever enveloped in night (it could also be in a long period of midnight sun state during specific times) and have a look at what exactly that legendary huge tower was! Such an urge pulsed in his chest. He had to inhale deeply as he quietly pondered about the territory¡¯s reserves of resources, technology foundation, industrial production capacity, as well as the gold and silver left in the vault in the mountains. After he went through each of these, hispulsionpletely vanished, and he was rather discouraged and disappointed¡­ ¡°Ancestor, are you okay?¡± Heidi looked concernedly at Gawain. The change in expression on thetter¡¯s face had her very worried about whether there was a possibility of her ancestor passing away again (and looking at the situation, his passing this time would even be very unpeaceful). But fortunately, Gawain recovered in time and waved his hand at her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°You¡¯re interested in the Sea of Eternal Darkness?¡± Pittman who was at the side asked and then frowned. ¡°But with all due respect, even in the powerful and prosperous Silver Empire, the Sea of Eternal Darkness is also merely a story. As ismonly known to elves, the storm, dense fog, and disordered magical power field sealed the entire ocean. Even with the technical skill of the elves, there is no way of navigating in a sea area far away from the shoreline, even more so for the respective human kingdoms which experienced a decline in technology. In those years before the Church of the God of Storms degenerated, the Storm lesiastics could still guide the captains to navigate on some specific routes around the continent, but now that the Church of the God of Storms fell to be the Sons of the Storm, there was no longer anyone who could sail on the ocean¡­¡± It was a rare instance for this little old man to persuade him with such a serious and conscientious attitude. Gawain was quite touched, but he still could not help but ask, ¡°It¡¯s already been seven hundred years. Are the nations still trapped onnd and unable to head to the open sea?¡± ¡°asionally, there would be bold adventurers going to challenge the ocean, but those whoe back alive are less than a third of them. Moreover, even if they doe back, most are mentally deranged, their minds damaged by the chaotic magical environment in the open sea.¡± Heidi shook her head. ¡°Besides, what¡¯s the use in challenging the sea? All riches originate from thend. Whether minerals or crops, they can only be found onnd. I really cannot perceive a need in challenging the ocean. The only people with some development in the oceans is the Typhon Empire, but they¡¯ve only found some magic materials in ces close to the sea¡­¡± Upon hearing her, Gawain could not help but frown as he nced at Heidi. ¡°You really think that there are no riches in the ocean?¡± ¡°Riches in the ocean?¡± Heidi faltered. ¡°Humans are creatures that live onnd. What riches that are useful to us could there be in the oceans?¡± Gawain watched Heidi, he was really tempted to give her some really fervent and moving insight and education, but he soon realized that this preaching would do almost nothing for Heidi whose knowledge and outlook were limited. Hence, he could only sigh at the end. ¡°You will understand one day. This continent is really too cramped for humans who¡¯ve had their minds¡¯ enlightenment. ¡ª¡ªForget everything else. We don¡¯t even have a ce to hide when a Dark Wavees.¡± A Dark Wavees¡­ No ce to hide¡­ Thisment immediately struck Heidi a little, but just as she wanted to question on, Gawain had already mentioned another matter. ¡°Let¡¯s put these aside for now. Heidi, I want you to help me gather some book materials.¡± ¡°Is it still information about the basic spells and spellcasting theories of every faction?¡± Heidi asked instinctively. Materials of this aspect were what Gawain asked her to gather most often. However, Gawain¡¯s answer had her very surprised. ¡°No, it¡¯s about my life biography.¡± ¡°About your¡­ life biography?¡± Heidi blinked confusedly. This request was really strange. In the entire world, it was probably only this ancestor of hers, who was once dead and then suddenly sprang to life, who coulde up with it. ¡°What form of it are you referring to? The heroes¡¯ biography published officially by the kingdom?¡± ¡°Not only those, I also want the various editions circted among the people. I want any kind that describes my life.¡± It really wasn¡¯t convenient for Gawain to exin to her that he wanted to search for clues about the secret voyage that did happen but had disappeared from Gawain Cecil¡¯s memories. Hence, he could onlye up with such a sweeping request. ¡°Even if it¡¯s unofficial history, someone¡¯s rambling, or even absurd stories that vigers use to scare children, I want them all.¡± Heidi¡¯s expression became odd. ¡°What do you want these things for?¡± Gawain had just wanted to make up a reason ¡ª such as being interested in the changes in thoughts of people through 700 years and whatnot ¡ª when an Amber suddenly jumped out of the shadows beside him. And this Amber was still bbering, ¡°He¡¯s probably too idle and wants to check out which critic wants to sh*t on him¡­ Either that, or he wants to see how everyone praises him and then secretly feel happy about it¡­¡± In the instant Amber leaped out of the shadows, Heidi had lifted her staff with ease and went into the starting position of Wild Geese Descending On Sand[2]. However, Miss Half-Elf had also learned her lesson after being struck the previous time. After she was done with her nonsense, she immediately jumped behind Gawain, using thetter as a shield in front of her. She even poked out half her head and taunted, ¡°Rua¡ª¡ªI don¡¯t believe you would strike at your ancestor¡ª Damn, damn, it hurts!!¡± Before she could finish the rest of her sentence, she was dragged out by Gawain holding onto her ear. Gawain was even especially curious as he pulled. ¡°What were you thinking? Hiding behind the person for safety after making up things to scorn him. Would I not hit you?¡± ¡°Oh damn, I was wrong, wrong, wrong!¡± Amber was almost scurrying and hopping. ¡°My ear is going to cramp, my ear is going to cramp!¡± As a result, the tent was filled with a merry atmosphere¡­ A few days after the messenger was dispatched, a letter in reply from Viscount Victor Kant was sent to the territory of the Cecil n. The old Viscount expressed utmost eagerness with regards to Gawain¡¯s desire to call on him and graciously invited Gawain to visit the old castle and manor that the Kant n took pride in. Thus, on the second day after the messenger returned, Gawain, who had long been prepared, set out on his journey to the Kant territory. He departed in one carriage and intentionally didn¡¯t bring more attendants. Other than the groom who drove the carriage, he only brought Amber, who held the post of his personal bodyguard, as well as Sir Philip, who¡¯d just escorted refugees back to the territory quite recently. When the silhouettes of the small towns and viges at the fringes of the Kant territory appeared at the end of the road, the sky gradually turned overcast. Cold wet winds and the smell of soil swept across the ground, the winds carrying the signal that rain was toe. It seemed that at the end of this Frost Month, before Fog Month arrived, thisnd was about to wee a generous rainfall. After this rain, the Anzu Kingdom¡¯s brief autumn would be over. Next would be the endless winter of this northern kingdom. First, it was the 60-day-long, foggy, wet, and cold Fog Month, then, the 60-day-long Cold Month. Kingdom-wide snow would intermittentlyst till Revival Month came. Even the ¡®southern borders¡¯ where the Cecil territory was located would be covered in frost and snow. After all, the entire Anzu Kingdom was in the north of the continent. It was unknown whether the refugees in the wilderness would be able to arrive at the Cecil territory for shelter in time before the coldest days arrived; it was unknown if the territory¡¯s Winter Development n would be achieved ording to expectations; it was an unknown whether Anzu and the Typhon Empire would go to war this winter. Gawain pulled open the panel on the side of the carriage. In the gradually overcast and darkening sky, he could already see the Kants¡¯ old castle towering on a hill in the side-front. That ancient stone architecture rose high up; several dark spires pointed right at the sky full of storm clouds. And on the vast ground beneath the castle were row upon row of town buildings. At present, the night and dark clouds arrived at the same time. The darkening of the skies in advance caused scattered lights to gradually light up the town. Gawain carefully counted the number of those lights, as well as their distribution, estimating the rich and poor and order of thisnd. There were more lights than expected, and they could be seen everywhere in the town. A drop of rain ntingly passed through the open panel of the carriage andnded on Gawain¡¯s face. At the same, there was also a bleak cold wind that cut in. In a corner of the carriage, Amber pulled at the nket tucked around her with force and muttered drowsily, ¡°Gawain, close the window¡­¡± Gawain smiled and put the panel down. The pelting sounds of raindrops that gradually became denser were already sounding from the top of the carriage shed made of waterproof wood. The carriage sped through the Kant territory¡¯s fertile and already harvested farnd. In the direction where the carriage came from, the road leading to the outside of the territory was slowly shaded by the curtain of rain, bing a blurry scene, unable to be made out¡­ [1] Ground-effect vehicle (GEV) ¨C a vehicle designed to attain flight over a level surface, usually the sea, by making use of ground effect, the increased lift and aerodynamic drag that the wings generate when close to a fixed surface [2] Wild Geese Descending On Sand ¨C a famous Chinese zither work Chapter 173 - Restless Winds Chapter 173: Restless Winds The rain began to get heavy. Cold air currents brought even colder rain. ording to the weather of this region in past years, this could perhaps be thest rainfall before snow came. And the Kant territory had always been the area of the entire south where rain was most plentiful. It was no exception right now. The raindrops had connected to form rain curtains, hanging nted from the sky with the wind, sshing in the wilderness, sshing in the town, sshing on the outer walls of the Kant n¡¯s old castle. Rainwater gathered to form little streams running down the dark red spires and ck outer walls that were mottled and uneven due to the corrosion of time and present a ck-oil-like shining texture in the increasingly dimming daylight. However, the castle¡¯s thick outer walls kept the sounds of the wind and rain outside behind them and also blocked out the frigid air that was unceasingly getting stronger. In the lobby of the old castle, magic crystalmps shed light in all the corners; the situation where there would be looming shadows even when the ce was filled with lights had vanished for some reason. Right now, the entire castle was brightly lit under the illumination of magic crystalmps. Add to that, with zing fireces and firepans everywhere, the whole n castle was filled with the air of light and warmth. Servants were all over the ce working hard to wipe the tables and chairs,mp holders and statues, making all these objects that carried the history and glory of the n shine under the light. They discussed the weather outside that was getting colder and colder, discussed the harvests of the territory¡¯s crops and herbs, and discussed the distinguished guest that the Viscount was going to host today. ¡ª¡ª Cleaning had begun in the entire castle two days ago; everything took on a new look. The guest was someone extraordinary. Then, they saw the old butler of the castle Mr. Carter, who was getting on in years but still strong in his legs, hastily run down the staircase of the hall. There were also the supervisors of the maidservants and manservants following behind him; they sped through the whole hall like a burst of wind towards the front doors. The maidservant supervisor was shouting at those clumsy maidservants at the same time, ¡°Quickly put the pails away!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t leave the rags on the tabletop.¡± ¡°Silly girl, quickly return to the kitchen! We cannot let the Duke see a lowly maidservant wearing a dirty dress standing in the hall, do you understand?!¡± ¡°Everyone back to your positions! The guest is here!¡± Viscount Victor Kant walked down the staircase from the second level. Right as the butler was about to touch the front door, he happened to stand still in the spot in the middle of the hall. This spot allowed him to spread open his arms to wee the esteemed guest from the perfect distance. It wouldn¡¯t leave the guest awkward from waiting too long; neither would it make the owner of the castle seem eager like a lowly servant. The old butler arrived at the doors. He pulled out his handkerchief and carefully cleaned his hands while silently counting the time in his heart, estimating when the knocking would sound ording to the time the tower guards delivered the news as well as his own movement speed. When he silently counted till 30, there was a knock on the front door. They couldn¡¯t make an esteemed guest like the Duke knock a second time ¡ª¡ª even if the person knocking was only the Duke¡¯s groom or guard. However, he couldn¡¯t open the door immediately either; this would be indecorous. Therefore, Carter silently counted to three, and before the second knocking could sound, he ordered the soldiers standing on the sides of the door to pull the gear. The extremely heavy ¡®front door¡¯ that could withstand 82 strikes from the battering ram opened under the force of hinges and gear trains. The heavy creaking sound seemed to carry the Kant n¡¯s 300 years of prestige. And a person with 700 years of prestige walked through the doors, the freezing wind and rain blowing into the hall behind him. Immediately, there were servantsing forth to take the cloak or hat that the guests removed, and the handymen running out to take over the carriage stopped outside. Gawain walked into the Kant castle¡¯s main hall with Amber and Sir Philip. He saw an old aristocrat wearing a dark red long jacket with hair that was almost fully white and with lots of speckles on his face walking towards him with both arms wide open. This Viscount Victor Kant was a little older than he had imagined, but his legs and feet were clearly still fine. ¡°Ah, today this castle weed its most distinguished guest ever, a living legend!¡± Viscount Kant said aloud. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to have you arrive in such terrible weather. ¡ª¡ªIf only I had the spells to control climate phenomena.¡± ¡°Actually, I really like rainy weather.¡± Gawain did not ept the Viscount¡¯s hug and only shook hands with him. This wasn¡¯t aloofness but the rule when a higher-ranking noble met with a lower-ranking noble ¡ª¡ª the lower-ranking noble had to express a certain level of enthusiasm and respect, but unless the two were in a definite subordinate-superior rtionship, the higher ranking noble did not need to ept it; only, he still ought to return a certain level of courtesy. These messy conventions were utterly troublesome to Gawain, but abiding by it now wouldn¡¯t make him lose a piece of flesh. ¡°I already saw the Kant territory¡¯s fertilend before the rain came. After the rain fell, I saw pretty good rainy scenery. It was rather worth it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s best that you¡¯re pleased.¡± Victor Kant smiled, his smile gentle and calm, like an old gentleman with a good upbringing who couldn¡¯t be more normal. ¡°I¡¯ve prepared a wee dinner for you. It is in the dining room behind this hall.¡± Amber had been standing behind Gawain with her head down the whole time. She was not very used to such a serious, proper asion of sheer aristocratic elegance, so she kept quiet for once. However, upon hearing about ¡®eating¡¯, her ears still betrayed her. The pair of sharp ears that were derived from the elven bloodline immediately started trembling, turning here and there on her head like radar, as if searching for more information to do with ¡®eating¡¯. Meanwhile, Gawain agreed with a smile while secretly examining the appearance of this old Viscount in front of him. Old, but still healthy. An easy smile, a warm temperament with some breeziness. Not the slightest hint of an aura rted to a heretic cult believer could be seen on him. But this could not be the basis of judgment. He smiled. After epting the old Viscount¡¯s invitation to the banquet, he led Amber and Sir Philip to walk into the depths of the Kant castle. ¡­¡­ At the same time, in the Silver Castle in the city of St. Soniel, the old King, Francis II, was reading the secret letters in front of him with a frown. These secret letters came from the ¡®aristocrats of the King¡¯s party¡¯ who had their titles directly conferred by the King ced throughout the kingdom. There were also such people around the territories of the three border dukes, or to put it more directly, they were simply ¡®spies¡¯. Such a system that was inherited from the founding king had been perpetuated for 700 years. It was an important tool for the Anzu royal family¡¯s control over the entire kingdom. The Fog Month internal conflict as well as the Second Dynasty¡¯s ¡®illegitimate-child weak spot¡¯ had once rendered this system useless. However, after a hundred years of reestablishment, especially when the few Dukes sessivelypromised for the stability of the kingdom, this intelligencework that belonged to the King still operated as effectively as it did during the First Dynasty. The majority of the aristocrats whose titles were directly conferred by the King were located in the south; only a small group of them were distributed in other ces in the kingdom. Usually, the secret letters sent back by these spies reported the situations at their respectivends. Those situations were poles apart with essentially nothing inmon. However, the secret letters that came recently showed a trend that had Francis II vaguely uneasy¡ª¡ª There were more and more reports about various dark sects being active, and these numbers were growing everywhere in the kingdom. Although, till today, these additional reports only took up less than 10% of the entire kingdom¡¯s, they had be so widespread. This was enough to make the old King concerned. Anzu indeed had a decadent system, but its Kings were essentially all clever people. At present, before him was a secret letter from the southern borders¡¯ Viscount Andrew Leslie. The content of this letter was even graver than the reported situations from the other aristocrats elsewhere: A heretic cult believer from the Oblivion Association appeared in Tanzan Town. The heretic cult believer had sneaked in on one asion and controlled part of the staff using sorcery. Fortunately, Duke Gawain Cecil sent assistance. The Duke eradicated the heretic cult believer lurking on thisnd. The old King wouldn¡¯t know that Viscount Andrew Leslie had already concealed many truths in this secret letter ¡ª for example, the Eternal Stone te that hadnded in Gawain¡¯s hands, as well as details of himself being controlled by the heretic cult believer. Moreover, he had consciously reduced the criticality of the entire matter greatly. ¡ª¡ªBut despite doing so, the information revealed in the secret letter was still enough to terrify the old King. Heretic cult believers who only dared to move in the dark had actually dared to directly invade an aristocrat¡¯s abode! Once upon a time, whether they had offered living humans in sacrificial ceremonies or used the remains of dead people for rituals, it wouldn¡¯t really make the aristocrats nervous. It was because those deeds had been done to ¡®lowlymoners¡¯. Those heretic cult believers seemed to be very good atplying with the bottom line of the game and had never reached their hands into the aristocrat hierarchy, but now¡­ things had changed. It had to happen at such a time when rtions between Anzu and the Typhon Empire was most tense. Initially, Francis II had slightly heaved a sigh of relief when he learned that the Typhon Empire would not start a war during this winter and believed that he could make use of this opportunity to further strengthen the border armaments toy a good foundation for war. Yet now he suddenly felt that those heretic cult believers probably didn¡¯t want him to have this margin. Just as the old King had his brows knitted in anxiety, a genial and warm feeling suddenly filled the whole room. He looked up in slight surprise and saw Veronica who was dressed in white priest robes walk into the room. This ¡®Saint Princess¡¯ walked towards her own father with a smile and some coyness. ¡°Father, I asked Lord Eden. He said you were still in the study.¡± ¡°Veronica, my daughter¡­ Why are you here today?¡± Francis II looked at Veronica, slightly surprised. Although this daughter of his still retained her identity as a princess, she was an officially converted believer of the God of Holy Light. She spent most of her time in the Cathedral of the Holy Light and rarely returned to the Silver Castle. ¡°Have you forgotten? Today is the day I leave the cathedral ande to the castle to visit you,¡± Veronica said with a smile. She drew the emblem of the God of Holy Light before her chest. ¡°While serving The Lord, we cannot forget to look after our parents. This is the doctrine of the Holy Light.¡± ¡°Look at this head of mine.¡± The old King could not help but tap his own forehead. ¡°I got the day wrong!¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright. The heavy load of the kingdom weighs on you. Your responsibilities as King ought toe first,¡± Veronica reassured; at the same time, she noticed Francis II¡¯s exhausted look. She lifted her hand to summon a streak of Holy Light and used theurgies to relieve her father¡¯s stress. ¡°Father, has something happened?¡± Francis II sighed. ¡°Heretic cult believers, Oblivion Association, Eternal Sleepers, and small sects like the ck Stone Sect, Pursuers of the Abyss¡­ No idea what came over them. Every one of them is starting to cause trouble in these days before winter.¡± Upon hearing the three words ¡®heretic cult believer¡¯, as a devout believer of the Holy Light, Veronica immediately couldn¡¯t resist frowning. ¡°May the Holy Light be the salvation of those pitiful people assaulted by those thugs¡­ Heretic cult believers are always spreading everywhere. Regrettably, other than the Church of Holy Light and Sect of the God of War, the theurgies of other sects are too powerless against the sorceries of those heretic cult believers.¡± Francis sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Those followers of evil won¡¯t dare to make trouble in the capital.¡± Veronica nced at those secret letters carrying special marks that came from all over the kingdom. She crossed her hands and ced them on her chest, sincerely saying, ¡°The Holy Light will protect Anzu.¡± Chapter 174 - Lilith Kants Visit Chapter 174: Lilith Kant¡¯s Visit As he had scheduled to be a guest at the Kant territory for a few days, after a rather sumptuous wee feast, Viscount Victor Kant arranged amodation for Gawain and his apanying personnel. The feeling that this old castle brought to Gawain wasn¡¯t particrly good. Although its interior was filled with light and warmth ¡ª the magic crystalmps that could be seen everywhere and the doors, windows, tables, and chairs that had been cleaned up to look like new ¡ª all dispelled the gloom brought by the arrival of night, but unpleasant feelings still continuously emerged in Gawain¡¯s heart. It was as if he could see the underlying appearance of this castle through those shining windows and painted white walls. ¡ª¡ª Behind those polished covers was ck, icy cold stone; it was full of slimy moss and cracks in all directions, as well as the shadows and germs that bred ceaselessly in those humid cracks. After a brief conversation with Victor Kant, Gawain returned to his own room with the excuse of needing to rest first after his journey. This was a room specially set up for distinguished guests. There was a warm firece and furnishings as simrly magnificent as the bedroom of the owner of the castle. The two rooms to the left and right of his were Amber¡¯s and Sir Philip¡¯s guest rooms respectively. Opposite their rooms, there was also a lounge where guests could y chess and enjoy some entertainment as well as a ce specially set up for tea sampling and reading. The rain outside the windows was still pouring and showed signs of bing ever more violent with the winds. Gawain went to the window, watching the Kants¡¯ old castle in the rainy night through this expensive man-made crystal. Wriggly streams of water formed traces that constantly changed on the windowpane, which also made the scenery outside blurry and distorted. And in this fuzzy and distorted visual field, he could see several towers of the Kant castle standing in the night. There were a few windows with lights lit at the base level of those towers, vaguely depicting the outline of the structure, but their upper portions were a sea of ck, almost blending into this dark night. Gawain carefully observed those towers while frowning. After he focused, he suddenly saw an obvious crevice appear in the middle section of one of the towers. That crevice seemed to squirm and grow in the dark, swiftly extending to the entire upper section of the tower. They broadened bit by bit, and a blood-like glow leaked from the cracks. ¡ª¡ª The tallest tower appeared to be in tatters amidst these bloody cracks and copsed little by little in a slow-motion manner; there were even exmations and yells mingled in all that. Gawain promptly sobered up. The moans of the wind and patter of the rain entered the room through the window again. He saw that the tall tower opposite was back to being intact once more: the copse and shouts earlier vanished like they¡¯d been a dream. However, Gawain wouldn¡¯t really take them as hallucinations. He immediately frowned, uncertainty breeding in his mind. ¡°There¡¯s arge-scale illusion in the castle?¡± Light footsteps suddenly came from outside the room; they seemed to be heading toward this room. Gawain swiftly sorted out his expression as if nothing had happened. He only walked over to open the door when knocks sounded. The door was opened. Ady, seemingly 30 years of age, dressed in a white long dress with antern in hand stood outside the door. Thisdy had xen hair, while herplexion seemed to be especially pale from being sick and weak. She stood there cautiously, seemingly some hint of reservation and nervousness as she looked at Gawain. Gawain stolidly examined her with a nce and then revealed a curious look. ¡°Madam?¡± ¡°Hello, may I ask if you are Duke Gawain Cecil?¡± Thedy at the door asked in a very low voice as if she would be breathless if she spoke a little louder. Gawain nodded. ¡°I am Gawain Cecil. Who are you, Madam?¡± ¡°Victor Kant is my husband,¡± this sicklydy who looked to be only around thirty years of age replied softly. Although her voice was very soft, there was still the elegance that an aristocratdy ought to possess in her tone. ¡°I am thedy of this castle. My name is Lilith Kant.¡± ¡°Viscountess?¡± Gawain looked at the other party in fair surprise. He didn¡¯t expect that Viscount Kant who appeared to be already older than dirt to actually have such a young and pretty wife, but at the thought of the aristocrats¡¯ ¡®conventions¡¯, his surprise didn¡¯tst for too long. Instead, he was only curious why he hadn¡¯t seen her at the banquet earlier, nor had he heard the old Viscount mention her. ¡°You didn¡¯t attend the banquet earlier?¡± ¡°My body is weak. My illness left me with no way of dining together with many people. Neither am I able toe out to wee guests in the day,¡± Lilith Kant said apologetically. ¡°I knew you would be visiting the castle, but my husband insisted I rested till the night before stepping out. ¡ª¡ªNow that my spirits are better, he let mee greet the guest.¡± Following that, she hung thentern she held on the hook beside the door and bent slightly to give her greetings. ¡°Wee, Duke Gawain Cecil, and I also ask that you forgive me for being unable to fulfill my duties as thedy of this territory earlier.¡± ¡°Ah, it¡¯s alright.¡± All sorts of guesses and suspicions leaped out one after another in Gawain¡¯s mind, but the expression on his face remained very indifferent. ¡°Are you only able toe out and move about at night? Oh, I know a little about medicine. It might be of help to your health.¡± Lilith Kant revealed a pale smile. ¡°My husband got the best apothecary for me. Only my frailness is not only due to my illness but also because of my natural constitution. This is something that medication cannot cure. But I¡¯m still very thankful for your concern, Duke.¡± Gawain had no intention of inviting the Viscountess before him into his room. As she was calling on him alone, such an invitation would be discourteous ¡ª¡ª even if this was the Kant n¡¯s castle. He only stood at the door and made some small talk with her for a while; then thisdy took her leave. And only after she left did Gawain¡¯s gaze instantly turn fierce. Thatntern in her hand! That was the magtern that Gawain had seen serving as the center of a ritual in the basement of the Kant n¡¯s castle in the dream realm. It was precisely thentern that Gawain Cecil had gifted to the then Dream Bishop, Selena Gerfen, 700 years ago! However, Gawain did not point it out then and there, nor did he take any action. This was because he hadn¡¯t sensed any fluctuations of magical power from thatntern. This meant that thentern was ¡®fake¡¯ ¡ª¡ª it was either a counterfeit or thentern had been reformed using magic, its true core of power still hibernating somewhere in this castle. And acting rashly in such a situation would highly likely only make things worse. At this time, a voiceing from his side interrupted Gawain¡¯s thinking. ¡°Eh? Old¡ª Gawain, why are you standing at the door?¡± The door next door was pushed open; half of Amber¡¯s head poked out from the door frame. She was staring curiously at him. And she didn¡¯t wait for Gawain¡¯s response. She promptly stuck out her arm animatedly and waved it, a set of paper cards in hand. ¡°I found a set of ¡®King¡¯s deck¡¯ in the room! Get the poker face next door over, and the three of us can y cards!¡± ¡°I was intending to get the two of you here, but it isn¡¯t to y cards.¡± Gawain nced resignedly at this half-elf and then knocked on Philip¡¯s door. When he had gathered everyone in his room, Gawain spoke about thedy who¡¯d visited earlier. ¡°I met Victor Kant¡¯s wife, Lilith Kant, just now. There seemed to be something very fishy about her¡­¡± After listening to Gawain¡¯s description, Amber¡¯s sharp ears immediately quivered. ¡°A man that old took a person who could almost be his granddaughter as his wife? Eek¡ª¡ª You bunch of aristocrats are really shameless.¡± Following that, her thoughts unraveled. ¡°A person with elven blood like me is still better. If I won¡¯t say it, others wouldn¡¯t dare to guess my age. Even if you, this 700-year-old, married me, you can go out and brazenly tell others that we¡¯re actually of the same age¡­¡± The always serious and solemn Sir Philip instantly stared at Amber in horror. The half-elf girl¡¯s thoughtless and full-of-crap way of speaking had this pitiful upright knight in a real spin once more. And Gawain¡¯s response to Amber was a hit on her head. ¡°Proper business!¡± ¡°We¡¯ve never heard of the existence of such a ¡®Viscountess¡¯,¡± Sir Philip said solemnly. ¡°That Viscount Victor Kant didn¡¯t mention her either. This is very unusual ¡ª¡ª even if the Viscountess is unable to receive visitors due to being sickly, it¡¯s unlikely that the Viscount wouldn¡¯t even mention her at all, right? Moreover, there are so many manservants and maidservants in the castle. Not one of them spoke in private about having a mistress here¡­ This is too odd.¡± ¡°If we were to put it another way, I¡¯d chatted with the people in the castle earlier,¡± Amber rubbed her head that had been hit by Gawain as she also joined in the discussion. ¡°Though they didn¡¯t speak of having a mistress in the castle, they mentioned that the old Viscount has a son called Belm. But he¡¯d left the castle at a very young age. It was said that he¡¯d gone traveling in the central region, and it seemed he hadn¡¯t returned for several decades¡­¡± Gawain stroked his chin. ¡°Never returned for several decades? Had he gone traveling, or was he sold away?!¡± Amber rolled her eyes. ¡°Perhaps he¡¯d gone to be a hostage in some big aristocratic n in the central region who had benefits to be exchanged for? Isn¡¯t that the vogue for all of you aristocrats?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t spout nonsense. This wasn¡¯t the trend in our days,¡± Gawain immediately defended solemnly. ¡°In our time, forming alliances relied on one¡¯s self. We didn¡¯t depend on little games like exchanging hostages.¡± Sir Philip instantly wore a look of admiration. ¡°That is what a man of integrity ought to do.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s mainly because the old pigeons who founded the kingdom all had short tempers. At that time, anyone who went back on their words would be beaten up by the entire kingdom¡¯s aristocrats. ¡ª¡ª asionally, when the King had time, the King would personally go do the beating up. As transport wasn¡¯t convenient, everyone took turns. Sometimes, old founding pigeons who dropped in to give a beating woulde one after another sessively for a whole year. Really, no one dared to break any agreements¡­¡± Philip: ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Oh damn, how did the aristocrats who were that straightforward and honest all end up how they are now,¡± Amber really yearned for the era that Gawain had described; associating it to the present time, she shook her head rather regrettably. ¡°In short, the heir of the Kant n, known as Belm, had indeed gone traveling because he often sent letters back. ¡ª¡ª If everything goes well, after that old Viscount Kant dies, Belm Kant would end his travels ande back to inherit the family property.¡± Chapter 175 - Investigation Chapter 175: Investigation The rain stopped the next day, but the sky was still gloomy. The Kant territory was cloaked in permanent dark clouds; thest rain before winter was always reluctant to leave. In theing few days, thisnd would probably still receive multiple medium-scale rainfalls, and such plentiful rain was extremely beneficial for the territory¡¯s specialty ¡ª¡ª magical medicine. The majority of magical medicine grew in winter as well. Although the nts and their roots would appear to be withered and dead, all spellcasters knew these ¡®spiritual nts¡¯ were still being nourished by the magical environment and would revitalize again during Revival Month the next year. And as for how much they could grow in the winter season, a significant portion depended on thest rain before frost and snow arrived. Gawain had breakfast with Viscount Victor Kant in the dining room of the castle. As the Viscountess was unable to receive guests due to her poor health and the Viscount¡¯s only son wasn¡¯t at the territory, there were only the two of them dining at the huge table. Even though the tableware was splendid and the sumptuous food was delicious, such an atmosphere at breakfast had Gawain rather ufortable. He preferred the atmosphere with a crowd surrounding the table, bustling with noise and excitement and not like how it was now, facing an old aristocrat with a long table between them, with a manner of wishing for time dy even when conversing with each other. ¡°I hope you¡¯ve rested well in this old house,¡± Victor Kant cut the bread before him while saying. ¡°This castle is too old. I intend to renovate it again in my remaining years.¡± ¡°It¡¯s veryfortable here, morefortable than I¡¯d imagined,¡± Gawain praised slightly insincerely. ¡°The old castle gives one a sense of security.¡± Victor smiled and looked to Gawain¡¯s side. ¡°Your two personal attendants seemed to have left early in the morning?¡± ¡°They¡¯re not too used to restraints. I had them go get some air in the town. They would instead be morefortable in a rowdy tavern.¡± ¡°Understandable. In fact, I also preferred the taverns over this quiet castle in my younger days.¡± The old Viscount lifted the wine ss in front of him. ¡°Of course, before you, I¡¯m just a junior.¡± Gawain lifted his ss in response and asked casually, ¡°The Viscountess¡¯s health is very worrying. What specifically is she ill with?¡± Victor¡¯s movement inconspicuously paused for a moment; a smile promptly hung on his face. ¡°You¡¯ve already met her?¡± ording to Lilith Kant, it should have been this old Viscount who arranged for her to go greet Gawain, but right now, Victor was acting like it was his first time learning about this! Gawain concealed his psychological changes and maintained a faint smile. ¡°After dinner yesterday, she came to greet me, but she looked really pale.¡± ¡°My pitiful Lilith,¡± Viscount Victor sighed. ¡°Her health has always been no good. She cannot see sunlight, nor can she endure noise, such that she could only stay in the north tower in the long term and onlye out to move about in the night. But she¡¯s a very kind person. My lenient attitude toward my residents is inrge part due to her influence ¡ª¡ª she always urges me to give more consideration to the feelings of people who cannot afford to live in good houses and eat meat, yet her own health has been worsening.¡± Viscount Kant¡¯s benevolence and leniency toward his residents, this was something that Gawain had somewhat found out when he overheard some handymen in the castle chatting yesterday. This was also one aspect which surprised him greatly ¡ª¡ª he¡¯d originally, with a preconceived idea, judged that Victor Kant was very possibly a heretic with the Eternal Sleepers, or at least already bewitched and controlled by that heretic cult believer. Only for that reason would hemit something like capturing refugees for evil rituals, but he never would¡¯ve expected that all the talk he¡¯d heard after entering the Kant territory would be praises for this old feudal lord! He could not determine how much of the chats that he¡¯d heard from the castle¡¯s handymen were truths. At this point, he could only go with the flow and carry on. ¡°Treating the residents well is the responsibility of every feudal lord. Our aim in pioneering this kingdom at the beginning was to protect our people, and not lord over them and act as tyrants.¡± ¡°Yes, unfortunately there are few who still remember this.¡± Victor¡¯s sigh seemed toe from the bottom of his heart. ¡°More and more aristocrats have forgotten what the first time their ancestors raised their swords was for. We were originally a barrier in protecting the civilians, the backing that allowed them to live with peace of mind, the guides that led them to walk towards abundance and warmth, but right now, the majority of aristocrats have grown up in castles and manors. They take the service and worship of others for granted and havepletely forgotten that they should still be responsible¡­ Cough, cough¡­¡± Victor seemed to be slightly agitated from his speech and started coughing involuntarily. When it finally subsided, he let out a long exhale. ¡°I have to spend a lot of time every year inspecting every farm and medicine field in the territory so as to get an exact grasp of the harvests that year and avoid letting the pressures of overly high taxes leave my residents hungry. And I have to spend a lot of energy to go deal with merchants, to ensure that buyers are found for the territory¡¯s surplus of herbs and rations. This way, my residents would get enough money to repair their houses and purchase fuel to get through the winter. However, I am therefore absent from many so-called ¡®upper-ss gatherings¡¯ such that I am treated by those shallow aristocrats of the south as a weird person who dwells in deep seclusion, a mediocre person with bad taste¡­ Sigh.¡± Viscount Victor said a lot in one breath. Only when he was done did he btedly let out an embarrassed smile. ¡°Apologies. I tend to get talkative after getting on in my years, but I think you should be able to understand me ¡ª¡ªbecause I heard that you, too, treat your residents very well.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Gawain lifted his ss with a smile. ¡°This is the duty of every feudal lord.¡± ¡­ At the same time, in the town outside the castle, Amber was holding a cup of ale that was bubbling with foam ¡ª listening to those idle farmers and craftsmen boasting about their boring daily lives, pretending to look interested but nning at heart about how many more cups of ale she had to drink before she could manage to exchange for what she wanted to hear. Farming had already ended; the weather wasn¡¯t suited for any outdoor work; hence, all rich farmers and craftsmen who had some spare money would waste away their idle time in the taverns in town. The Kant territory, like Tanzan Town, was one of the southern borders¡¯ few prosperous territories; civilians living here naturally patronized ces like taverns and casinos more frequently. And for these people, it only took a few cups of ale and some ttery for Amber to milk out all their secrets. For Amber who¡¯d blended herself in such ces growing up, this was a very pleasant process. Especially when she didn¡¯t even have to fork out the money for the ale herself, this feeling was even better. She¡¯d dressed in an outfit that suited her identity ¡ª¡ª ck leather armor and a slightly worn-out cape, together with the dagger at her waist that would pop out from time to time, and the ¡®lucky stone¡¯ tied on her wrist; the image of a vagrant warrior wasplete, and civilians were in awe yet curious about such people, so getting information would be very easy. After three rounds of drinks and enough talk about the farms and ghost stories inside the old residence, Amber felt that it was time to talk about the feudal lord; thus, she looked towards the local cksmith seated at the table with a curious look. ¡°I heard your feudal lord is someone very good at governing the territory. Is that true?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about governing the territory,¡± the cksmith¡¯s breath reeked of booze as he said with a zed look. ¡°But Lord Victor is indeed a great, great person¡­ Burp. With him around, everyone gets to fill their stomachs and be half-full even in the winter. It¡¯s been ten-odd years since anyone has died of starvation in the territory!¡± Further south, there was another ce where civilians not only didn¡¯t starve to death, they could even get to eat meat asionally. Amber muttered to herself but wore admiration on her face. ¡°That¡¯s remarkable!¡± ¡°Exactly, Lord Victor is the most benevolent feudal lord I¡¯ve ever met.¡± Another old drinker took over. ¡°But I heard from the people who deliver vegetables and milk into the castle that the castle is pretty gloomy. There is always a feeling that there was wind leaking in somewhere¡­¡± A slightly chubby tavern maidservant ced the wooden cup before the patron with a thud. ¡°Don¡¯t spout nonsense! The castle isn¡¯t your shabby thatched cottage. Old George, who delivers the vegetables, was most likely drunk and thought he was in the castle when he was feeling the cold winds in the mud pit!¡± This plump maidservant made a joke that wasn¡¯t funny, but it had the whole room roaring inughter. ¡°Then it seems Victor is really a pretty good feudal lord,¡± Ambermented while wagging her head. ¡°Only, I wonder how¡¯s the Viscountess¡ª¡ª¡± Once this was said, the scene strangely went quiet for that one moment. Some people looked at one another; some bowed their heads and drank, while the older people frowned as if something bad hade to mind. Amber immediately realized that there was an inside story; thus, she questioned curiously, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Why are all of you reacting this way?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a foreigner. It¡¯s normal that you don¡¯t know about this,¡± an elderly man who appeared to be the oldest here spoke up. He was probably a wealthyndowner or a retired craftsman; there were rarely elderly among the poor who yet to die of injuries and sickness, and such a person would not only understand civilian life but also have heard about matters of the feudal lord. ¡°The Viscountess¡­ It¡¯s probably been a few decades? When she died¡­¡± ¡°The Viscountess is dead? She died decades ago?!¡± Amber was instantly shocked. ¡°How did she die?¡± ¡°She¡¯s a pitiful woman. The entire incident was especially tragic. That sort of thing shouldn¡¯t have happened to a good person.¡± The old man frowned; he seemed reluctant to say more, but the alcohol made it difficult to control his speech, and a youth beside them who didn¡¯t know the past incident well also urged him to go on. ¡°Sir Sandro, tell the story. I¡¯ve heard people discuss this incident since a young age, but I¡¯ve never learned of theplete story. ¡ª¡ª You¡¯re old, so you should know what exactly happened then.¡± Amber nced at the youth who prompted him with considerable admiration and decided to buy the person a drink using the money Gawain had given her. And this old man who seemed to have gone through the incident then sighed. After taking a mouthful of ale, he slowly said, ¡°That was thirty¡­ about thirty years ago. It could be longer too. It was also during this month of the year, also raining, but the rain was especially heavy, and it had gone on for several days¡­¡± ¡°At that time, Lord Victor was still young. At that time, he was an impartial, benevolent feudal lord just like he is now. Then, he was returning from inspecting the granary in the next town. The Viscountess was with him, and their only son, Young Master Belm. They rushed back in a carriage on the road from the west. Although it was raining heavily, they still set out on the journey¡­ They really ought to have stayed another day in the next town. Sigh.¡± ¡°You can guess without me saying. Such heavy rain, so slippery, a mishap was bound to happen. ¡ª¡ªThe carriage met with an ident at the old hillside. It flipped, slipped, and fell into the mountain creek from the highest point of the hill. The entire carriage was in pieces¡­ A whole night passed, and no one knew the Viscount¡¯s entire family had met with an ident outside until when the sun came up the next day. When the rain stopped, the Viscountess appeared in the town, covered in blood¡­ She¡¯d practically crawled into the town, wounds all over, crying so hard that she almost couldn¡¯t breathe. She said she¡¯d watched the Lord and Young Master get flung out of the carriage before her andnded in unknown spots and told us to quickly go save them. At this point, the old man could not help sob a little, and he drank another mouthful of ale before he could go on. ¡°We escorted the Viscountess back to the castle, then immediately dispatched people to search for the whereabouts of the carriage, the Lord, and Young Master at the old hillside. But for three whole days, other than some blood stains and broken pieces of the carriage, we only found the bodies of the two horses. ¡°The Viscountess bathed her cheeks in tears every day in the castle. Sigh. She was a kind, good person. She¡¯d always cared a lot for the poor people in the territory. Since the day she married here, she would distribute firewood and rye bread to the poor every year, but she encountered such a thing. For three whole days, her husband and son couldn¡¯t be found, so she finally went mad. ording to the handyman who was working in the castle at that time, she locked herself in the room and screamed and shouted. Then she ran to the various dark corners of the castle and spoke to the husband and son in her delusion. Finally, she locked herself in the cer of the castle¡¯s north tower and drank poison there, ending her own agony. ¡°The fourth day, Lord Victor and Young Master Belm returned to the castle, alive. They had not died.¡± Chapter 176 - Pipedream Chapter 176: Pipedream Sir Philip was walking on the edge of the fields, where it was hard to pass through, as it was muddy after being drenched in rainwater. By using the Beyonder¡¯s powerful physical attributes and coordination, he had been moving in this area for some time. This was the field beside the castle, and ording to thews, the field belonged to the feudal lord, and the serfs farming here belonged to the Kant n too. Right now, the harvest was alreadypleted, and the straws were all burnt. The field no longer had any serfs that were busy working. This field was fertile and contained unbelievable magic. Sir Philip was born from a serf family but was a well-bred noble knight; however, this didn¡¯t mean that he didn¡¯t know about agriculture. A low-status noble like the knights would regrly have ties with agriculture. He would have to personally manage his own farm and to personally supervise the farm crops¡¯ harvest and the sowing of the seeds (although the farm had already vanished along with the old Cecil territory with the huge me). As such, he was able to discern the quality of the soil and whether the soil contained enough magic to grow new magic medicine crops. He crouched down beside a piece of farnd and ced his hand above the muddy soil. A thin radiance floated out from the soil and vaporized in between his palm and the soil. The young knight frowned in response. Just as he guessed, the magic didn¡¯te from the soil itself and came from some external source. A certain external factor was influencing the magical bnce of this region, causing a nature-defying phenomenon of rich umtion of magic. Philip stood up and looked at the ancient castle that was situated on the hill and wasn¡¯t far from this ce. He had already inspected many farnds and realized that the closer the farnd was to the castle, the more obvious the umtion of magic. The few patches of soil that were closest to the castle were the ces where magical crops were grown. Without the spells from Druids, it wasn¡¯t easy for ordinary soil to grow magical crops naturally. As humans excavated thend thoroughly, the magic contained in the soul would decline rapidly. If ordinary farnd would need to rest for one year after two years of farming, then farnds that could grow magical crops would need to rest for at least three times as long before recovering. But in the Kant territory, the harvest of magical crops had been steadily increasing, and this was unheard of. It was obvious that the castle was releasing sufficient energy waves to create an umtion of magic. However, yesterday night, when Philip stayed in the castle, he had carefully sensed for but didn¡¯t detect any magical response in the castle. He wasn¡¯t able to sense any evil aura from an evil cult heretic. ¡­ Inside the Kant n¡¯s ancient castle, Gawain was being personally led by Viscount Victor and the old butler Carter on a tour of this structure that had three centuries of history. They had just left a disy room that had a luxurious collection, and when they were walking towards the library, Viscount Victor had a prideful expression as he introduced the history of this structure and also how his n rose to power three centuries ago and how it was maintained until today. However, Viscount Victor was already of a certain age and was much older than Butler Carter. Furthermore, because of a bad fall, he had problems with his body. Halfway through the tour for the guest, his stamina wasn¡¯t able to keep up anymore. The old viscount didn¡¯t have a choice but to express his apologies and ask to be excused, saying that he was returning to his room to rest. Gawain naturally wouldn¡¯t pursue this matter as he could still have a good tour of the ce with Butler Carter as his guide. The spacious and long hallway was now left with Gawain and an aged butler. The duo walked in the hallway that was decorated with tapestry and wallmps while thetter carried out his responsibilities with diligence as he continued the introduction of the castle. Gawain suddenly interrupted him, ¡°Mister Carter, how long have you been serving the Kant n?¡± ¡°Almost fifty years, Your Excellency.¡± The old butler said proudly, ¡°I have been taking care of this n since I was a servant boy.¡± Gawain nodded as he praised, ¡°As an excellent servant, you must understand this ce and the Viscount¡¯s n a lot. The old butler nodded with reservation and said, ¡°Yes, I understand everything here like how I understand my own limbs.¡± ¡°Yesterday night, I saw a tall tower opposite my room window. The tall tower was apanied by a few small towers, and it looked very magnificent in the rainy night.¡± Gawain asked, ¡°What is that tower used for?¡± The old butler¡¯s reserved and prideful face instantly turned stiff before he frowned. ¡°Your Excellency, that is the north tower. Please pardon me for being rude, but I cannot bring you to visit that ce.¡± ¡°North tower?¡± Gawain raised his brows and said, ¡°Ah¡­ When I was having a casual conversation with your master, I heard him mention that the Viscountess is residing in the north tower¡­ I have been rude. But has the Viscountess been residing in that tower for many years? She doesn¡¯t reside in the castle?¡± ¡°Sigh, after madam¡¯s body deteriorated, she has been residing there.¡± The old butler shook his head and said, ¡°She cannot see the light and cannot tolerate noise. The north tower is the ce with the most tranquility in the castle.¡± ¡°I shouldn¡¯t ask about others¡¯ family matters, but I am indeed very curious about this matter.¡± Gawain continued to ask. For such private matters, others might be embarrassed to ask, but as a living martyr from seven centuries ago who revived, he wasn¡¯t embarrassed. ¡°Your Viscountess seems to be much younger than the Viscount.¡± ¡°The Viscountess married over ten years ago.¡± The old butler paused for a moment before responding to Gawain. ¡°Before that¡­¡± While speaking, the old butler revealed a reminiscing expression. ¡°The original Viscountess passed away because of an ident, and the Viscount had been alone for many years. We are happy he could walk out from the horrifying tragedy.¡± Gawain revealed a curious expression. ¡°ident? What kind of ident?¡± ¡°My apologies, Your Excellency. I cannot continue discussing this matter with you.¡± The old butler finally refused to answer. ¡°This isn¡¯t part of my responsibility.¡± Gawain didn¡¯t mind andughed. ¡°It is fine. I am the one that asked too much. Let us continue the tour. I am the most interested in ces like the library.¡± During the evening, Amber and Philip who had been investigating for the entire day had returned to Gawain. ¡°Your Excellency, the soil does have the phenomenon of abnormal magic umtion.¡± Sir Philip gave his report first. ¡°The phenomenon¡¯s core is this castle, but the strange thing is, apart from the umtion of magic, I don¡¯t feel any abnormal magic waves from the castle. I cannot feel any evil aura of evil cult heretics either.¡± ¡°The information that I found out is much scarier than your information.¡± Amber looked at Philip with a proud expression before intentionally lowering her voice and reported to Gawain with a dark and eerie tone, ¡°The people outside said that the Viscountess¡ª¡± Before Amber finished her words, Gawain said, ¡°Should be long dead, right?¡± Amber was suddenly startled and red at Gawain, ¡°You stalked me?!¡± ¡°Just a guess.¡± Gawainughed and said, ¡°Such stories always develop in this manner. Alright, I won¡¯t interrupt you. Continue.¡± Amber curled her lips and felt that the atmosphere that she brewed earlier had been disturbed, but she still obediently reported of the things she found out. ¡°This is a rather sad sob story. A few decades ago¡­¡± When Amber finished saying everything she found out, Sir Philip couldn¡¯t help but press on his chest. ¡°It is truly pitiful¡­ Fate is always unfair to many things.¡± ¡°If the Viscountess perished decades ago, then the person you saw yesterday night must be a ghost! Or it is a ¡®person¡¯ that was ¡®revived¡¯ using a particr method by our friendly Viscount Victor.¡± Amber spoke in an eerie tone, and as she continued talking, she was so frightened that her entire body had goosebumps. ¡°Viscount Victor must be unable to ept the fact that his wife had passed away and was led astray by the evil cult heretics. He then used a sorcery to revive the dead or to summon the soul into a dead body. He must be capturing refugees to maintain the ritual¡­ Stories are always like this! Belch¡­ What a scary story!¡± ¡°You tell a ghost story and scare the daylights out of yourself. If you are timid, then don¡¯t learn from others. And lower your voice.¡± Gawain looked at the disgrace to the elves and shook his head. ¡°That Lilith Kant shouldn¡¯t be a departed spirit.¡± Amber and Philip asked in unison, ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Departed spirits don¡¯t have such a high intelligence, and she doesn¡¯t have any presence that is simr to departed spirits. Most importantly, departed spirits aren¡¯t able to say their own names. That Lilith Kant actually spoke her name clearly. I have also confirmed that the name is real.¡± Gawain spoke slowly, ¡°The various signs indicate that Lilith Kant isn¡¯t a departed spirit.¡± Amber sized up Gawain and said, ¡°It isn¡¯t as convincing when you are the one saying it. Who said that the revived person must be a departed spirit? Aren¡¯t you a living exception that can speak your own name? What if Viscount Victor had also found an incredible shadow grandmaster like me to lift his wife¡¯s coffin¡­¡± Gawain raised his hand to interrupt that elven disgrace¡¯s train-like behavior while saying unhurriedly, ¡°Don¡¯t be in a hurry to speak of your verdict. I have some findings too.¡± ¡°You have some findings?¡± Amber asked, ¡°What did you find?¡± ¡°Today, when I mentioned the Viscountess to the castle¡¯s butler, he didn¡¯t hesitate to respond to the question and said that the Viscountess was married to Victor Kant ten years ago. The previous viscountess had already passed away from an ident.¡± Gawain said leisurely, ¡°At the same time, I had also paid attention to the conversations of the servants in the castle and had also privately spoken with a few of them. I realized that all of them have the same understanding.¡± Philip¡¯s expression turned stern and said, ¡°Yesterday, no one in the castle talked about the ¡®Viscountess¡¯!¡± ¡°Yes, they started talking today, and it wasn¡¯t just a discussion. They had an entire set of understanding towards this ¡®Viscountess¡¯, and the understanding was significantly different from the information Amber had found out from outside the castle!¡± ¡°How is this possible?!¡± Amber was confused. ¡°Who gave them a spiritual hint?¡± ¡°Perhaps it is something simr to a spiritual hint¡­¡± Gawain spoke slowly, ¡°But ording to the Eternal Sleepers¡¯ abilities, I am more inclined to address this as¡­ supplementary setting.¡± ¡°The castle might be entirely enveloped in a giant illusion, and our arrival and activity here have destroyed the integrity of the illusion. The person who created the illusion had no choice but to give it a supplementary setting in order for things to operate normally!¡± Chapter 177 - Light Sleep Chapter 177: Light Sleep The ¡®supplementary setting¡¯ mentioned by Gawain sounded like a fresh term to Amber and Philip, but the exnation of the meaning wasn¡¯tplicated. Gawain took just a few words for the duo to understand the meaning of the term. ¡°It also means that the castle is conducting a theatre show, and each individual in the castle is actually an ¡®actor¡¯ who doesn¡¯t know they are inside a show?¡± Sir Philip spoke of his understanding. ¡°Normally, they are living in a hypnotized state, and due to the long-term spiritual interference, they don¡¯t realize anything is out of sorts in their daily life. But an outsider like us arrived and broke the ¡®logic¡¯ of the theatre show, making the plot no longer fitting to the facts and causing the show to be interrupted. Therefore, the mastermind of the show had no choice but to supplement his ¡®plot¡¯?¡± Amber took a few nces at Philip until the upright and sincere young man felt a chill before she said, ¡°Blech¡­ When you say it like that, I feel like I¡¯ll have even more goosebumps!¡± ¡°Your Excellency, I think we should immediately stop this evil ritual!¡± Philip didn¡¯t bother about Amber and spoke with a stern expression. ¡°The Kant territory probably didn¡¯t just start the capturing of refugees recently. Their hideous behavior might have been conducted in secret for dozens of years! During this period of time, those missing and innocent people that entered this territory must have been sacrificed to maintain the illusion. In order to put the entire castle under the sorcery¡¯s influence, a huge price must be paid!¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Amber disyed a rare proactive attitude. ¡°Every minute and second, people¡¯s lives are being lost!¡± Gawain frowned and looked at the duo. ¡°How do you think we should do it?¡± ¡°If nothing works, simply put everything on the table with the old lord and confront him directly. If he admits it, you will hack him. If he doesn¡¯t admit it, then think of a way for him to admit it, and hack him,¡± Amber urged. ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be anyone who can defeat you in the castle. At that time, you will also go first.¡± Not only Gawain, even Philip was already used to Amber¡¯s style of ¡®it doesn¡¯t matter who goes first, I am not going either way¡¯. He simply looked at the half-elf with contempt before nodding his head. ¡°Your Excellency, without a doubt, Viscount Victor Kant is the mastermind for all this. In the entire Kant territory, he is the only person with the motive and the capability to conduct such evil acts¡­¡± ¡°Victor Kant is the mastermind, huh¡­?¡± Gawain didn¡¯t directly respond to the duo¡¯s suggestion and spoke of his own doubts. ¡°Actually, there is something I don¡¯t understand. Even if the Kant territory doesn¡¯t really contact the outside world, there must be at least two or three visits from guests. Could we be the only ones that caused a loophole in the rge-scale illusion¡¯ at the castle? Didn¡¯t anyone who visited the ce notice it? That Madam Lilith Kant would exit the north tower and would walk around the castle every night. Did none of the servants see her before? If other servants had seen her before, then why didn¡¯t they mention to the people on the territory about ¡®the castle having a living viscountess¡¯ when they left the castle to carry out tasks?¡± Amber frowned in response. ¡°It is easy to exin about the visitors. A normal visitor wouldn¡¯t act like us and go around investigating and asking for information. As for the people in the castle¡­ they are hypnotized, right? Maybe once they leave this castle, their perception and memory would bepletely altered?¡± Seeing that Gawain was still pondering, Amber finally couldn¡¯t help nagging, ¡°If I were you, I wouldn¡¯t hesitate. Something is obviously wrong with that old man. You just have to catch him and beat him up to find out everything!¡± Sir Philip might normally be very inflexible, but his mind functioned better than Amber in such situations. ¡°Are you worried that if we make a wrong judgment, our actions might unsettle the entire southern region¡¯s noble society and cause them to be vignt towards Cecil territory?¡± ¡°Actually, I am not really worried about them as the feudal lords in the southern region didn¡¯t leave any impression.¡± Gawain shook his head and said, ¡°I just feel that we are missing out on something. The entire matter might be pointing at Victor Kant, but¡­ is it really that simple?¡± An evil cult heretic or a noble enticed and controlled by an evil cult heretic would definitely be extremely vignt and crafty, especially when he was conducting a shameful evil ritual. His vignce would be so overwhelming that even if an outsider merely stood in ce, he would be extremely ufortable. But Victor Kant appeared to be excessively at ease and negligent from start to end. Was this purely exceptional acting skills? Or was it because he had ample support? Therefore, he wasn¡¯t afraid of being exposed? Or¡­ was the mastermind that controlled everything not Viscount Kant? Snap¡­ Rumble! A series of giant thunder suddenly echoed in the skies. The sky outside the window was instantly illuminated like daytime. A few secondster, bean-sized rain started dropping down with pitter-patter sounds. The castle¡¯s stony walls and crystal windows were sprinkled with concentrated noise. Subsequently, the curtain of night descended; a new storm had descended on thisnd. Lightning shed and passed through the narrow windows, suddenly lighting up the study. Viscount Victor Kant who sat behind the study table suddenly lifted his head and had a vacant expression. The sh of lightning lit up behind his back and turned him into a bundle of shadows due to the backlighting. His shadows were cast on the opposite side of the study table and onto the nearby old butler, Carter. When the sh of the lightning faded, the study regained its dusky illumination, and the magic crystalmp¡¯s radiance made the room eerie and cryptic again. Everything felt as though it was fuzzy and indistinct. Viscount Victor Kant suddenly spoke without any reason, ¡°Carter, you have served the Kant n for many years.¡± The old butler suddenly walked forward to the front of the study table, or should it be said that he was walking towards the back of the old master. The butler had an indifferent expression and spoke in a low and vague tone, ¡°The intruders have detected the Grade 2 consciousness, and the barrier on the subconscious mind is starting to loosen.¡± Victor Kant could only watch this scene quietly. ¡°Old friend, your devotion has already exceeded your responsibility. I wanted to say thank you to you since a long time ago but wasn¡¯t able to do so. I am very regretful for it¡­¡± The old butler walked around the study table and stood in front of the old master while lowering his head and looked at the person he once swore his allegiance to. ¡°Calction node is currently being threatened. The risk of exposure is more than 50%¡­ Priority will be given to ensuring that the calction node is being concealed.¡± A silver dagger was drawn, and there was a sh of silver light in the dusky room. Subsequently, the dagger drew a small arc and stabbed into the not-considered-healthy but rather-warm chest. The old feudal lord¡¯s body twitched, and a strange sound echoed from his throat. It was unknown when his eyes were covered with dream-like starlight as he looked at Butler Carter¡¯s emotionless face and said softly, ¡°Kant n¡­ thanks you¡­ for your loyalty.¡± The butler released his dagger and allowed the old master¡¯s blood to dye his body. The dark-colored coat and the pure white shirt were dyed with blood. The butler then turned around to open the study room¡¯s door before marching into the hallway. A female servant that was mopping the floor saw the butler walking out from the feudal lord¡¯s study room. She frantically stood properly and prepared to greet the butler, but she immediately saw the old butler¡¯s clothes stained with blood, and also his blood-stained and indifferent face. Butler Carter raised his hand, and a bundle of light-purple and faintly indiscernible energy radiance took form in his hand. ¡°You saw!¡± The young female servant finally couldn¡¯t restrain her fear and screamed, ¡°Ahhh!!!¡± The female servant¡¯s scream instantly resonated throughout the entire floor. Even the rooms on the floor below could hear it clearly. Gawain was still having a discussion in his room with Amber and Philip, and they were interrupted by this scream. From the voice, they could hear intense fear. The trio looked at one another before they rushed out of the room together. The servants that were on duty were alerted as the male and female servants were running over from all ces. Each hallway had moving figures, and when Gawain arrived on the third floor of the castle, there were already plenty of people gathered. The female servant who screamed was on the ground, but she didn¡¯t suffer any physical injuries. She had only temporarily fainted due to the fright, and she quickly woke up after a pail of cold water. She then yelled out, ¡°T¡ªthe butler has been possessed by a devil¡±, ¡°His body was drenched in blood¡±, ¡°He came out from the m¡ªmaster¡¯s room¡± and simr statements that were seemingly insane. After listening to the female servant¡¯s stuttering yells, Gawain quivered for a moment, and a sudden thought shed in his mind. He took a big step forward and looked at that frightened youngdy and asked, ¡°Where did the butler run to?¡± ¡°Tha¡ªthat side!¡± The female servant pointed at the end of the hallway where there was a window that was swaying violently in the wind and rain. ¡°He cast a terrifying spell at me and flew out like a ghost!¡± ¡°Spell?¡± Gawain lowered his head to look at the female servant but couldn¡¯t see any traces of magical damage. He didn¡¯t have time to ponder these things as he turned around and said to Amber, ¡°Go and chase. If you find him, don¡¯t fight and immediately report back!¡± Before Gawain finished his instruction, Amber was already running towards the window, and when she was running, her figure gradually faded while her voice still echoed in the air, ¡°A reward must be given for chasing someone in heavy rain¡­¡± A dark shadow rushed into the rainy night while Gawain turned around and ran in big strides towards the study. Viscount Victor Kant sat upright on the backrest of the chair while a sharp knife was stabbed on his chest. It was spraying out fresh blood that dyed the surface of the table red. The servants who followed Gawain had all eximed after seeing the scene. Philip and Gawain walked over together. The young knight chanted the name of the God of War as he put his hand in between the mouth and nose of the old viscount. Immediately after, he shouted out, ¡°There is still breathing!¡± Gawain had also noticed the position of the dagger. The old Viscount truly had exceptional luck. The position of the dagger might be dangerous, but it was actually blocked by a rib and didn¡¯t pierce the heart! He was currently unconscious due to arge loss of blood, but things would be serious if this carried on. Gawain immediately took out the special healing medicine that Pittman had concocted and activated the Knight skill ¡®Blood Boost¡¯ to temporarily maintain and extend the old Viscount¡¯s life. He then yelled out, ¡°Go and find a healer! A Holy Light Cleric or a Druid!¡± Chapter 178 - Gradually Awakening Chapter 178: Gradually Awakening Gawain couldn¡¯t help butment at the convenience and miraculous effects of healing spells. This world didn¡¯t have any advancement in medicine; they didn¡¯t have any cognition of biological infections, human anatomy, cell biology, and simr things. To themoners, an ordinary wound infection might possibly im a person¡¯s life, but at the same time, the possessors of Holy Light and natural powers were able to use magic to achieve unimaginable ¡®healing¡¯. As long as one could afford the cost, a person who was only left with a dying breath would be able to fully recover in a few minutes and avert death. The Kant territory didn¡¯t have any Druids but had a few Holy Light Clerics, and one of them would live in the castle¡¯s chapel for the entire year. He was also the feudal lord¡¯s religious advisor and also had the responsibility to maintain the health of the feudal lord. After receiving the servant¡¯s timely notification, the Holy Light Cleric arrived at Victor Kant¡¯s study room in a short time. The Cleric then used Holy Light spells to rescue the old viscount who was on the verge of death. Gawain stood by the side and observed the busy work of that Cleric. The Druid medicine had already replenished the urgently required vitality for Victor Kant; the Knight¡¯s ¡®Blood Boost¡¯ had supported this vitality and rapidly replenished this viscount¡¯s loss of blood. Right now, the healing Holy Light had covered up the wound. The Cleric then prayed sincerely as he carefully grasped the hilt of the dagger before calling out the name of the God of Holy Light and rapidly pulled out the weapon. The Holy Light immediately surged and allowed the wound to rapidly close up while nursing the damaged flesh and bones inside the wound. During the entire process, the Holy Light Cleric constantly prayed to the God of Holy Light to ensure that the healing effects on the Viscount didn¡¯t stop midway. Gawain nodded silently and thought he had finally seen a normal Holy Light Cleric. How could a Cleric actually obtain the skills of Shoryu Bone Setting and the One-inch Sober Fist?[1] The healing process was probably going tost for a period of time. While the servants gathered around their master, Gawain started to look around and conducted his own inspection of every corner in the study room. No one had any suspicion of his behavior as the servants assumed that the Duke was actually inspecting the murder scene. Butler Carter who might have possibly stopped Gawain had already be the guilty party and had fled this ce. Gawain¡¯s vision was shifting around this sealed-up study before he frowned. This ce wasn¡¯t suitable to be a study. It might be on a high level in the castle, but it was an environment with rather bad lighting. The ancient castle¡¯s narrow and unfitting windows were especially prominent as the entire room only had one narrow window. Even during the brightest time of the day, it was hard for the room to have plenty of illumination. The magic crystalmps that were embedded in the walls had an obvious problem. Even though themps were lit up, the room was enveloped in a hazy and dusky atmosphere. No, it might not be a problem with the magic crystalmps¡­ Gawain¡¯s line of sight fell on one of themps. Themp¡¯s light was actually very bright, but the radiance seemed to be restrained by some force; therefore, it was unable to illuminate the room. The friendly and cheerful Viscount Victor would normally work in such an eerie study? Gawain arrived at the side of the room where there was a massive bookshelf leaning against the wall. It was filled with a huge quantity of exquisite books with thick covers that were arranged neatly and orderly. Many of the books¡¯ spines were iid with golden or silver ornaments, which was the ssic trait of a noble¡¯s book collection. In Gawain¡¯s opinion, it had multiple functions. The book could be read when it was required for the intellectual contents, and it could also be used to smash someone when required for defense. If the n declined, the gold on the book covers could be used as funds to rebuild the n. Apart from the fact that the books might fall off the shelf and cause paralysis when reading, these heavy and exquisite books were simply the example of ¡®knowledge is power and money¡¯. In reality, this era had plenty of books that were heavy and exquisite. They were originally ¡®luxury goods¡¯ that the wealthy could possess. Sometimes, the number of books in a castle¡¯s collection would directly reveal the foundation and wealth of a noble even if they could hardly read the books in a single lifetime. But Viscount Kant obviously wasn¡¯t collecting these books to hold up his reputation. Most of the books¡¯ covers were already worn and deformed to a certain degree. This was a sign that it had been frequently flipped through. Some of the book covers even had the marks of repair that was done with glue, leather, and golden or silver leaves. This was a behavior that would only be seen in book lovers. However, when Gawain looked through the books, he noticed that the marks of repair seemed to have been done a long time ago, and those golden or silver leaves had already changed in color. The leather pasted on it would also have many abrasions, and there wasn¡¯t a single book on the shelf that was even slightly new. It seemed that at some time, Viscount Victor Kant seemed to have lost interest in these ¡®ordinary books¡¯? Then what was he reading? The sorcery books that were given by the Eternal Sleepers? Gawain then turned to a small table behind the study table. The table was stacked with some documents and files that were not being used for the moment. Gawain¡¯s eyes were suddenly attracted by an unfolded piece of paper. On it were some careless writings of recent transactions, and they seemed to be raw data that weren¡¯t recorded into the ounts in time. Among the list, there was a particrly prominent record, and it was the remuneration for a certain mercenary group and the deposit for the next operation. Under the contents for the job, it was written with ¡®collection of raw material¡¯. Was this a record of the hiring of mercenaries to capture refugees? Evidence? Gawain frowned, and just as he was walking closer to the piece of paper, he suddenly heard amotion from the servants at the back. Additional radiance entered this slightly dusky room. Gawain turned around and was rather surprised to see that Viscountess Lilith Kant was standing at the entrance. The sickly madam was so skinny that she was like a shadow. She was holding onto a portablemp that she probably used to run from the north tower all the way here. Her eyes were widened as she saw everyone crowding around Victor Kant, while her face was filled with fear and astonishment. ¡°What happened!?¡± Lilith eximed before she stuttered. ¡°Who¡ªwho can tell me¡­ Victor, he¡­ What happened?!¡± ¡°Madam, Madam, please don¡¯t be rmed. My lord is fine.¡± The Holy Light Cleric quickly stood up and said, ¡°Thank the God of Holy Light¡¯s blessings. My lord merely suffered a physical wound and is only unconscious due to shock. Duke Gawain fed my lord with medicine promptly, and with my healing spell, my lord is now safe.¡± While speaking, the Holy Light Cleric raised his hand and attempted to summon a ray of Holy Light to pacify the madam¡¯s fright. But Lilith Kant simply ignored the Cleric and staggered as she ran to Victor¡¯s side. She checked to see that Victor was indeed breathing before she let out a breath of relief and looked at Gawain. ¡°Thank you¡­ Thank you for saving him.¡± ¡°It is something I should do.¡± Gawain nodded slightly before looking at the surrounding servants. ¡°It is too congested here. Your master needs fresh air. Apart from the personal servants, the rest of you are dismissed.¡± Gawain wasn¡¯t the master of this castle, but when he gave the instructions, no one opposed. Most of the servants left the room immediately, and after ensuring that the healing spell had already taken effect and that the Viscount didn¡¯t require any more spells, the Holy Light Cleric had also dismissed himself. Viscount Kant¡¯s wound had already healed. A high-ranked male servant was wiping the blood off the Viscount¡¯s body, while the viscount gradually awakened. His line of sight focused for a moment before he clearly saw the situation in the room. He saw Gawain first and was stunned for a moment. Immediately after, he saw Lilith who stood in front of him and immediately got nervous. ¡°My love! Why are you here?!¡± ¡°I¡­ I heard that something happened in the castle¡­¡± Lilith Kant appeared to be rather nervous as she said, ¡°Then I ran over to see you¡­¡± ¡°I am fine.¡± Viscount Kant used some effort to wave his hand as an indication for the personal servants to be dismissed. He then attempted to stand up in a weak manner but failed after trying his best. Lilith immediately stepped forward to support him, but he grabbed Lilith¡¯s arm and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry. Instead, I am very worried that you are here.¡± ¡°I¡ªI am okay.¡± The viscountess spoke frantically and turned to nod at Gawain. ¡°The Duke rescued you in time and even called for the Cleric. My love, what exactly happened?¡± ¡°Thank you for helping.¡± Victor Kant immediately thanked Gawain and frowned while he slowly inhaled. His wound had recovered, but the pain of the dagger that was stabbed into his chest seemed to be lingering at his heart and lungs. ¡°It¡¯s Carter. Carter suddenly attacked me, and I was stunned. He seemed to have changed into apletely different person, and when he stabbed me, he was also saying something strange. Saying that the castle has an intruder and that something must be protected¡­ I am nowpletely at a loss!¡± Immediately after, the Viscount suddenly recalled something. ¡°That¡¯s right. Carter¡­ Where did he run to? Did he attack anyone else?¡± Just as Gawain wanted to reply, a shadow suddenly took form in the study. Amber¡¯s voice echoed from the shadows. ¡°He escaped.¡± When the half-elf youngdy appeared, her body was almostpletely drenched by the rain. Her long ears shook in the air (probably to shake off the water?) before she turned to look at Gawain. ¡°That old butler definitely isn¡¯t a normal person! I saw him running on the top of the castle, and it looked like he was flying. His figure would vanish for a moment before reappearing. I used Shadow Walk but was still unable to catch up to him¡­ I pursued him to the stables at the back of the castle, but he vanished without a trace, and I couldn¡¯t find him anymore.¡± Gawain was shocked. ¡°There is someone that you cannot trace?¡± ¡°Yes, that person is at least a half-god.¡± Amber spoke with confidence, ¡°I am the Goddess of Night¡¯s chosen one after all¡­¡± Gawain treated it as though he didn¡¯t hear the statement. ¡°He escaped and will probably be a threat.¡± Gawain looked at the Viscount and Viscountess and said, ¡°I advise you to increase the defenses of the castle.¡± ¡°That is for sure.¡± Viscount Kant nodded forcefully. Lilith had also nodded, but she suddenly held her head while her body started to sway slightly as though she had lost support. Viscount Kant instantly turned nervous. ¡°My love?¡± ¡°I¡­ I am a little dizzy.¡± Lilith held her head and spoke with a little agony, ¡°I am not feeling well¡­¡± ¡°You have left your room for too long!¡± Viscount Kant sounded stern as he said, ¡°Hurry up and return to rest. Don¡¯t worry. I will send twice as many soldiers to guard the north tower. Once I feel better, I will go over to be with you.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ Okay.¡± Lilith Kant swayed as she stood up andplied with her husband¡¯s arrangement in a daze. She then lifted the portablemp and walked slowly to the entrance of the study[a]. [a]I believe it¡¯s just study, not study room, which is something else. [1] This is actually referring to Wright Awiken Chapter 179 - A Sweet Dream Chapter 179: A Sweet Dream Finally, only Gawain, Amber, and Viscount Kant were left in the study. Sir Philip kept guard at the door. For a while, it seemed to be especially quiet inside the room. Viscount Kant slowly took in a breath. Sensing that his physical strength was gradually recovering, he revealed a bitter smile. ¡°It was literally a nightmare.¡± ¡°Yes, literally a nightmare.¡± Gawain bowed his head to nce at this old viscount. ¡°I believe you do not know the reason for your butler¡¯s abrupt great change in temperament, right?¡± ¡°Just as I¡¯ve said earlier, I really don¡¯t have a clue.¡± Viscount Kant seemed to space out for that one moment. Following that, he shook his head wistfully. ¡°He¡¯s been taking care of me for decades, always serving the Kant n loyally, but he seemed to have be a different person earlier¡ª¡± ¡°Have you heard of the Eternal Sleepers?¡± Gawain suddenly cut off Viscount Kant. He stared at thetter¡¯s eyes and asked bluntly. Amber at the side couldn¡¯t help stealthily moving her hand towards the dagger at the waist and shrinking towards Gawain¡¯s shadow at the same time. ¡°Eternal Sleepers?¡± Viscount Kant frowned and then slowly nodded. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve heard about them. They are believers of the fallen God of Dreams. It is said that they would steal into the victim¡¯s subconscious when the person is having a nightmare, then control and even rece the person¡¯s consciousness. Could it be that Carter had been controlled by the Eternal Sleepers?¡± Seeing such a reaction from Viscount Kant, Gawain remained expressionless. He did not reveal the slightest hint of changes in emotions. Following that, he shook his head. ¡°In any case, what you need the most now is rest. ¡ª¡ªHave a good sleep and allow your physical strength to recover. And I suggest it¡¯s best that you get more servants toe keep youpany. You¡¯re getting old, and you¡¯ve lost too much strength this time. You need someone to keep an eye beside you to be safe.¡± Viscount Kant bowed his head sincerely. ¡°Thank you for your concern.¡± Gawain and Amber left the study. Sir Philip who kept guard at the door immediately came forward. ¡°Lord, what¡¯s the situation inside?¡± ¡°Viscount Kant has recovered ¡ª¡ª other than being a little weak.¡± Gawain walked forward on quick steps while speaking in a low voice, ¡°The current clues all point to that old butler ¡ª¡ª at least that¡¯s what it looks like on the surface.¡± Sir Philip faltered for a moment. ¡°On the surface? Lord, do you still have other suspicions?¡± ¡°The timing for Butler Carter¡¯s ¡®change in temperament¡¯ was too perfect.¡± Gawain frowned. ¡°If he was a heretic of the Eternal Sleepers or a Beyonder bewitched by the Eternal Sleepers, then he should have been prepared with all responses before we arrived at the castle. And if he wasn¡¯t able to, then he simply shouldn¡¯t have taken any action because all the ve-capturing ns were authorized by Viscount Victor. The ¡®resurrection¡¯ of the Viscountess would also steer the suspicion toward Victor Kant. Butler Carter didn¡¯t need to do anything, and he could naturally be clear of any suspicion ¡ª¡ª the suspicion had long been on Viscount Kant.¡± Amber blinked and was slowly enlightened. ¡°I remember it was when we were discussing our suspicions about Viscount Kant that Butler Carter suddenly carried out the assassination¡­ He was actively shifting the suspicion onto himself? So that butler¡¯s true motive was actually to protect his master?¡± Then she promptly came to a revtion. ¡°No wonder! That¡¯s why that dagger avoided his vital parts!¡± ¡°In this way, we can instead be even more sure that Viscount Kant must be the one behind all this!¡± A hint of eagerness showed on Philip¡¯s face; a sense of righteousness began to pound in this young Knight¡¯s chest. ¡°Lord, it¡¯s time to destroy that heretic cult believer¡¯s ns!¡± Gawain wore a solemn look. He still had a nagging feeling that he¡¯d let something slip but ultimately had to nod his head. ¡°We indeed cannot dy it any longer. But before alerting Viscount Kant, we have to first find the core that sustains the ¡®illusory space¡¯, suspend the ritual magic, and separate Viscount Kant from that magic core. If my judgment is right, the item sustaining this magic should be antern.¡± ¡°Lantern? Doesn¡¯t the Viscountess often carry antern in her hand?¡± Amber recalled at once ¡ª¡ª she was very conscious about anything that looked valuable, and thatntern looked to be of great value. ¡°Is it that one? Then I can just go steal it?¡± ¡°It does look the same, but I¡¯m afraid thentern in Lilith Kant¡¯s hands is merely a counterfeit.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°The truentern possesses extremely evident magical power. It should be ced near where Lilith Kant often stays at.¡± The trio was already back at the guest room at this point. Gawain poured himself a ss of water but didn¡¯t drink it. Instead, he looked towards Amber after some brief contemtion. ¡°I need you to go do something ¡ª¡ª your old profession.¡± ¡°No problem, I¡¯m skilled in such things.¡± Amber instantly patted her chest with a cocky look. ¡°Say it. Where are the Kants¡¯ ancestral graves at?¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯m not telling you to go dig up their ancestral graves!¡± Gawain almost didn¡¯t catch his next breath. He thought: Luckily, he had yet to drink water. Otherwise, he would certainly get choked to death by this ultimate disgrace. ¡°I¡¯m getting you to go find the realntern ¡ª¡ªand if possible, steal it.¡± ¡°So I ultimately still have to steal antern.¡± Amber rolled her eyes. ¡°Then you¡¯ve got to give me a rough scope? This castle is huge!¡± ¡°North tower. Lilith Kant resides in the north tower throughout the year. If I haven¡¯t guessed wrongly, it will be in the cer,¡± Gawain said. ¡°Supposedly, she lives there because of her weak constitution and photophobia[1], but it seems more like a kind of house arrest.¡± Amber lifted a brow. ¡°Cer? The shadow power of that sort of ce is very strong. It¡¯s where I can put my skills to good use!¡± After Amber set off, it was only Gawain and Sir Philip left in the room. Thetter quietly stood in a spot near the door, responsible for being on guard, while Gawain held his water ss and pondered in detail about the source of that slight sense of conflict in his heart. Sir Philip broke the silence. ¡°Lord, is it really okay getting Amber to go steal the core of the ritual? With herbat ability¡­¡± ¡°If everything goes smoothly, she wouldn¡¯t need to fight at all. If she really met an enemy and found it difficult to seed, she would definitely run back at the first moment,¡± Gawain said as he shook his head. His gazended on the water ss in his hand; the lightly rippling water surface reflected his face while his thoughts were drifting somewhere even farther. As his thoughts wandered, thentern in Lilith Kant¡¯s hand suddenly appeared in his mind. He vaguely remembered, 700 years ago, after he¡¯d gifted thatntern to Selena Gerfen, she had fused the power of thentern with her own dream theurgies. But what was the specific use for it? Selena seemed to have mentioned it before¡­ She roamed in the nightmares of the soldiers; those dreams were often filled with warped, disorderly paths andyers of dense fog, and thentern was able to show her the right path, such that she was unlikely to get lost in the dream realm and was able to see the dreams¡¯ actual appearances clearly¡­ Antern that showed the way¡­ Lantern?! Gawain suddenly realized where the biggest blind spot of his thinking had been. And upon bing aware of this blind spot, an off-the-wall, unbelievable truth swiftly took shape in his guesses. This truth was so against reason, so unimaginable, but it was probably what had truly happened in this castle! Gawain suddenly stood up and set the water ss in his hand on the table. Sir Philip who stood by the door was startled. ¡°Lord?¡± ¡°We got it wrong!¡± Gawain swiftly strode towards the door. ¡°We got itpletely wrong from the very beginning!¡± Sir Philip was confused by Gawain¡¯s disjointed exmation. ¡°Got it wrong? What have we gotten wrong?¡± Gawain pressed his hand on the door handle, turned back, and focused on the young Knight¡¯s eyes with a frown. ¡°This isn¡¯t Viscount Kant¡¯s dream! Quicklye with me!¡± The two left the room, and in the course of hurrying down the entire corridor, Gawain rapidly conveyed his guesses and discoveries to the Knight beside him. Philip¡¯s eyes grew wider and wider. By the end, his entire being was already thoroughly stunned. ¡°The¡ªthere would actually be something like that?¡± Then he promptly came back to his senses. ¡°Then wouldn¡¯t Amber really be in danger?!¡± ¡°No, ording to my assessment, she will not yet encounter danger at this stage because the dream creator has yet to awaken,¡± Gawain spoke fast. ¡°Only, we have to split up now¡­ Philip, I have a task for you.¡± ¡°At your service, Lord!¡± ¡°Go to the back of the castle, find an abandoned stable, and use your evil-detection ability to search¡­¡± Sir Philip left on orders while Gawain rushed through the corridor, up the staircase, and arrived at Victor Kant¡¯s study. The study was shrouded in a strange, dull, and gloomy atmosphere as before. Viscount Victor Kant sat quietly behind that heavy desk, unmoving like a sculpture. This old viscount¡¯s gaze was on the few sheets of papers before him. Only when Gawain stepped in front of him did he slowly lift his head and said in an indifferent tone. ¡°You¡¯re here, Duke.¡± Gawain silently stared at the Viscount¡¯s eyes. In the other party¡¯s gaze, he saw a trace of grief and a trace of relief, but there was no fear. ¡°You seemed¡­ to know I wasing.¡± ¡°Just had some premonition.¡± Viscount Kant revealed a stiff smile. ¡°You can do what you want to do now.¡± ¡°I came here merely to tell you a story.¡± Gawain brought himself a chair from the corner and sat across Viscount Kant. Watching the person¡¯s aged face, his tone was gentle and warm. ¡°This story began on a night of drenching rain, more than thirty years ago¡­ ¡°On that night, the Kant territory¡¯s young Viscount, which is you, was in a carriage speeding on a rainy night. Your wife and son were on board. ¡°Due to a slippery block of mud or rock, the carriage slid into the mountain creek, and very unfortunately, you were flung out of the carriage. ¡°Mr. Victor Kant, you died on the spot ¡ª¡ª along with your son. ¡°While your even more unfortunate wife, Madam Lilith Kant, clearly couldn¡¯t endure such a blow and the pressure¡­ ¡°So she chose to have herself ¡®die¡¯, while her husband and son ¡®survived¡¯. ¡ª¡ª At least in a dream realm, this was how things developed. ¡°That is all, Mr. Viscount.¡± Victor Kant sat quietly in the chair. Abruptly letting out a sigh, his voice was so wispy as if it wasing from another world. ¡°Literally a nightmare, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Yes, it is literally a nightmare.¡± [1] Photophobia ¨C intolerance of light Chapter 180 - The Power of Eternal Sleepers Chapter 180: The Power of Eternal Sleepers A torrential downpour, lightning shed and thunder roared. The cold winds from the northern frigid zone carried equally freezing rainwater to ssh on the spire of the castle. On this day, the Kant territory¡¯s most respected, oldest people coincidentally had the same dream. They dreamed that time seemed to rewind back to 30 years ago, back to that simrly stormy night ¡ª¡ª their young, strong, impartial, and benevolent feudal lord was driving a carriage, rushing back to town. And not too far ahead was the Kant castle¡¯s tall and stately outer walls and towers. Everything was cloaked in the night and fog stirred up by the rain. The carriage raced down the endless road, like a dream that one couldn¡¯t wake up from. Gawain was walking down the deep and long underground corridor. This corridor led to the north tower of the castle. The soldiers who originally should have been guarding this section of the corridor were copsed and piled up against each other at their posts. They were breathing, but their consciousness had been stripped through a dream realm that was difficult to awaken from. At the same time, this dream realm had also broken away from the fetters of illusion. It extended its feelers into the real world, leaving behind its distorted projection in the real world formed by matter. Moss crawled all over the mottled stone walls, yet the moss continuously peeled off, revealing the decayed, deformed walls beneath it. The logic of space and time inside the corridor seemed to lose its regrity in this moment: the scenes of the dream realm and the scenes of the real world took turns to switch ces. And those magic crystalmps mounted on the walls also followed by flickering, making the ancient oil paintings between themps gloomy and strange by their illumination. Boom! A loud rumble of thunder cut across the horizon. Thepletely sealed off underground corridor that initially had a thick and heavy ceiling was lit up by the lightning to be bright as day. Huge cracks appeared on the pitch-ck ceiling, and in between those cracked stone pieces, the dark sky could be seen. Violent rain poured from the sky. Gawain lifted his head and looked out. Through the ceiling of the corridor, he could vaguely see the entire upper section of the north tower fragmentarily floating in the sky. Those crumbled huge stones and roof were suspended in the rainy night like they had no weight, ceaselessly spinning with the shrieking wind. As they collided with one another, bits of broken bricks and rocks scattered down. He ignored all of this, directly striding down the long corridor flooded with wind and rain. The rainwater that alternated between dream and reality drizzled on him, now soaking him to the skin, yet vanishing next. ¡ª¡ªEach time he observed, the oue presented was different. The heavy oak door finally appeared before his eyes, exactly like what he had seen previously in the dream realm. Gawain stretched out his hand, but before his fingers touched the door, a segment of shadow beside the door suddenly stirred. Amber¡¯s figure then condensed into form. ¡°Eh! Gawain, you¡¯re here!¡± Gawain looked at Amber. ¡°Have you found thentern?¡± ¡°I only made it here. I could already sense very obvious fluctuations of magical power here, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn¡¯t open this door!¡± Amber¡¯s voice sounded especially disheartened. Clearly, she had been full of confidence earlier, but failing to open an antique wooden door as an excellent rogue had severely hurt her confidence. ¡°Can¡¯t open the door?¡± Gawain frowned. He turned back to nce at the direction he¡¯de from and realized that the strange corridor had now resumed its stability once more. The wrecked walls and roof were sealed up again; there was no longer wildly blowing wind and rain or mottled moss or copsed brick pieces. The big oak door at the end of the corridor appeared to be sturdy and intact. Though worn down, it was tightly sealed. Gawain looked towards Amber. ¡°Did you see the rain in the corridor when you were here?¡± The half-elf wore aplete look of bewilderment. ¡°Rain? How could it possibly rain in the corridor?¡± ¡°Seems like you¡¯re still in the dream realm.¡± Gawain was clear in his mind. ¡°The door in the dream realm is sealed. It¡¯s impossible to open it regardless of what you do.¡± As he exined, he looked towards the oak door. Then he closed his eyes, recalling the knowledge and powers held in the fragments of the Eternal Sleepers heretic¡¯s consciousness. ¡°Only when you push open this door in the real world would you see this castle¡¯s true appearance.¡± He reopened his eyes. In the corridor, freezing wind and rain rolled in with a howl; a series of cracks spread over the dark stone ceiling; moss coated all the walls and that oak door took on an aged, mottled, and worn-down look. With a light push, the door opened. Amber¡¯s eyes widened the instant the oak door was pushed open; she was finally seeing the same things Gawain was seeing in his vision. Miss Half-Elf cried out, ¡°How¡­ How did this ce be so run down all of a sudden?!¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°Because this ce hasn¡¯t been repaired for an entire thirty years.¡± Then he walked in front, walking into this ce that sustained the entire illusion with Amber. The cer space behind the oak door was very perfectly preserved. The high tower structures above blocked the torrential rain that was pouring from the sky. The surrounding noise died out all at once; the entire world seemed to quieten down. In the hazy dim space, thentern¡¯s glow suddenly lit up. The warmth radiance dispelled the darkness. Within range of the illumination, a female figure wearing a white long dress appeared. And behind her was the stone coffin that Gawain had seen previously in the dream realm, and many stone pirs like those in the dream realm held up the entire cer. Countless shimmering runes sparkled on every stone pir. ¡°Madam Lilith Kant.¡± Gawain looked at the other person silently. ¡°It¡¯s time to wake up from your dream.¡± ¡°Duke, you shouldn¡¯t havee to this ce.¡± Lilith¡¯s eyes were filled with sadness. ¡°If only you¡¯d taken it as if nothing had happened. Gawain shook his head lightly. ¡°But it has already happened. You wallowing in this dream realm is merely an act of deceiving yourself and others ¡ª¡ª what the Eternal Sleepers gave you was far from the best medicine. You ought to know that very well. They were merely using your hands to draw power. What they gave you was just an illusion.¡± ¡°But I am willing to believe it. That makes it real!¡± Lilith Kant suddenly became agitated. ¡°I was already about to seed. I¡¯d already seeded! So long as you people don¡¯te, so long as I continuously hypnotize myself, I would¡­ I would¡­¡± Gawain loudly interrupted this woman who¡¯d fallen into insanity 30 years ago, ¡°You will never seed because the dream powers that the Eternal Sleepers gave you has an innate defect ¡ª¡ª the dream creator would forever be sober! This is an innate defect that even the Eternal Sleepers themselves could not resolve!¡± Lilith Kant¡¯s expression stiffened instantly. ¡°Why¡­ would you know?¡± ¡°Because I devoured an Eternal Sleeper and received his knowledge and memories.¡± Lilith Kant¡¯s form uncontrobly swayed. ¡°So¡­ that¡¯s how you became aware of the truth here?¡± ¡°No.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°Although I¡¯d obtained that Eternal Sleeper¡¯s knowledge and memories, I was indeed fooled by this ¡®actual dream realm¡¯ when I first came here. ¡ª¡ª Unfortunately, you left behind too many loopholes that I was then able to realize the truth bit by bit. ¡°Victor Kant¡¯s study has many old books. Even the newest book had been collected thirty years ago. ¡°About the incident thirty years ago, the people in the territory and the castle all had fuzzy memories, and about the ¡®Viscountess¡¯, these two groups of people had entirely different notions. ¡°Viscount Kant appears to be the person in charge of the whole castle, but when it involves your matters, he would show evident slowness and bewilderment. This was because you worried that he would realize he was only living in a dream and set up a tight lock of thoughts on him. ¡°But these still aren¡¯t the biggest loopholes. Instead, it was thatntern in your hand ¡ª¡ª perhaps there is no longer anyone in this world who knows its history, but I recognize it. Thatntern was something I gifted to a friend seven hundred years ago, and its function is to allow ¡®the person who weaves dreams¡¯ to sustain themselves and to seek the path in a steerable dream realm. In other words, the one with thentern in hand is the person who is truly controlling the dream realm!¡± Amber, who stood confusedly by the side for a long time, finally figured out the whole thing. Her mouth instantly agape as she lifted a hand to point at Lilith Kant who was at a distance. ¡°So¡­ so thirty years ago¡­¡± ¡°Yes, the Viscount Kant and Young Master Belm from thirty years ago have actually died. They died instantly when the carriage plunged into the mountain creek, and the Viscountess, who the world believed had gone mad and consumed poison on the fourth day, was the one who survived. This dream realm wasn¡¯t what Viscount Kant had created in order to bring back his love. Just the contrary, it was the Viscountess who epted the powers of the Eternal Sleepers and remolded her husband in this dream realm ¡ª¡ª she even allowed her own husband to be the feudal lord for an entire thirty years in this dream castle, governing the territory for thirty years!¡± ¡°He ruled the territory very well! He managed the castle very well! Even if this is a dream realm, why can¡¯t this dreamst!¡± Lilith Kant¡¯s voice suddenly became sharp, hatred and insanity swiftly spread over her beautiful face, and thatntern that radiated a gentle glow was abruptly shrouded in ayer of faint purple light that reminded one of starlight. ¡ª¡ªThe powers provided by the Eternal Sleepers allowed this woman to maintain thirty years of never dying youth, but it had finallye to the time for the sorcery to demand its price. A second earlier, it had still been her controlling thentern, and a secondter, she had be the servant of thisntern. ¡°Why did youe to destroy all this! Why must you awaken the sleeping people! If you hadn¡¯te¡­ if you hadn¡¯te¡­ everything would¡¯ve been wonderful forever!!¡± A huge and distorted ck shadow took form behind the Viscountess; spots of multi-colored starlight shimmered in it. It suddenly manifested a sharp w from the illusion, thrusting towards Gawain¡¯s chest with a whistle, and the voice that came from the shadows ovepped with Lilith Kant¡¯s and sounded, ¡°What good would destroying all this do you?!¡± With the rise of Gawain¡¯s hand, the Sword of Pioneers was in the way of the murky sharp w. ¡°You used tens of thousands of lives to sustain all this, and it will soon threaten every person on this entirend, so destroying it is the greatest ¡®good¡¯ for me!¡± At the same time, in a heap of ruin behind the castle¡¯s main structure, Sir Philip¡¯s longsword was lifted up high and then swung down with force. The castle was making frightening sounds behind him: a low rumble continuously sounded from the direction of the north tower. Although the main body of the castle was still firm, the whole north tower was gradually falling apart in the night sky, disintegrating into fragments, dispersing and floating under the dark night. And there wererge brick pieces repeatedly breaking off from the roof and vanishing in the wild storm. However, Sir Philip didn¡¯t pay the slightest attention to the changes behind him; he was faithfully carrying out Gawain¡¯s order. After finding the focal point of that sinful aura using his evil-detection ability, he began digging into this heap of copsed ruin. ¡ª¡ªThe formidable power of the Knight upation allowed him to easily blow off these decayed ruins of the stable and stone flooring. Finally, a concealed entrance appeared before him. Chapter 181 - Dawn Chapter 181: Dawn There was star-like radiance glittering on the entire body as the constantly squirming monsterunched a ferocious assault at Gawain. Its strange limbs that were difficult to describe could transform into countless destructive forms. The ¡°starlight polymer¡± could constantly form sharp ws, giant des, bows, or tentacles. The multiple forms might be hinting at its innate nature: a product that was produced from the dream realm, it was indescribable like a nightmare, without any origin, without any end, and it was constantly transforming. Every time Gawain blocked the attack, he would sever those limbs and imitation weapons. ¡°Unbreakable Storm!¡± Gawain¡¯s de was enhanced by magic and had turned into countless scorching des of light. The shock wave swept out from his front and extended along the surface of the ground and towards the strange limbs that the monster attacked with. Those strange limbs were instantly torn into pieces by the powerful shock wave. Using this opportunity, Gawain immediately leaped up and released the ¡°Champion sh¡± that he had umted for a long time. A sharp de made of white light descended from the sky and cleaved down at Lilith Kant¡¯s body. Lilith Kant¡¯s body was nearly severed into two by this attack, but in the next second, the portablemp emitted a light purple radiance. Her torn body rapidly recovered in the starlight radiance and fused back together. The insane woman lifted the portablemp andughed loudly. ¡°It is useless, hahaha, useless! I have already fused with the dream realm¡¯s power. It is impossible for you to kill a dream! As long as I refuse to wake up, I will never die!!¡± Gawain smiled before severing a sharp w that attacked from his blind spot. ¡°Does the dream have everything¡­? It seems like the Eternal Sleepers¡¯ religion has rooted deeply into your mind.¡± ¡°Just give up. I admit that you are formidable. In terms ofbat strength, there isn¡¯t anyone who can defeat you on this territory, but no matter how powerful you are, you are unable to destroy a dream realm. Simrly, it is impossible for me to kill you too.¡± Lilith Kant¡¯s irritable expression instantly calmed down. She looked at Gawain with cold eyes and said indifferently, ¡°If you can treat it like nothing happened here, I can promise you that I will not make a move on your territory¡¯s people.¡± ¡°I can see the insanity in your eyes. Madam, that dark magic tool has corroded your mind. I will not believe any promise you make when you are holding the portablemp.¡± Gawain adjusted his posture again before walking towards the starlight polymer that was already in a half-fusion state. He then said to Lilith, ¡°Moreover, why should I give up? Could it that you didn¡¯t notice? Your recovery is getting slower each time.¡± ¡°Mm?!¡± With Gawain¡¯s reminder, Lilith Kant finally noticed the changes that were happening to her body. She took a deep cold breath and looked at her enemy furiously and asked, ¡°What did you do?!¡± ¡°It seems like Sir Philip has already found the true ¡°pir¡± that is maintaining your dream realm.¡± Gawain raised his longsword and said, ¡°Let¡¯s see how much longer you canst?¡± In the ruined stables behind the castle¡¯s main building, Sir Philip shattered the dark door that was blocking him. As the nightmare¡¯s power was impaired, the indestructible doors that were originally sealed by the dream realm had lost their shield. shed with a magic-imbued longsword, no matter it be wood or steel, the door had been instantly destroyed. Behind the dark door were stairs that led underground. At the end of the stairs was a shockingly spacious underground space. Looking at the scene of the underground space, Sir Philip¡¯s brows were knitted tightly. The vast underground hall was illuminated by the dusky magic crystalmps. With the insufficient illumination, Philip could see the rows of square-shaped stone pirs that were arranged orderly. Each stone pir was carved with countless vague magic runes and lines that were hard to understand. But the thing that made the young knight indignant wasn¡¯t those evil runes on the stone pirs, it was the ¡°thing¡± that revolved around the stone pir. Rectangle tforms were arranged around the stone pirs, forming an orderly array. Each tform had a shriveled, dried up, and distorted human body. Those people were still alive but they might as well be dead. They were lying on ayer of soft and dark brown material while their bodies were connected to those square-shaped pirs with some sort of ¡°biological tissue¡± that looked like an umbilical cord or blood vessel. One end of those biological-tissue cords went into the stone pir, while the other end was split into multiple cords that were plugged into the skull of each individual on the tforms. Those people were maintained in a dream world just like this. Their mental capacities were getting extracted and drawn out while they were unable to awaken in an unending dream realm. Their physical bodies would twitch asionally, while their throats would asionally release a deep and indistinct murmur. However, all these were merely fundamental reflexes of the nervous system. On the ground between the tforms and the pirs, dried-up corpses were scattered around the ground. These exhausted ¡°firewood¡± were the homeless people that didn¡¯t belong to the Kant territory and were missing from thisnd for 30 years. ¡°This¡­ such¡­ evil!!¡± Philip yelled out with anger as he raised his longsword high and shed at the stone pir that was closest to him. In the basement under the north tower, the rune radiance on the stone pirs was gradually extinguished. The power that was maintaining the ¡°starlight polymer¡± was constantly and drastically declining. Gawain had an easy time as he severed the limbs that were produced from the monster that was constantly transforming. Lilith Kant¡¯s original body was now exposed again. This time, thetter¡¯s regeneration seemed to havepletely stopped, leaving behind fragments of light purple radiance in the air that were flickering and drifting indefinitely as they couldn¡¯t take form again. The insane woman let out a low roar, ¡°How did you know¡­? How did you know!?¡± ¡°When you made Butler Carter shift our attention away, you identally exposed your final secret.¡± Gawain knew that the situation was already settled and couldn¡¯t help but let out a light sigh. ¡°If I didn¡¯t guess wrongly, the butler is probably a product of the dream realm too. The real Carter must have died many years ago. No one is able to vanish from Amber¡¯s line of sight without a trace. Not even the world¡¯s strongest Shadow Master could do it. He had vanished in the vicinity of the ruined stable, meaning that the ¡°interior border¡± of the dream realm is there¡­¡± ¡°In the end, you aren¡¯t some professional Nightmare Master. The Eternal Sleepers might have given you great power, but the power is borrowed from the ancient portablemp. And you¡­ are just a dabbler.¡± Lilith Kant¡¯s face was getting increasingly distorted as she heard Gawain¡¯s words and suddenly grinned. ¡°You just reminded me. I still have the portablemp¡­ It might not bepleted, but themp¡¯s umted energy is already¡­ What!?¡± She lowered her head and looked at her hand with astonishment. That portablemp that was emitting magical radiance had suddenly been reced by an ordinary barnntern. Amber¡¯s figure appeared in the distance, and the portablemp was now in her hands. The half-elf thief waved the portablemp in a pleased manner and spoke in an unbridled manner that was just asking for a beating. ¡°Let me tell you. Being unable to open your door is already the first and greatest humiliation to my professional career! If I cannot steal yourmp, then I shall never continue working in this line!¡± This time, even Gawain was surprised and looked at Amber with admiration. He didn¡¯t think that this fellow would actually seed. How many points did she add into her thievery skill tree?! On the other side, Lilith Kant who had lost her portablemp was actually strangely calm. The starlight polymer gradually dispersed from behind her body while another dark shadow gathered at her feet. As she looked at Gawain and Amber, the Kant territory¡¯s viscountess suddenly revealed a weird smile. ¡°Do you think you have won?¡± Gawain frowned. ¡°Our son¡­ is about to return home.¡± Lilith smiled and opened her arms as though she was weing her son back after the long journey of many years. Her tone was filled with joy and pride. ¡°Belm, the child I am so proud of. He has been venturing outside for decades and is already a real man, a real sessor! Today is his day of return¡­ Can you hear? The carriage¡¯s bell is already echoing on the stone pavement outside the castle. He is on the way back to the ce that he was brought up in. As the sessor of the Kant n, to inherit the n business and glory¡­ You people will never be able to stop his inheritance!¡± Gawain instantly gripped his longsword. He could indeed hear an imaginary carriage sound by the side of his ears; he could hear something inhuman that was born from a nightmare alighting the carriage and walking towards the castle! This was the thing that had been nurtured in the dream realm for 30 years. This was the true exnation for the statement that Gawain heard in the memory fragments of that Eternal Sleepers¡¯ heretic. ¡°That which has passed away will ultimately return, return not only in the dreams, but also in reality¡­¡± For 30 years, everyone on this territory maintained ¡°Young Master Belm¡± had been out for a journey. He might not have appeared on this territory, but those letters that came from foreignnds, the description from the feudal lord, and the rumors on the streets had made aplete outline of Belm¡¯s existence. Lilith Kant used 30 years and countless lives to umte massive magic to create an ¡°individual¡± that only existed in the dream realm. Her true objective wasn¡¯t just to make her husband apany her, but to revive her son in reality! However, in this dark and corrupted ritual, she would only be reviving a monster. An indescribable monster that was wearing human skin and was created by the subconsciousness of countless people! The portablemp was already separated from Lilith Kant; therefore, there wasn¡¯t any more reason to kill the Viscountess, but Gawain had already predicted the worst scenario in advance. Therefore, he was fearless and was gripping his longsword tightly while waiting for Kant n¡¯s sessor to step into this castle and into this ce. A new being created by the nightmare wasn¡¯t invincible. After Sir Philip destroyed the power that was maintaining the dream realm, that ¡°Young Master Belm¡± was now merely a normal monster with flesh and blood that could be defeated. At the entrance of the castle, a ck carriage had stopped in the rainy night. A ¡°visitor¡± without facial features and wearing a ck long coat had just arrived at the gates of the castle. He knocked on the heavy gates that gradually opened a momentter. Butler Carter was smiling as he stood behind the gates. The main hall of the castle suddenly appeared with a wee team. The band was ying music to wee the return of this territory¡¯s inheritor. In the basement of the north tower, Lilith Kant¡¯s vitality was starting to decline with visible speed. She was pale like a dead corpse, and her legs were already unable to stand. She knelt at the side of the stone coffin that was in the middle of the basement while she looked at Gawain and Amber with a provocative smile. Right at this moment, the basement¡¯s oaken door suddenly opened. Viscount Victor Kant¡¯s figure appeared at the entrance. Lilith Kant instantly widened her eyes as she looked at that figure with surprise and fright. ¡°My love¡­ why are you here?!¡± Victor Kant¡¯s body looked as though it was covered in gauze and was very hazy and even a little translucent. He walked towards the center of the basement and spoke in a deep and gentle tone, ¡°I am here to see you, to see me, and to see¡­ our son.¡± ¡°No¡­ don¡¯te over! You cannote here!¡± Lilith eximed and was miraculously able to stand again. ¡°You cannote here!¡± ¡°My wife, don¡¯t stop me.¡± Victor Kant¡¯s figure swayed before he continued walking forward. ¡°Do not disrupt my spirit again. This is my final wish in this nightmare.¡± In the main hall, the faceless visitor walked past the servants that were weing him. With Butler Carter by the side, the visitor¡¯s body issued a husky and muddled voice. These were words that humans couldn¡¯t understand, but Carter seemed like he could understand. He was also smiling and constantly nodding as he apanied his ¡°Young Master¡± across the hall and across the hallway. In the basement of the north tower, the Viscountess rushed at her husband with futility. Her fingers passed through his body, causing her to scream, ¡°How can this be a nightmare? How can this be a nightmare?! How¡­?¡± ¡°This is all our nightmare, Lilith.¡± Viscount Kant lowered his head and looked at his body before looking at his wife. ¡°Give up. It is time for you to wake up. You are already awake.¡± He walked past the Viscountess and arrived at the stone coffin and ced his hands on the lid of the coffin. After opening it, Viscount Kant turned to look at Gawain. ¡°I thank you for your help, Duke Gawain Cecil. You are just as the history described, a hero who rescues people.¡± The heavy coffin lid was pushed open. Viscount Kant looked inside and saw a set of scattered and smashed bones. Beside the bones was another set of significantly slimmer bones. In between the two corpses was a woman lying down quietly with her eyes shut. Lilith Kant¡¯s true body had been resting eternally in this stone coffin. ¡°It is finally dawn¡­¡± Apanied with a sigh, Victor Kant¡¯s figure gradually dispersed in the air. ¡°Lilith Kant¡± who was standing outside the stone coffin had also vanished. An angry yell echoed from the castle¡¯s main building. Until the end, the faceless visitor was unable to step into reality. Sir Philip left the underground hall with exhaustion, and after climbing out to the surface, he looked at the sky with surprise. The rainstorm had already stopped, and a line of light appeared on the horizon. ¡°It is finally dawn¡­¡± the young knight mumbled. Chapter 182 - Letter and Shambles Chapter 182: Letter and Shambles Gawain was obviously surprised to see Lilith Kant and Viscount Kant vanish like smoke. He didn¡¯t imagine that Lilith Kant was also a product of the nightmare. In his original deduction, Lilith Kant should be a living person and the only sober ¡°dream creator¡± in the castle. It was obvious that he had made an error in his judgment. Gawain immediately understood when he and Amber arrived at the giant stone coffin and looked at the two sets of skeletons and the Viscountess¡¯s corpse that was being protected by magic and had yet to decay. Lilith Kant was truly dead, but she died probably to activate this horrifying dream-creation ritual or so that she could have ¡°contact¡± with her husband and son. She had truly given up her life. She had been lingering in the basement of the north tower and lingering the castle while holding the portablemp. However, it was merely her shadow¡­ No wonder the Viscountess, who was the ¡®dream creator¡¯, had never left this castle for 30 years. It wasn¡¯t because she didn¡¯t wish to leave but because she was already unable to leave this ce. But such matters didn¡¯t matter anymore as the dream realm had ended. The real world¡¯s sunlight now illuminated this dark and ancient castle. Be it the dream creator or the dreamers, they had gone back to where they were supposed to be when the dream realm ended. They left behind in the real world nothing but shambles. Amber was still a little stunned as this unbelievable experience caused her mind to be in aplete mess (of course, her mind might frequently be in aplete mess). She looked at the three corpses in the stone coffin for a long time before saying, ¡°So, we were actually in a tangle with three dead people for such a long time?¡± ¡°It is thisnd that has been in a tangle with them for thirty years.¡± Gawain shook his head and said, ¡°The Eternal Sleepers¡­ are indeed the most dangerous among the three evil cults.¡± ¡°A person that climbed out from a coffin is looking at three people lying in another coffin and criticizing an evil cult for causing their deaths. I have never seen anything more supernatural than this in my life¡­¡± It was unknown what Amber was thinking, but she suddenly quivered due to her own words. She then looked down at her feet and suddenly noticed. ¡°Hey, Gawain. There are papers here!¡± There were a few magic-imbued parchments that were emitting a slight radiance scattered in front of the stone coffin. This was the location where Viscount Victor Kant vanished from previously. Gawain was astonished as he picked them up and read the words written by Viscount Kant. ¡°This is¡­ left behind by Viscount Kant?¡± ¡°He left them behind? Are they letters for you?¡± Amber blinked her eyes with shock and said, ¡°Hurry up and read them!¡± ¡°They are indeed letters, but they are not all for me. Some are for the King, and some are letters to dere to the public.¡± Gawain flipped through the parchments swiftly, and the organized words entered his sight: ¡°I am Viscount Victor Kant, the noble conferred by the Anzu Kingdom¡¯s royal n, the feudal lord of the southern Kant Town and its surrounding farms, feudalnd, and viges. I swear an oath in the name of the Kant n¡¯s ancestors that everything I am saying is true. The truth must be made known to the masses as a warning to everyone.¡± ¡°My n has been cursed by the Eternal Sleepers.¡± ¡°The heretics used evil ritual magic to corrupt my territory. For thirty years, countless innocent people have perished in the ritual. My wife has been controlled by the sorcery, and my spirit wasn¡¯t able to escape the curse and had been used as the aplice¡­¡± ¡°¡­Without Duke Gawain Cecil¡¯s help, I will never be able to rest in peace. The Duke responded to my request for help. He risked his life to help and to eliminate the curse that has enveloped me and my family¡­¡± ¡°Your Majesty¡­ Your loyal conferred official sends his greetings. This shall be myst secret letter to you. The thing that happened to the Kant territory¡­¡± ¡°Everything that happened is as stated. I use my final humanity and my n name to guarantee that everything is truthful without error.¡± ¡°I have no direct heir or next of kin to inherit my title and property. It is the same for my wife. The two of us have a long-distant nephew who does have the right to inherit our property, but he is innately born with an iplete mind, and it will be hard for him to take over a noble¡¯s duty. As such, ording to the kingdom¡¯sws, I shall return the feudalnd that I inherited from my ancestors to the royal n. Before this, I have to repay my gratitude to Duke Cecil. This is a favor for rescuing my soul.¡± ¡°Apart from thend, I wish to give to Duke Cecil, at no cost, all my wealth that includes the library collection, treasures, antiques in the castle, and all six pioneered farms that don¡¯t belong to my titlednd. I acknowledge that he can handle this wealth as he pleases.¡± ¡°For all of the production from my feudalnd this year, apart from the portion that will be given to the royal n, the rest shall be gifted to Duke Cecil.¡± Apart from the public letter for the southern region¡¯s noble ns and a secret letter to the King, there was another letter reserved for Gawain: ¡°Duke Gawain Cecil, when you see this letter, my soul should already have regained peace.¡± ¡°For this oue, I only have serenity and joy; there isn¡¯t any resentment. If I have to say something I am regretful for, then it is the promise I am unable to fulfill. I once swore to turn around the n¡¯s extravagant and corrupt lifestyle. I swore not to follow the bad example of those brutal and cold-blooded new generation nobles. I also swore to imitate your generation, to be pioneering martyrs, to developnds, to protect refugees, to be the protector for innocent people and poor people, but everything ended inplete shambles.¡± ¡°I am very d that before my soul has thoroughly fallen into darkness, before everything is irrevocable, you appeared in time to get rid of the haze on thisnd.¡± ¡°When I was young, I always treated you as my model and idol, so much so that I even looked forward to bing a Knight, to charging into the darkness like you, to pioneering a few pieces ofnd for the residents to live in. As a result, there are six pioneered farnds in the Kant territory. That might be the spark of light in mymentable life.¡± ¡°If there was a change of timing and method, meeting with you might have been the most glorious moment in my life. I am even willing to give up my nobility and all my wealth to be your Knight Apprentice with this aged body of mine, to pioneer new territory at the foot of the Dark Range, toplete the unfinished dream that I had since I was young¡­ However, none of these will be fulfilled in the end.¡± ¡°Apart from the wealth in the castle and the six farnds that I personally pioneered, I truly cannot think of any other things that can be used to repay you. But I have information regarding the Eternal Sleepers heretics that you might be interested in.¡± ¡°For all these years, I have been existing as a puppet in the dream realm. Even my thoughts were constantly guided and controlled. Perhaps due to the excessive contact with the Eternal Sleepers¡¯ power, I was finally able to obtain an instance of free will, allowing me to understand some truth behind this ¡®curse¡¯.¡± ¡°Please be warned. The Eternal Sleepers¡¯ conspiracy isn¡¯t just simply and merely the Kant territory. The terrifying sacrificial ritual that they established in this castle is just a ¡®node¡¯ in their series of ns. This node is considered a calction node, and they have a massive n. The n requires more souls, and more victims will be involved¡­¡± ¡°Their conspiracy might be spread throughout the entire world. Once they seed with the n, they will be able to drag all the sentient life forms into the abyss of eternal damnation.¡± ¡°However, their actions cannot be traced. ording to the truth that Iprehended, every ¡®calction node¡¯ requires arge number of living people as ¡®consumables¡¯. In the south region, they might be able to secretly capture refugees to slowly gather enough for the ritual, but the number of refugees is rather small. As for ces withprehensive social order, as soon as they observe the number of missing people, they would be tracked down.¡± ¡°I have already reported these matters to His Majesty, but I wish that you can remain vignt and beware of those heretics that might return haunt you. In the declining south region of the kingdom, you are the people¡¯s only hope.¡± ¡°Viscount Victor Kant, a sinner that sincerely wishes to be a good person.¡± Gawain¡¯s eyes had been shifting among the words, and he flipped through all the parchments until thest piece was presented to him. Amber¡¯s sharp eyes immediately noticed that this wasn¡¯t a letter. ¡°Hey! This doesn¡¯t look like a letter that is written to anyone!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. This is the feudal lord¡¯s order, and it is to be announced in the territory after signing.¡± Gawain read the contents of the parchment and couldn¡¯t help but sigh. ¡°He has relieved everyone¡¯s liability to serve the Kant n on the territory. He has also given the rights of freedom to all the direct serfs of the feudal lord and the servants in the castle. He also announced that they have the authority to leave the territory freely.¡± Amber blinked her eyes and suddenly recalled what Gawain once said, ¡°Hey, I remember you saying that such a relief should be done in sequence and steadily¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. It should be done in sequence and steadily. To directly release the serfs as free residents would only make them lose the basic guarantee that the feudal lord provides. Without aprehensive and follow-up system ofnd distribution, the ves that turned into free residents wouldn¡¯t be able tost long with the little bit of dismissal fee. They will quickly lose their freedom again and have to ultimately sell themselves and go back onto the same path as ve servants or even ves.¡± Gawain shook his head and said, ¡°But Viscount Victor Kant wasn¡¯t an idealist that indulged in fantasy. He definitely thought of all this ¡ªbut he didn¡¯t have a choice. The Kant n is done for, and with the current administrative efficiency of the Anzu Kingdom¡¯s royal n, a new feudal lord will only arrive after a year or two. ording to thews of Anzu Kingdom, everything in the castle belongs to the noble, while all the ve servants don¡¯t have any private property. As such, during this period of time, the people that the old feudal lord left behind would be the most miserable. They would have to think of a way to make a living. But if ves make a living autonomously, it would be a crime. They could also steal the things in the castle to sell off, but that is also a crime.¡± ¡°So Viscount Kant released all these people as free residents and allowed them to leave on their own will, so that they will at least have a way to survive.¡± Amber was stunned and suddenly felt her brain getting a little bigger. ¡°It feels like¡­ a huge pile of shambles!¡± ¡°This is indeed inplete shambles, but someone needs to deal with the aftermath.¡± Gawain¡¯s mouth twitched as he said, ¡°I feel that this matter is already on my head.¡± Amber blinked her eyes in a manner that was asking for a beating. ¡°That¡¯s why my line of work is the best. Normally, after we finish our work, we will just leave and don¡¯t have to consider the aftermath. But if we leave a little slow, we will be the one being dealt with¡­¡± Gawain looked at this fellow and grabbed her arm and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. You left too slow when you dug my grave previously, so you have to settle the aftermath with me now.¡± Chapter 183 - The Technology of the Eternal Sleepers Chapter 183: The Technology of the Eternal Sleepers Walking up the stairs of the basement and leaving the north tower, Gawain and Amber finally saw the changes that happened to this castle. Just as Gawain spected, the entire castle had been enveloped in a long-term illusion, and its appearance was created by Lilith Kant¡¯s dream realm. But at the same time, it wasn¡¯t purely a dream as the boundary of reality and illusion was particrly vague in this ce. They were mutually ovepping and influencing one another. Things that happened in reality could interfere with the dream realm, while things in the dream could also reflect in reality. After the dream realm fadedpletely, they were able to see the ancient castle¡¯s dpidated and corroded appearance. The area with the worst corrosion of the dream realm was the towering north tower as half of the tower was already missing. It was severed in the middle, and the top half had already copsed many years ago. The remaining giant stone structures were like ruptured bones that were all jagged and pointing at the sky. The morning glimmer made it look very sinister, and around the vacant tower, there were ces with broken tiles and bricks that were buried in soil and in vines. On the opposite side of the north tower, the main building of the castle was preserved in a good condition. That ce¡¯s reality was superior to the illusion because the servants living in the main part of the castle were actually maintaining the ancient castle. It didn¡¯t have many signs of crumbling, but one could still see worrying cracks, while moss and vines were growing willfully on the exterior walls. As the dream realm¡¯s power faded, those vines and moss had actually reached to the top of the tall main building. When walking towards the main building of the castle, Gawain and Amber encountered Sir Philip who was rushing over. The young knight didn¡¯t experience anybat, but destroying the powerful magic core alone was enough to make him exhausted. Philip looked very tired as his eyes were glimmering with a deeper mental exhaustion. After seeing Gawain, Philip was immediately invigorated and stood straight. ¡°Your Excellency! I am d to see that you are safe!¡± Gawain looked at Philip and nodded lightly. ¡°It seems like you have seen something that put immense mental pressure on you.¡± ¡°Yes, it is as you expected.¡± Philip sighed and said, ¡°The ce that Butler Carter vanished was the dream realm¡¯s ¡®interior border¡¯. That ce has a¡­ ritual site that is filled with evil and sphemy. I am truly unable to describe that scene.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°Bring me over to have a look. You didn¡¯t tear down that entire ce, right?¡± ¡°Of course not. They are the evidence of the heretics¡¯ crimes.¡± Philip nodded and said, ¡°But those victims¡­ probably can¡¯t be saved.¡± ¡°¡­I expected that.¡± Gawain sighed and said, ¡°Bring me there to take a look at the situation. That¡¯s right! Amber, you make a trip to the castle first. I can guess that the people there should have awakened and are probably panicking. Go and look for the castle¡¯s advisor, treasurer, chief knight, and that cleric. Ask them to stabilize the people and to gather all the supervisors and Knights of the territory. As soon as possible, I will go to the main hall and take charge.¡± Amber blinked her eyes. ¡°Are you sure those people will listen to me?¡± ¡°You are now considered as a personal guard of the Duke. Do you think that servants of an ordinary noble n will have any authority to talk back?¡± Gawain looked at Amber before saying, ¡°Furthermore, the dream realm has ended, and the happenings of this castle over thirty years will be acknowledged by everyone¡¯s mind. This unimaginable notion would cause everyone to sink into a great panic. Under such a situation, people are very easily influenced.¡± Gawain¡¯stter half of his statement didn¡¯t even make it into the brain of the half-elf. When Amber heard the first half of the statement, she had already started to drift as her mind was rapidly revolving with at least 60 ways to get rich and 80 ways to swindle. Basically, everything was revolving around her using this fake authority, but it was a pity that she merely drifted for a few seconds before she was already seen through by Gawain. Gawain immediately red at her and said, ¡°If you dare to make use of my name to swindle and cheat, I will smack you onto the wall!¡± Amber rolled her eyes. ¡°Can¡¯t you change your method of threatening me?¡± ¡°Then I will smack you into the ground.¡± Gawain shook his hand and turned around while saying, ¡°In short, if you dare to swindle anyone, I will smack you onto the wall. If you dare to steal something, I will smack you into the ground¡ª¡± However, the frank Sir Philip quickly followed Gawain before asking with concern, ¡°What if she deceives you saying that she didn¡¯t steal anything after she finished stealing the things?¡± Gawain stopped and looked at Philip quietly before saying ¡°¡­Have you considered perming your hair?¡±[1] ¡°Ah?¡± Gawain sighed in his heart: As expected, the worst part of being stranded in another world is the inability tomunicate with natives using my usualnguage even when the opposition is just a side character. The duo arrived at the hall that Sir Philip discovered. The magical energy that lingered in the hall had already scattered, while the oppressive and maniacal aura had also vanished. However, it was still a sinister and horrific ce. In Gawain¡¯s vision, the tforms that were arranged around the stone pirs were like dissection tables emitting the stench of blood. On the dissection tables, the mbs¡± that were waiting to be ughtered were still alive. Gawain noticed that the heads of the victims were connected to the stone pirs through some kind of biological-tissue tubes. They were growing with blood vessels and nerves that, obviously, didn¡¯t develop from the human brain and were actually mutated. One end of the tube was connected to the foundation part of the stone pirs, and there was ayer of swelling and distorted flesh structure. It seemed just like an independent organism that was sticking close to the runes on the stone pirs. The other end of the tube was connected to the human body, and it should be an oue due to a certain kind of parasite (or surgery). As Sir Philip had destroyed the runes on the stone pirs, those ¡°biological tissues¡± that were attached to the stone pirs were showing signs of weakening and were at the point of demise. They were starting to wither and split, while pale red liquid flowed out from the cracks. The victims that were connected together were mostly dead. Those that had yet to perish were obviously beyond rescue. They had been connected to those ¡°nerve cords¡± for too long, and their individual consciousness was already extinguished. The brain tissues had suffered irreversible damage and their remaining brain nerve cells were simply providing calctive ability to the massive ¡°human-brain array calctor¡±. Once the magic dissipated, they would perish soon after. The only thing that was worth rejoicing was that they didn¡¯t have to experience any more suffering in this process. ¡°I cannot identify what this thing is.¡± Sir Philip endured his disgust as he crouched down together with Gawain at one of the stone pir foundations. He used his sword sheath to point at the squirming and contracting biological tissue at the front. ¡°Even in the records of those ancient books that contained the most insane ck magic and the crazy talk of those heretics, I have never heard of the existence of such¡­ life forms. The Eternal Sleepers are not Druids. They don¡¯t have the ability to reform species or to summon life. They must have found these biological tissues from some ce and reproduced it, using it to extract the soul. But¡­ where did they find these things?¡± ¡°Perhaps these things were bred by the Oblivion Association on behalf of the Eternal Sleepers.¡± Gawain frowned and said, ¡°They are associated after all.¡± Sir Philip was astonished. ¡°Do those evil cults have such a close rtionship?¡± ¡°If the reason for their corruption is what I am thinking, their rtionship might be far closer than what most people imagine.¡± Gawain sighed and said, ¡°Aspared to that, I am more concerned about the ¡®technology¡¯ that the Eternal Sleepers are using.¡± Philip was just a soldier and was rather slow-witted in this aspect. ¡°Technology?¡± ¡°Viscount Victor mentioned it in the letters he left behind. This is a ¡®calction node¡¯ constructed by the Eternal Sleepers.¡± Gawain pointed at the nerve cords that were connected to the victims and said, ¡°It seems like they are attempting to rece the real world with a ¡®true dream realm¡¯, and using the power of the dream realm to materialize something. It requires a terrifying amount of calction ability. You can simply understand it as the brain¡¯s capacity. It is a feat that no mage¡¯s brain could aplish. Therefore, they thought up this insane idea to connect the brains and create a ¡®human-brain array calctor¡¯. Do you understand what this means?¡± ¡°Does this mean they will kill more people?¡± ¡°That is just the surface. The deeper significance is that this group of heretics aren¡¯t just crazy, they are also in possession of crazy technology!¡± Gawain spoke sternly. ¡°They are rejected by mainstream society and have been hiding in seclusion but are still constantly developing. They have developed a new technology that is far beyond the current era¡¯s standard of magic. The heretics that have insane ideas aren¡¯t terrifying. The terrifying thing is that the heretics actually have the ability to research, and they are very good at it!¡± While speaking, Gawain stood up and looked at the entire underground hall. ¡°The most frightening thing is that if this crazy technology that they created is used in the right ce, their technological advancement will be faster and more terrifying¡­¡± After collecting the stone rubbing of the runes and the samples of the remains, Gawain and Sir Philip left this ce. After the dream realm¡¯s power faded, the castle¡¯s main hall was transformed into one of the smallest areas. Apart from the exterior walls, support pirs, and the ceiling that suddenly exposed the signs of 30 years of aging, this ce was still brightly illuminated, clean, and fresh. The servants that lived in the castle were actually cleaning the ce on a daily basis, but the ovepping trait of the dream realm and reality had ensured that the effects of their cleaning weren¡¯t just restricted to the dream realm. In fact, due to the ending of the dream realm¡¯s effect, the indistinct and gloomy aura that constantly lingered in this ce had also vanished. The castle¡¯s main hall was now much warmer and more peaceful than before. However, the warm and peaceful atmosphere couldn¡¯t relieve the anxiety of the people gathered in the main hall. Fear had enveloped everyone¡¯s hearts, including the chief Knight who had guarded this ce with loyalty and devotion for 30 years. When the dream realm ended, everyone in the castle suddenly awakened. Their consciousness and the memories that were obscured had all started to resolve themselves. The moment they obtained the free will to think, everything they experienced for 30 years had turned into a grotesque and variegated nightmare. They had been dream-walking in an ancient castle that didn¡¯t stop aging and had been taking care of an illusion that had been dead for decades. Their ghost-like mistress had been pacing back and forth from the ruined north tower. Everything was so chilling that their blood ran cold. As for those senior servants, Knights, advisors, and supervisors, things were even more horrific. They clearly remembered when their master and young master¡¯s skeletons were secretly transported back to the castle. They had also clearly remembered that 30 years ago, their mistress turned crazy and used magic to control all of their minds. Everything that happened after the incident, every single transformation that happened to the castle had surged into their minds. As for the supervisors that lived in the vicinity of the castle that were called back were now immersed in fear. Those people who frequently entered and exited this castle would be affected by the dream realm, butpared to the servants and Knights who never left the castle for 30 years, their fear was slightly lesser. No matter what, after realizing what they had experienced, no one was able to maintain theirposure. Amber was now standing at the tall tform at the end of the main hall and feeling very anxious. This ce was where the feudal lord would stand normally, but no one raised any objection to the ¡°youngdy¡± that stood atop it. Everyone knew that she was the personal guard of the Duke, and she was speaking on behalf of the Duke in this emergency. Therefore, no one doubted her and were looking at her with eyes filled with expectation. However, Amber wished for a chance to immediately go back into the shadows. It turned out that the feeling of bing someone important wasn¡¯t as nice as she imagined! ¡°Everyone, don¡¯t panic, don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t panic! The Duke is cleansing thest hideout, and he will be here shortly. Don¡¯t panic. He is on his way here!¡± Amber stood on the tform and pacified everyone with futile gestures. Just as she felt that she couldn¡¯t maintain the situation for even a second longer, Gawain and Sir Philip appeared together. [1] It is a saying to say you have nothing better to do. Chapter 184 - Arrangement Chapter 184: Arrangement The moment Gawain walked into the main hall, Amber left her afterimage behind and scuttled over. Her first statement was: ¡°Oh god, you¡¯re finally here! I will not be able to continue any longer if you didn¡¯te!¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you looking forward to using my name to unt your awe-inspiring authority?¡± Gawain looked at her strangely and said, ¡°Why do you look like this when you have the opportunity now?¡± ¡°Sigh, don¡¯t talk about it. It was different from my imagination!¡± Amber put on a bitter face and said, ¡°When I did my work previously, there weren¡¯t so many people looking on the side. A job environment with so much attention doesn¡¯t seem very nice¡­¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­As expected, I am unable to understand where your puzzling pride for your upation came from?¡± Gawain then threw the puzzling half-elf thief to the side and walked up the tall tform withrge strides. Dozens of eyes in the main hall immediately shifted onto him. Gawain took a look at the people below and saw the castle¡¯s advisor, treasurer, Chief Knight, and also that Holy Light Cleric that he met yesterday night. He could also see plenty of vige officials that had anxious and terrified expressions. They must be the supervisors that were helping to take care of the Kant n¡¯s businesses in the towns. After seeing their individual expressions, Gawain knew that the situation was almost the same as his prediction. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen.¡± Gawain spoke in a deep and calm tone. With his imposing height and presence, he had sessfully made everyone calm andposed. ¡°I think all of you should be in a confused and fearful state. You must have suddenly realized what had happened for the past decades. Those experiences are entirely different from your memories and perception. I am here to answer all your doubts.¡± ¡°Yesterday night, something significant happened in the castle. I am regretful to tell all of you that the Kant n has reached its end¡­¡± Gawain used the simplest and most straightforward method to reveal the truth to everyone. He allowed them to know the truth as they needed to continue maintaining order in the Kant territory for this period of time. Furthermore, they had to take up the responsibility ofmunicating with the surrounding noble ns and the investigators sent over by the king. Gawain chose rather subtle words to describe those overly frightening parts, like how the old stables had a stack of corpses, or how this piece ofnd was just one step away from being corrupted by the nightmare. After all, that ¡°Young Master Belm¡± had already stepped into the real world with both his feet! It might sound as though he was deliberately scaring everyone; therefore, he simply brought everyone to personally see the scene, and it would allow them to better understand what exactly happened. When Gawain¡¯s narration ended for now, the main hall sank into a temporary atmosphere of utter silence. Concerned discussions finally echoed after a few minutester. The Church of Holy Light¡¯s Cleric was constantly drawing the holy symbol on his chest while attempting to eliminate the fear that lingered in his heart. As for the white-haired Chief Knight who was the Kant Castle¡¯s Knight instructor couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Then what should we do?¡± ¡°In regards to thisnd¡¯s future, Viscount Kant has already made arrangements.¡± Gawain nodded and took out the letters that Victor Kant had left behind. ¡°Viscount Kant might have been trapped by the nightmare, but he was still a tenacious warrior. You should be thankful to him as he used the remaining strength of his soul to arrange a way out for everyone. Firstly, it is regarding the rights of inheritance of this territory¡­¡± After clearly exining every arrangement that Viscount Kant made and encouraging all the supervisors that were present, Gawain gave everyone the time to have their own discussions. He then stated his standpoint by leaving the tall tform and resting at the tea table on the west side of the main hall. This was showing a kind of attitude that the Cecil n wouldn¡¯t be using this opportunity to strike and annex the Kant territory. This kind of annexing was rathermon in this era, especially after the second royal court was established. The royal n¡¯s restriction on the various noble ns had declined greatly. It was verymon for the smaller noble ns at the borders of the kingdom to mutually consume and take over each other. As such, when Gawain made this gesture, everyone felt at ease. However, it was obvious there were people with different thoughts. Gawain sat for just a short moment before a short and stout middle-aged man wearing a ck coat walked over. He bowed in front of Gawain to express his regards before speaking with a rather nervous but respectful expression. ¡°Your Excellency, I am the advisor for Viscount Kant, Patrick Pom. There is something I wish to discuss with you.¡± ¡°The advisor for the old Viscount?¡± Gawain looked at the stout man who looked honest and had a somewhat schrly aura. He had an image that was rather fitting to be a ¡°noble¡¯s advisor¡±. ¡°Why are you looking for me?¡± ¡°It is like this. We have lost our feudal lord, and it is even worse as we have also lost Butler Carter. Without a person to lead the overall situation, a mere affairs advisor like me actually has to take up the heavy responsibility to maintain order in the entire territory. I am very worried my prestige is insufficient.¡± Patrick was rather nervous as he spoke while standing. It was obvious that he was experiencing great pressure as this was the first time he was facing Gawain who was of high nobility. ¡°Of course, I understand that this request is a little overboard. It is fine even if you don¡¯t agree.¡± Gawain raised his brows but didn¡¯t look too surprised. ¡°You are saying for me to take over the role of the feudal lord temporarily?¡± ¡°This seems to be the best choice.¡± Patrick helplessly spread his hands and said, ¡°You are the person with the most prestige that we can contact and also the most capable noble. Apart from you, no one else can control this situation. Furthermore, you have rescued thisnd. Therefore, it is very reasonable. I don¡¯t think anyone will express any objection if you were to take over.¡± However, Gawain merelyughed and spoke unhurriedly, ¡°I have no intention to be the feudal lord, not even as a substitute.¡± Patrick obviously felt uneasy and said, ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°I am not finished yet.¡± Gawain shook his hand and said, ¡°If I am to be the Kant territory¡¯s feudal lord in this situation, you people might know what is happening, but the other noble ns outside the territory will not think the same way. The Kant territory is just a small piece ofnd, and I do not wish for it to be a stain on my reputation. This is both a private and official matter. Viscount Kant is a noble that is directly conferred by the royal n. The cirction, remation, and re-distribution of thend can only be decided by the King. I might be Francis II¡¯s senior, but I don¡¯t n to use this point to vite the rule that me and Charlie had set down.¡± ¡°¡­You are indeed fair and upright.¡± ¡°Of course, I understand your difficulties. So I will dere with my title of Duke Cecil that I will protect thisnd before the Kant territory obtains a new feudal lord. Once thisnd has a new feudal lord, my protection shall also end.¡± Patrick blinked his eyes and seemed to have understood Gawain¡¯s long-term considerations. He lowered his head respectfully and said, ¡°Your arrangements are indeed meticulous.¡± Gawain nodded and took this moment to give his instructions. ¡°I hope you can put out a notice telling those dismissed castle servants and serfs that directly belong to the feudal lord that if they are having a difficult time trying to make a living, the Cecil n is willing to receive them at any time. They will be treated fairly as free residents in the new Cecil territory.¡± ¡°Yes, they will definitely be thankful for your benevolence.¡± ¡°Moreover, Viscount Kant has given me all his wealth as a present to me. But I feel that all of you need it even more. Therefore, apart from the farnds that are closer to the south that will be part of the Cecil territory, I shall leave all the wealth in the castle to all of you. Now that the butler is no longer around, you and the Chief Knight will need to utilize this wealth appropriately. Ensure that they are spent on things that should be spent on, understand?¡± This time, Patrick¡¯s expression was truly surprised as he was startled for a few seconds before he nodded hurriedly. ¡°Yes¡­ yes. I am very moved by your generosity! I swear on the name of my family that every copper left behind by Viscount Kant will be used properly!¡± ¡°Very good. I believe that you people who have cautiously and conscientiously taken care of the Kant n¡¯s business will continue to maintain the order of thisnd.¡± Gawain nodded and said, ¡°In addition, considering that there is arge wilderness separating our twonds, I will assign someone to travel between the two territories and to assist you in managing this ce. The Kant territory and the Cecil territory will have a much closer rtionship than before.¡± Patrick lowered his head sincerely and said, ¡°That will be for the best.¡± ¡°There are some rtively practical matters. First, it will be the distribution of charcoal for winter. I heard that Viscount Kant and the Viscountess would distribute charcoal to the poor during winter so that they could warm themselves through the winter. There were times when rations were distributed too, although that might be the oue of the dream realm¡¯s illusion. However, the benefits that the residents obtained were real, and I don¡¯t wish for this tradition to vanish along with the passing of the feudal lord. Go and put up a notice to tell the residents that the distribution of charcoal and rations will still go on this year. With the protection of the Cecil n, this winter will still be warm. Your people are doing the actual work every year, so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem, right?¡± Patrick nodded repeatedly and said, ¡°Yes, it definitely isn¡¯t a problem. In fact, half a month ago, we had already started making preparations for this. The charcoal are all stacked up in the castle¡¯s warehouse and waiting to be distributed¡­¡± After making arrangements for a few more matters, Gawain watched as Patrick went back into the crowd. That stout man started to convey Gawain¡¯s message to the supervisors while Gawain nodded and smiled. He then picked up the cup of cooled tea and slowly drank it. A young female servant walked over while panicking and seemingly wanted to remedy the neglect of her job, but Gawain shook his hand and asked that frightened youngdy to look for a ce to rest. ¡°It is fine. Cooled tea is rather nice. That¡¯s right, if you cannot find a job, remember toe to the Cecil n. We provide food and residence, and also distributend.¡± ¡°You never forget to constantly recruit people.¡± Amber stuffed half a piece of pastry into her mouth and looked at Gawain with a little dissatisfaction and said, ¡°However, you are always readily giving the best benefits to people¡­¡± Gawain merelyughed and spoke softly, ¡°You will understand, but don¡¯t ask so much now.¡± Amber curled her mouth and said, ¡°Unnecessary information.¡± Gawain didn¡¯t exin too much to Amber; instead, he called out to Sir Philip who was resting by the side. ¡°From now on, you will be responsible for themunication between the Kant territory and Cecil territory. You will also represent me to supervise the situation on thisnd.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Excellency.¡± Sir Philip nodded but was still rather worried. ¡°I have never done anything like this¡­¡± ¡°There is no need to overthink it. I will tell you what you need to do. Apart from what needs to be done, you are responsible for reporting to me on the Kant territory¡¯s situation. You don¡¯t have to stay here for a long period of time either. You simply have to make one or two trips here every month. Knight, this ce has encountered a great catastrophe and will need a lot of help.¡± Philip felt his motivation instantly surging as he said, ¡°Yes, Your Excellency, I will not fail your trust!¡± Gawain let out a breath and looked at the luxurious castle hall in front of him before he suddenly missed the Cecil territory¡¯s fields and construction sites. When the aftermath¡¯s arrangements were done and after having people assigned to the tasks, it was time for him to leave. Chapter 185 - Theory of the Helping Devil Chapter 185: Theory of the Helping Devil After they¡¯d finished all arrangements and rested for a day, Gawain and Amber set off to leave the Kant territory, while Sir Philip would stay behind for the time being with two other apanying soldiers ¡ª¡ª he had to stay here to supervise the implementation of the various follow-up work, ensuring that everything would be carried out ording to Gawain¡¯s orders. He also had to build an emergency center of authority in the Kants¡¯ old castle that had lost its feudal lord to ensure that the ranked Knights, farm managers, and representatives of the different business associations would not sink into chaos. This was an arduous and tedious job, perhaps difficult to aplish given Sir Philip¡¯s individual capacity, but Patrick from the affairs advisors and that chief Knight called Wald Peric had sworn that they would lead all Knights and managers to fully cooperate with Philip¡¯s work. Together with Duke Cecil¡¯s grand prestige, as well as the Kant territory¡¯s unprecedented weak state internally, Gawain believed Philip would be able to hold things down. After all, territory management in this era really didn¡¯t get tooplicated ¡ª¡ª there weren¡¯t any extremelyplex personnel structures, nor were there intricate and ingenious administrative models. The majority of the feudal lord¡¯s daily matters were handled on his behalf by people like butlers and advisors, while the end of the territory was controlled by the various ranked Knights. In other words, as long as these people did not revolt, the order of the territory could be maintained. After a storm came a calm, the radiance of the huge sun shone down on thisnd that had broken away from darkness once again. Although the winds from the north were still cold, this chill no longer carried the stifling and uneasy strange auras. Light would dispel the uneasiness in people¡¯s hearts sooner orter, and under this sunlight that hadn¡¯t been seen for days, the carriage with the Cecil n¡¯s emblem drove down a pebbled path through the small town that was gradually waking up and headed towards the south. As Sir Philip and the apanying soldiers remained in the castle, other than the coachman who was driving the carriage, it was only Gawain and Amber left. Thetter opened the panel of the carriage. Watching those Kant residents hurrying in the direction of the castle, she could not help but murmur, ¡°Do you think they would understand what happened?¡± Gawain replied indifferently, ¡°They would most likely further process it using their superstitious thinking. The incident that happened in the castle would be even more bizarre and darker by their exnations. But all these don¡¯t matter. They will ept this reality, and subsequently, life will still go on the way it should.¡± ¡°Viscount Kant was greatly revered by the people.¡± Amber pursed her lips. ¡°But now these people suddenly learned that their Viscount had died thirty years ago. It had always been an existence that resembled a spirit governing them¡­ I really don¡¯t know what these people would think.¡± ¡°To most people in this era, who the feudal lord is isn¡¯t important. Even an outstanding feudal lord admired by people would hardly leave a deep and permanent impression in the hearts of the bottommost ss.¡± Gawain sighed. ¡°Those you can see in the taverns are all wealthy civilians, but the territory is supported by 80% of the even poorer peasants and serfs, and how many of those people would have the leisure time to think aboutplicated problems like a change in feudal lords? So, the only answer is ¡ª a small group of people would get into a panic but would very soon be assuaged by Patrick and Wald Peric, while the majority would continue living ignorantly and mediocrely, asionally discussing matters of the previous feudal lord as they drank low-quality private brews in the fields, and before the next farm work arrives, toss everything to the back of their minds.¡± Amber watched Gawain. Her brows could not help but knit into a furrow. ¡°When you speak about these matters¡­ you¡¯re always a little frightening, so calm that you¡¯re like an outsider.¡± Yet Gawain only smiled, with no further exnation, but Amber was someone who couldn¡¯t be quiet. She paused for a while and then bubbled out with a new question. ¡°Say¡­ you ought to exin to me now. Why did you reject Patrick¡¯s good intention? This is a chance. Everyone in the Kant territory who has a say is supporting you. You just need to take a step forward¡­ The Kant territory would belong to you! This area is so far from the capital. Even if Francis II learns of this news, all he can do is pinch his nose and tacitly approve this fact¡­¡± Gawain didn¡¯t expect Amber to still be conflicted about this question; even more, he didn¡¯t expect this ultimate disgrace¡¯s brain to actually be able to ponder over such aplicated issue for a long time and not crash. Taking into ount that since they were idle now, he responded with a smile, ¡°You really think me epting Patrick¡¯s invitation then and there was a good idea?¡± ¡°Why not? You¡¯re more or less a Duke, a Duke! Is there a problem with taking over a mere viscount¡¯s territory?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve said before, the Kant territory is only a small piece ofnd ¡ª¡ª although it is very prosperous, a grain-producing area that was known to all, it¡¯s still a tiny areapared to the two ins on the two sides of the Dark Range and the surrounding vast subsidiarynds. And taking over such a smallnd would damage my reputation, so it¡¯s not worthwhile ¡ª¡ª but that was only said for Patrick¡¯s ears.¡± Gawain shook his head with a smile. ¡°Have you thought about it? If I epted the position of Kant territory¡¯s ¡®acting feudal lord¡¯, how big of a pressure would it pose to the aristocrat system of the entire southern region?¡± Amber was especially honest. ¡°Who would know about this?!¡± ¡°There are countless pairs of eyes watching the Cecil n, watching what exactly this ancient legend that crawled out of his coffin wants to do in this era, especially our neighbors in the south. Every one of them had entered a state of full alert since the day I resurrected. ¡ª¡ª What they worry about is simply their ownnd because more than 80% of the south¡¯s aristocratic fiefs had been divided from the Cecil n¡¯s old property,¡± Gawain exined unhurriedly. ¡°And in such a circumstance, I visited the Kant territory. In the end, in a mere few days, the Kant territory¡¯s feudal lord and his whole family were all dead. They had yet to have an heir who fulfilled the qualifications. Hence, I turned and became the acting feudal lord of the Kant territory ¡ª¡ª in the situation where there was no dispute, the so-called acting feudal lord would be the actual feudal lord before long. How do you think those anxious neighbors would look upon this fact?¡± Amber batted her eyes. ¡°¡­They¡¯re being foolish. You didn¡¯te targeting the Kant territory¡¯s feudal-lord position. You weren¡¯t the one who killed Viscount Kant either ¡ª¡ª he died thirty years ago!¡± ¡°But the aristocrats of the south don¡¯t know this truth, or even if they do learn of it in the future, they would refuse to acknowledge it.¡± Gawain shook his head. ¡°People would refuse to believe what they are unwilling to believe. There¡¯s only a simple cause and effect in their eyes ¡ª Gawain Cecil went to the Kant territory, and in the end, he became the feudal lord there. What specifically happened in between these? Who would care?¡± ¡°Then you¡¯re just going to be a good person in vain? Moreover, when you left, you¡¯d actually left behind the assets that Viscount Kant gifted you in a private capacity and even told Sir Philip and Patrick to distribute those assets to¡­¡± Amber muttered with a look of resentment, but midway through, a change slowly appeared in her tone. She abruptly stopped and then lifted her head to stare at Gawain. ¡°Hold on, then you¡¯re¡ª¡± ¡°Patrick invited me to be the Kant territory¡¯s feudal lord. I will definitely reject him. However, soon, everyone would know that Duke Cecil was about to be the protector of every person in the Kant territory.¡± Gawain leaned on the carriage and switched to a morefortable position. ¡°The Knights and supervisors in the castle will still get wages. Those wages are provided by Duke Cecil. Those servants in the castle with nowhere to go will still have a way out, and this way is given by Duke Cecil. The civilians of the Kant territory will still receive charcoal to get through the winter, and when they head to the town square to collect these things, the government order stuck on the town square¡¯s bulletin would be signed with Gawain Cecil¡¯s name. But even if all these had happened, I wouldn¡¯t be the feudal lord of the Kant territory.¡± Amber did not make a sound, only dazedly watched Gawain go on. ¡°Then, I will construct an ess road from the northern bank of the White River to the Kant territory. This is a part of the New Cecil territory¡¯s northern bank development n. Before the King¡¯s decree is ryed, the Kant territory and Cecil territory would be connected in reality. Then, I would provide work opportunities for themon people of the Kant territory, allowing them to freely engage in trade and move between the Cecil and Kant territories. Every Kant resident willing to serve the Cecil n would receive the same fair treatment as a Cecil resident. Of course, in exchange, they would have to learn thews of Cecil in this process so as to avoid going against the Cecil territory¡¯s interests. After this, I willy Magic Webs in the Kant territory, recruit famed schrs and craftsmen to construct and renovate the town¡¯s dated facilities, and strive to spread the Cecil territory¡¯s night-schooling system here too. Every Kant resident would realize that their lives did not be worse with the passing of the old feudal lord. Instead, their lives were improving under the protection of Duke Cecil. And every southern aristocrat would clearly see that Gawain Cecil had never coveted the governing power of the Kant territory. He had merely been selflessly helping his neighbor¡­¡± Amber¡¯s eyes were wide, and she finally choked out after a long while, ¡°Then¡­ if the King really sends a new feudal lord to take over the Kant territory, you¡ª¡± ¡°After I¡¯ve done all these, do you think there would still be a ce for the new feudal lord?¡± Gawain asked with a faint smile. ¡°Francis II isn¡¯t a fool. Of course, I have no objections if he insists on sending a person here. ¡ª¡ª At the borders, you ought to know how weak the royal court¡¯s control over this area is. An aristocrat of the King¡¯s party could at the most serve as a not too useful spy for Francis II, but he could serve very well as the Cecil n¡¯s butler, helping me manage¡­ the Kant area.¡± Amber dazedly listened to everything. Only half a minuteter did she burst out with her thoughts, ¡°You aristocrats, indeed, your hearts are cker than anything else¡­¡± ¡°No, my heart isn¡¯t ck at all. Everything I do is open and aboveboard. I did not plot against anyone, nor would I take away properties from the hands of any innocent being. Think about it carefully. Have I hurt anyone¡¯s interest in this process? Would anyone live in poverty because of my help? Would anyone go hungry and cold because of all these? Just the contrary, everyone would be benefiting, even that ¡®new feudal lord¡¯ whom we don¡¯t know would appear or not. I can also guarantee that he would live a life better than before in the rapidly developing Kant territory, ¡®the life of a border aristocrat¡¯ that surpasses all he¡¯d imagined.¡± Amber thought carefully for a while and realized that it was indeed as Gawain had said, yet this only made her even more confused and conflicted. ¡°Then what are you going to such great lengths for? Doesn¡¯t the average man do so to harm somebody when he racks his brains and exhaust all schemes so thoroughly? Why are you¡ª¡± ¡°I benefited in this whole process too.¡± Gawain grinned happily. ¡°I was merely unscrupulous in my efforts and racked my brains to let everyone live a good life. ¡ª¡ªHelping devil, ever heard of it?¡± Amber looked at Gawain doubtfully. ¡°What a nonsensical term. This n of yours is so thorough that I¡¯m now a little suspicious that you¡¯ve had evil designs about the Kant territory from the very beginning¡­¡± ¡°Come on, all these werest-minute thoughts. ¡ª¡ª Otherwise, what could I do? I want to help the people of the Kant territory yet cannot let myself be surrounded by disputes. I can only wind about like that.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Of course it¡¯s true!¡± Chapter 186 - After Winter Set In Chapter 186: After Winter Set In The Kant territory incident finally came to an end, and it also seemed to be this eventful year¡¯sst stir. ¡ª¡ªFollowing the arrival of Fog Month, everything in the southern borders entered hibernation with the dropping temperatures. This ce that was gued by frequent ills was finally peaceful. However, the Cecil territory¡¯s buzzing construction had just begun. As the various fundamental machines and all kinds of factories were swiftlypleted, the new popce that surged into thisnd inrge numbers found that they actually had lots of work in this freezing winter season as well. ¡ª¡ªOf course, what greeted them wasn¡¯t just work for the winter and hot meals provided in the factory mess hall, they also got winter clothing specially tailored for workers and a charcoal allowance for every household. To peasants who in past winters, could only guard a little stored food and suffer at home, counting the food in their baskets, counting the number of days to winter ending, this was an excellent life that they could not have imagined. Compared to this, the newly added bit of workload was literally nothing worth mentioning. ording to Gawain, only until the Winter Development n had been smoothlyunched would the territory¡¯s development be truly considered to have gotten on the right path. Many spacious and sturdy four-wheeled carriages traveled on the pebbled road, crackling soundsing from under the wheels. Yellow fallen leaves covered the two sides of the road; what came into sight were all maple trees and giantwood that were only left with branches. This deste scene was bound to leave travelers in a depressed mood, but there was only a ball of warm strength in Joan¡¯s heart. Before the harshest frost arrived, she and her younger brother had found thest gathering point in the mountainous forest. She stood on the leading carriage, standing up to look at the entire fleet behind her. Seven carriages carried 46 sallow and shriveled homeless people, and the ones driving the carriages were powerful soldiers armed with magical weapons. These Cecil Combatantsplied strictly with the feudal lord¡¯s orders regarding the protection of her and her brother; the protection of the refugees in the fleet was also their responsibility in any situation. Regardless of whether they encountered beasts or bandits, these soldiers did not let a single refugeee to harm ¡ª¡ª and unlike in usual times, incidents of soldiers bullying refugees had never urred. This was what had her oddly surprised at the very beginning, but she had now be ustomed to it. This was truly an inconceivable team, and they were heading to an even more incredible ce. She had never believed that there would be an aristocrat n earnestly and sincerely protecting civilians; even more, she had never imagined that homeless people could receive free help on an unfamiliarnd. But what was most, most unexpected to her was that she had actually be a ¡°messenger¡± and ¡°representative¡± to facilitate and carry out this process. In the past ten-odd days, she and her brother traveled all over the mountainous forest and wilderness north of the White River and south of the Kant territory. They moved at the same time with the few other teams, finding, one after another, refugee gathering points that faced extinction and cing them under the protection of the powerful Cecil soldiers. Then, they brought these fellow countrymen struggling between life and death to a safe ce. This entire process was literally like a dream. Joan looked towards thest carriage. Tom had stood up from the carriage. He was presently waving his arm hard at her and waved the g in his hand to draw an odd gesture that represented ¡°everything is normal¡± ¡ª¡ª that gesture was a self-creation of his, and he¡¯d alsoe up with a whole bunch of ¡°long-distance signals¡± with different meanings, using the way of waving gs and light to deliver messages in the party. He very evidently enjoyed doing so and took great pride in it. ¡°Working for the feudal lord¡± ¡ª these few words had immensely emboldened this younger brother of hers who was usually weak. Even without any substantial position or letter of appointment, Tom was more than ten times more spirited than before. Joan felt for a time that Tom¡¯s excessively impetuous acts might have offended the apanying soldiers, but the oue now was that the ¡°g and light signals¡± that Tom invented had reached the feudal lord. The feudal lord had given himvish praises and even standardized those signals and taught them to the soldiers in the territory¡­ Joan responded to Tom¡¯s signal with a smile, then turned around, and continued looking to the front. She could already see curling smoke and the territory¡¯s watchtower. The refugees in the carriage had also noticed the changes ahead. Some people grew nervous for sure; some of them struggled to their knees from the straw and torn cotton, gazing at the soldiers on guard at the tower in the distance, while others looked uneasily towards Joan. ¡°Miss Joan, can we really¡­ settle down there?¡± The daughter of a hunter would actually be respectfully and nervously addressed as ¡°Miss¡± by civilians. This made Joan feel rather strange; she quickly shook her head with a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t call me that. I¡¯m a civilian just like all of you. Rest assured, the hard times have ended. It¡¯s Duke Cecil¡¯s territory in front. We will set up a home there. Every person can settle down here.¡± The carriage went past the bridge, and huge brass bells were promptly sounded; the dang dang sound cut through the air. The sentries shouted the call that had often been sounded these days, ¡°New¡ªpopce¡ªentering!¡± The muddled homeless people curled up in the straw and cotton were jolted awake, leaning on the carriage¡¯s guardrail one after another. They saw the big and tall gate open before their eyes. The carriage went on a main roadid using bricks and ¡°rocks¡±. Orderly rows of brand new houses spread out at the end of the road, curling smoke floating in the sky. The carriage turned east at the first intersection, heading towards a riverbank square. ¡°New¡ªpopce¡ªentering!¡± A soldier¡¯s sonorous voice burst out in the air; the refugees¡¯ carriages entered the square following this call. Rows of wooden sheds stood at the fringes of the square; recorders doing the registration of poption and soldiers maintaining order had long taken their ces. An enormous pot was set up in the middle of a square, the stove fire raged beneath the pot, while the aroma of stewed food wafted out from the big pot. A broad-shouldered woman with a big waist stood beside the pot, stirring the assorted soup stewing in the pot with a longdle. Such nutritious yet easily digestible soup was food that best suited the hungry people. Not only could it quickly replenish their physical strength, it could also prevent their stomachs that have be weak due to long-term hunger from being hurt. The instant they spotted the food, the 46 sallow and emaciated refugees on the seven carriages seemed to be put at ease immediately. Joan could sense such an air of sudden relief because not too long ago, she¡¯d also been one of them on the carriage who suddenly felt at ease. And this day, when thest batch of refugees safely arrived at the territory, was also the day Gawain and his family finally left their respective tents and moved into the new ¡°castle¡±. Having the aid of the ¡°otherworldly cement¡± that Reba came up with, together with the support of Heidi¡¯s magic, as well as Nichs Egg¡¯s control over metal building-materials ¡ª the construction of the new residence waspleted at a speed far faster than Gawain had estimated. A brand-new three-level manor sat on the originally empty space near the tent ¡ª¡ª no feudal lord¡¯s castle had beenpleted this fast in history. This naturally ought to be credited to the building materials that Reba came up with, but Gawain believed that the more important reason was that he hadn¡¯t, like those conventional aristocrats, insisted on using natural boulders to construct the castle or even having the castle built on a mountain. Constructing a vi on level ground using bricks was far easier than constructing a castle on the top of a mountain using rocks. Gawain knew that the purpose of the construction of conventional castles was to resist enemies. Instead of calling them a certain residence, using ¡°military fort¡± as a description would be even more apt. However, he did not intend to build that kind of castle in the Cecil territory ¡ª¡ª firstly, it was a waste of money and manpower; secondly, he couldn¡¯t get ustomed to living in those cold and hard rock houses, and thirdly, he didn¡¯t need it. If they really were to encounter an emergency situation, the ancient facility in the mountain would definitely be more hardy and reliable than any kind of castle of the present era. This three-level house was probably the most luxurious big building in the territory, but if it was ced amongst the aristocratic residences of the current era, perhaps only ¡°overly in¡± could be used as an adjective for it. Gawain¡¯s personal design allowed it to cast off the various extravagant yet ufortable drawbacks of a conventional aristocratic house. The entire structure was arranged with the aim of being practical and useful. When Gawain finally moved into the bright and spacious and walled study, he instantly felt that his brain-draining design previously was all worth it. Although there weren¡¯t any marble window sills with splendid carved ornamentation, no sparkling crystal sculptures, no vault drawings or exquisite columns in the style of the northern states ¡ª he had two magicboratories and a mechanical workshop, and this beautiful big study before his eyes ¡ª¡ª this study was walled! Amber was also sauntering in the study. Miss Half-Elf seemed to be even more pleased with this residence than Gawain was. She checked the lock on every door and then inspected all the cabs and drawers in the study. Finally, she opened the window facing the ¡°middle square¡±. With her head bowed, looking at the courtyard below, she said with admiration from the depth of her heart, ¡°In the future, I can finally climb through the window¡­¡± ¡°Go next door to be crazy.¡± Gawain looked up from his book and nced at this half-elf. ¡°Remember to use the door.¡± ¡°Tch, I was just making a joke. Why are you taking it so seriously?¡± Amber staggered to the front of Gawain¡¯s desk. ¡°But then again, you¡¯re really weird. I thought you¡¯d stayed in the tent for so long because you wanted to build another magnificent fortress or pce. In the end, you only constructed such a ce?¡± ¡°Building a pce in a territory with a total poption of a mere few thousand?¡± Gawain chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ve yet to reach that level of extravagance.¡± ¡°I heard the stir at the riverbank square earlier. I think thest batch of refugees has finally arrived.¡± Amber¡¯s ears quivered. ¡°You can finally be at ease this time¡­ Say, what is it that you keep looking down at?¡± Gawain lifted his hand and held up the big book with a hard cover and bronze title that he¡¯d been reading since the start. ¡°A book that is rather popr in the central and southern regions. It is said that 70% of the readers are aristocrat madams and youngdies.¡± Amber¡¯s expression instantly became weird. ¡°A book that madams and youngdies like to read? You actually like reading such¡ª Damn!¡± Herment became an exmation before she could finish it. It was because the title of that book was truly eye-catching: Gawain Cecil¡¯s Romantic Affairs ¡ª¡ª The Story of a Hero and Various Princesses. Then, Miss Half-Elf¡¯s expression became even odder. ¡°This¡­ this interest of yours¡­¡± ¡°What interest? I¡¯m studying my own life biography.¡± Gawain sighed. ¡°Of course, it¡¯s really a surprise to be able to see such things¡­¡± The sigh in Gawain¡¯s heart was even heavier: rising from his coffin of 700 years and seeing his own book, this aplishment was really unreplicable. Amber immediately leaned over slyly. ¡°Hey, hey, let me see, let me see¡­ Turns out you still have such stories circting? That bunch of book writers are really¡­ tsk, tsk¡­¡± ¡°It was widely regarded that arranging a heap of romantic affairs for ancient heroes is both a kind of praise and embellishment of their lives. After all, those people were dead. Neither would they jump out to criticize mistakes and give them trouble. Moreover, the heroes who¡¯d been prettified would most likely be very pleased with this. ¡ª¡ªWhen they thought this way, they certainly didn¡¯t expect me to crawl back to the living.¡± Gawain pursed his lips. ¡°I still admired them quite a bit. I only lived for a total of thirty-five years. I only had one wife in my entire life. They were actually able to arrange more than eighty female soulmates in my thirty-five years into apact and intense life. How the f*ck did they shove this name list in?¡± ¡°He¡¯s cursing, he¡¯s cursing, eh he!¡± ¡°Eh he, your foot! Go get Pittman here!¡± Amber was instantly stunned. ¡°This book is his? That old pervert¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not his.¡± Gawain gave Amber a sidewards nce. ¡°I want to ask him what race the ¡®sea demons¡¯ mentioned in this book are. ¡ª¡ªThis is the only one out of numerous biographies that mentioned I had experiences of going out to sea. But in that ¡®experience¡¯, it mentioned a species that Ipletely do not know!¡± Chapter 187 - What Are Sea Demons Chapter 187: What Are Sea Demons To be honest, seeing some strange variations in the course of reading his life biographies wasn¡¯t outside of Gawain¡¯s expectations. Seven hundred years of time transition was enough for those imaginative schrs of unofficial history to bizarrely make up things about any ancient figure. And Gawain Cecil was a well-established name that the entire continent knew of. Anything rted to this pioneer hero¡¯s 35 years of legendary life could be said to be an evesting topic in the talk of people of all sses. As the saying went ¡ª¡ª a highly meritorious and famed person dies an early death. Where would one go to find such a great theme? At this point, Gawain was even a little d about the backwardness of this world, d that the cultural industry of this world had yet to be able to wee an explosion-like development as it was still controlled by the upper ss. If this ce was as advanced as Earth, there would be the possibility of him seeing the pioneer forefathers from 700 years ago taking turns to get their character portraits changed and hung in the in-game stores. Charlie I would be gifted once you log in¡­ Duke Wilder would require seven days of logging in, and Gawain Cecil would be inside the first recharge package¡­ And there would be new skinsunched for this bunch of people every month. Those two granddaughters of his were extremely likely to throw all their money at the game just to admire their ancestor¡¯s new character portrait ¡ª¡ª and he, the party involved who rose from his coffin, would remain awkward and embarrassed++ (with more than 200 ¡®+¡¯ signs), wishing he could destroy his whole family¡­ Gawain pped his own forehead hard, forcefully gathering his thoughts that were starting to run reckless. He sighed and looked at the ¡°popr reading material¡± full of absurd fabrications. ¡ª¡ªEveryone knew the stories in here were fake, but it was the favorite escape literature of the madams and youngdies in the central and southern regions of the kingdom. This sufficiently proved the thriving vitality of popr literature, as well as how boring the daily lives of people in this era were. However, as the party involved, Gawain caught some implicit truths in those carelessly concocted love stories. ¡ª¡ªThe stories in here weren¡¯tpletely false. Apart from those female soulmates who were forcibly added in, this book mentioned many adventure tales rted to Gawain Cecil. These tales did not appear in any official biographies. Outsiders might, after reading them, group them with those female soulmates as the wonderful imagination of a certain second-rate novelist, but Gawain knew ¡ª¡ª at least half of those unknown adventures were real. Searching for the ruins of an ancient tomb in the Gondor Wastnd; finding clues about the Spirit of Elements; leading a small number of soldiers to look for a safe passageway when cutting across the ¡°magic scorch mark¡± and stumbling upon the Gondor Master Mage group that had be crystals; going deep into the mountains during the establishment of the Cecil territory and thenmunicating with the elements and receiving blessings. These were another aspect of Gawain Cecil as a pioneer. It could be seen from these experiences that he¡¯d indeed lived like a hacker with a halo¡­ Of course, it wasn¡¯t important whether he was a hacker or not. What was important was that these unknown stories had actually appeared in an absurd Knight novel. This provided much food for thought. This novel had been circting for a long time. The original author could no longer be identified. Probably because he had worried about getting beaten up when he was writing the book, the only clue this author left behind was his pen name, ¡°Wandering Minstrel Mr. C¡±. Gawain had no idea how Mr. C knew about these stories, but that was definitely a fellow who was patient and had enough contacts. He interviewed countless people who had interacted to some extent with Gawain Cecil or their descendants before he could put in order this information. And in all of these adventure tales, one mentioned the story of Gawain Cecil challenging the deep sea. It was written like this: After Gawain Cecil assisted the great founding king, Charlie I, to establish the kingdom, he was deeply worried about the monsters that ceaselessly wandered out from the Gondor Wastnd, as well as corrosion from the Dark Wave that was still spreading. Therefore, he asked for help from the earth, water, fire, and wind Spirit of Elements. The four princesses of the four elemental nes (those things had princesses too?) were convinced by the young heroic Knight; thus, they offered suggestions to him. Gawain Cecil ultimately epted the water element¡¯s enlightenment and set off towards the ocean to search for answers. Although he did not have a Storm Cleric as a guide on the sea, Gawain Cecil received the help of sea elves (of course, under the pen of Mr. C, another princess appeared within the sea elves in this process). The sea elves helped the fleet of ships pass through the storms surrounding the continent and pointed the fleet towards the east. After countless days and nights of sailing, the sea elves suddenly got into a panic and urged Gawain to stop going forward because the sea area further east was the territory of the ¡°sea demons¡±, and it was impossible for any terrestrial species to contend against the powerful sea demons in the ocean. However, Gawain Cecil did not fear. He insisted on continuing to move forward, thus the sea elves had no choice but to leave the party. Most of the ships in the fleet also left with the sea elves; only Gawain and a few loyal guards continued to drive the ship forward. And soon after, they met the sea demons. The clever reader Gawain immediately expected ¡ª¡ª there was definitely also a princess amongst the sea demons¡­ But this story was a little anticlimactic here. Mr. C only sloppily recorded that Gawain Cecil gained the trust of the sea demons and was guided to a ¡°sacred and beautiful¡± ce. The party drank good wine to their fill for three days and three nights and then was directly tossed back to the Loren Continent by a storm. This was clearly bluffing the readers. Intuition told Gawain that this story was the record of the deep-sea navigation that was missing from Gawain Cecil¡¯s memories. But a peculiar race appeared in here: sea demons. Gawain was very unfamiliar with the name of this race. The memories that he inherited also only contained that little bit of impression, but all it pointed to were strange and unusual myths and weird tales,pletely insufficient to obtain facts from. Just then, a knock sounded on the door of the study. After the door opened, the Druid Pittman walked in. ¡°Lord, I heard from Amber that you were looking for me?¡± Gawain nodded. After telling the Druid toe in, he got straight to the point. ¡°Have you heard about sea demons before?¡± ¡°Sea demons?¡± Pittman touched his chin. ¡°I¡¯ve heard a little about the legends rted to them.¡± Gawain¡¯s eyes instantly lit up. The Druids were indeed the upation that knew the most about the races in the world. Even if what Pittman knew were merely legends and tales regarding the sea demons, the level of detail would certainly be much higher than that of the average person¡¯s knowledge! ¡°Tell me about it!¡± Pittman twiddled his beard and began unhurriedly. ¡°The legends of the sea demons are mostly concentrated in the east and south of the continent. There is rarely anyone who mentions it here on Anzu¡¯s side. Even if they do, it will only appear in horror stories or simr thrilling, weird tales. It is said that sea demons are one of the oldest intelligent beings in this world. Their history is highly likely to go as far back as the gigantic dragons¡¯. Long before the rise of humankind, they¡¯d ruled the oceans for tens of thousands of years. ¡°Sea demons are a race with only females. They live in the depths of the ocean in the far east, almost never interacting with the intelligent races on the continent. They have beautiful looks, but only their upper bodies have the appearance of a human. Their lower bodies are all kinds of sea monsters¡­ ¡°Other than these, there are also legends mentioning that it is actually not that sea demons do not interact with humankind, but because they possess the ability to transform into human appearances. After they go ashore, they immediately blend into the crowd¡­ Yes, transformation ability. Many legends pointed out that the sea demons have a myriad of forms. They are born without a fixed form like water. Thus, they are able to turn into various forms. A good half of the tales about sea monsters in the open sea is their work. ¡°In addition, legends have been written about how sea demons make ns to visitnd. As they have long lifespans, they treat the observation of the development of short-lived civilizations like humankind as a pleasure. Every time human civilization undergoes twists and turns, rises and falls, they would curiouslye to watch. There are also people who believe that sea demons visitnd to search for certain things. There are records of interaction with sea demons that someone had left behind in all sincerity and seriousness in certain ancient books of the silver elves. And it imed that sea demons would interact peacefully with the intelligent beings onnd. They would sometimes seek help from nd people¡¯, and as long as the nd person¡¯ was able to fulfill their wishes, they would receive extremely generous rewards ¡ª¡ª sometimes it was rare pearls and jewels from the deep sea, sometimes it was strange, inconceivable magical equipment. It is said that the royal n of the sea elves have a trident that can release thunder and lightning. It was a gift to them from the sea demons a thousand years ago. ¡°However, there have also been legends indicating that the sea demons seemed to have no idea about the value of the gifts they give out. They merely gift some things tond people ording to their fancy. Sometimes, when you show them the way, they would give you a whole chest of pearls. At other times, when you¡¯ve been a great help to them, they would only gift you a piece of fish ¡ª¡ªand there¡¯d be bite marks on the fish. The records in this aspect were also left behind by the silver elves.¡± Gawain interrupted Pittman¡¯s narration. ¡°If a person encounters the sea demons while sailing in the ocean, how would they treat people who ¡®invade the ocean¡¯?¡± Pittman lifted a brow. ¡°You¡¯ve touched my blind spot of my knowledge ¡ª¡ª but ording to the ounts in most legends, it is extremely, extremely dangerous to encounter sea demons in the deep-sea areas.¡± ¡°Extremely dangerous?¡± Gawain frowned. ¡°Weren¡¯t there many legends that mentioned sea demons interacting peacefully with people onnd? They even gave gifts and whatnot¡­¡± ¡°But that was onnd.¡± Pittman¡¯s expression was very serious. ¡°In the ocean, it seems they would be very aggressive. Especially when lost navigators enter some sea areas that they shouldn¡¯t, sea demons would immediately turn into terrifying sea monsters to expel them, even pursuing and attacking. They are the family n of the ocean, possessing unthinkable powers in the sea. Even the thunder and lightning summoned by the strongest Master Mage are no match for their storms. ¡ª¡ªThere are so many horror stories about deep-sea navigation. Not all of them are groundless tales.¡± Gawain frowned. ¡°Is that so¡­?¡± ¡­¡­ At the same time, in the eastern deep sea far from the Loren Continent, some elegant and graceful figures were swiftly going past the dark seabed. Their snake tails or fishtails pped in the seawater, allowing these beautiful and elegant creatures to move quickly like phantoms in the deep sea, subtle and elusive. They werepletely unaware that they¡¯d be a topic of discussion for two humans on the faraway continent. For these deep-sea saltwater fishes, there was still very important work for them toplete. A sea demon crossed a ¡°ridge¡± on the seabed and looked at the sight ahead that snaked and sprawled out following the shape of the seabed. The special ¡°deep-sea vision¡± allowed her to look out to an extremely far spot even in this dark bottom of the sea. A startlingly huge cirrusid across the seabed in front. Layers of corals and deep-sea vegetation covered the cirrus. Large amounts of tattered bits of flesh were scattered around the cirrus. They¡¯dpletely lost their vitality, but not the slightest sign of dposition could be seen. And in a ce even farther, at the end of the cirrus that extended out like a small-scale mountain range, an even more massive shadow could indistinctly be perceived. That was the evenrger main body of flesh, where the ¡°first excavation-site¡± was. The long snake tail of the excavation team leader pped on the seabed; then the tail was raised up high, rapidly swinging in the seawater like a g. She gave orders to her team members in a loud voice. ¡°We¡¯ll dig here today! Come on, everyone!¡± The sea demons responded in unison. ¡°Come on, everybody!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t y too much with the ¡®squid¡¯. Don¡¯t waste time!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t waste time!¡± ¡°No eating engine fuel in secret!¡± ¡°No eating engine fuel in secret!¡± ¡°Start digging!¡± ¡°Start digging!¡± Chapter 188 - The Sea Demons Excavation Plan Chapter 188: The Sea Demons¡¯ Excavation n As to what exactly the ¡°big squid¡± was, the sea demons actually couldn¡¯t exin it either. About the forcednding in ancient times, many sea demons¡¯ memories of it were already fuzzy. Although they were ageless and immortal elemental creatures, they couldn¡¯t remember incidents that were too old that clearly. However, the only thing the sea demons could be sure of was that the ¡°big squid¡± at the bottom of the sea had already existed since the time they were forced tond in this world that hadndmasses. This was the remains of a lifeform far more ancient than the ancient times. Its remaining cirrus meandered along the seabed like a mountain range. The gargantuan size of the bulk of its body was unimaginable. The sea demons were shocked by the size of these remains at the very beginning and feared this world for a very long period of time ¡ª¡ª they worried that this unfamiliar world had such enormous frightening lifeforms everywhere, but soon, they realized that their worries seemed to be unnecessary. Everything in the deep sea was full of native creatures that were weaker and smaller than them; the ¡°big squid¡± seemed to be the only exception, and this powerful exception was already dead. ¡°Big squid¡± had been killed by some external force; this could be perceived from the broken corpse as well as the remaining metal debris on the seabed. However, the people who killed ¡°big squid¡± were a mystery. Throughout the ages, the sea demons were never able to find clues about that powerful race or civilization. Despite having scouted the various continents, there were only some barbaric and backward aboriginal civilizations. These civilizations did not even have the ability for ocean voyages; naturally, they couldn¡¯t be the powerhouses that killed ¡°big squid¡±. And after learning that the ¡°Dark Wave¡± that periodically destroyed ecosystems existed in this world, the sea demons gave up the operation to search for that civilization even morepletely and, in turn, settled into peacefully leading their lives in this ocean. Excavating ¡°big squid¡± was one of their most important jobs. This work was a link to restarting the core engine. ¡ª¡ª Although the day of sess was indefinite, sea demons were a lifeform that were very insensitive to the passing of time. Just like many elemental creatures, they also had ample patience and a lousy concept of time. Such characteristics allowed them to sessfullyplete the transformation of their civilization in the extremely distant past, and today, it made them content and happy as they immersed themselves in their work. The excavation party arrived at the scheduled work site. A huge piece of remnant flesh that had fallen from the cirrusid quietly in a deep pit on the seabed. After months of a ¡°growing cycle¡±, this piece of flesh had regrown back to its size at the very start. This meant that it could be dug again. The sea demons dispersed around the flesh tissue and drove dozens of forcefield enclosing generators into the seabed; a faint blue energy field screen sealed up the entire area so as to prevent the powers emitted by ¡°big squid¡± from polluting the waters. Then, in groups of three, they carried various types of equipment and began dissecting this lump of extremely strong flesh tissue. The excavation team leader roamed at the periphery, checking whether the forcefield enclosing generators were working properly. This was because these devices were only barely able to operate these days. All sorts of strange and bizarre breakdowns weremon urrences; things would easily go wrong if they didn¡¯t watch them carefully. But this was already much better than many years ago. At the least, more and more equipment had resumed operations ¡ª¡ª though the restart of the core engine still seemed indefinite¡­ The sea-demon team leader went around to the back of the flesh tissue. This was the objective of the next step of excavation. She moved close to the rough exterior that looked like tree bark with fungi piled on it and started examining the regrowth condition of this part of the tissue. However, just then, that body of flesh tissue suddenly squirmed like it hade alive! Dark red blood surged out from its wound; muscles and skin followed and grew in a twist. They swiftly bonded to form a small cirrus with strange patterns and glossy edges. The decorative patterns on the surface of the cirrus shimmered, continuously presenting all kinds of weird forms with its writhing and squirming. Any ordinary mind would sink into madness before these patterns: even the most tenacious valiant mortal wouldn¡¯t be able to escape unscathed after facing them¡ª¡ª The sea-demon team leader watched this cirrus dazedly. After bold assumptions and calm analysis, she decided to greet it too. Thus, her body instantly disintegrated and reassembled, changes to her form taking ce in the blink of an eye. She became a cirrus exactly like the other and also swiftly squirmed and curled on the seabed. An indescribable tentacle and a tentacle mimicked by a sea demon carried out an ecstatic dance with each other thatsted 10 minutes. Both parties did not reach anymon ground, and the three sea demons who hadpleted their excavation tasks at the side were already swimming over. One of the sea demons carrying the shock cutting machine used the point of her tail and poked the mimicked tentacle stuck in the seabed. ¡°Captain, you said earlier not to y too much with big squid¡­¡± The imitated tentacle turned back into a sea demon instantly and appeared to be slightly embarrassed. ¡°I thought it was saying hello to me¡­¡± Another sea demon swung her tail curiously. ¡°Speaking of which, there are often tentacles on the big squid squirming here and there¡­ What exactly do they mean?¡± ¡°Who would know? The deepwater schrs always believed that this is some sort ofmunication signal. In the end, there¡¯s no oue after so many years of decoding it. I suspect they¡¯re just wriggling here and there like seaweed.¡± ¡°No, this is definitelymunication. Just that, we are unable to understand it.¡± The sea demon carrying the cutting machine said with a serious look. ¡°If not, why do those people onnd appear to be so agitated once they see these cirri? And they would even shout at the top of their voice at these cirri¡­ This shows that there ismunication!¡± The sea demon team leader thought for a moment; with a p of her snake tail, she decided, ¡°Who cares? Cut this one down and take it with us ¡ª¡ª since it actively jumped out.¡± The sea demon carrying the cutting machine switched on the equipment in her hands, but before taking action, she asked rather expectantly, ¡°Then¡­ can we eat a little?¡± ¡°Ermmmm¡­ We should have collected enough of the reactor fuel¡­ Alright, you can eat some, but only a little!¡± ¡°Yeah~~¡± The remaining sea demons cheered and charged towards their ¡°lunch¡±. ¡­¡­ Meanwhile, in the Cecil feudal lord residence, Gawain and Pittman¡¯s discussion about sea demons had also finally ended. Pittman stroked his beard. ¡°Overall, the sea demons are almost a kind of ¡®legendary lifeforms¡¯. There are extremely few witness reports, and the records each time cannot be weighed. Their history is older than humankind. Living in the east of the endless ocean, they mighte ashore asionally but would not leave the deep sea most of the time. Neither would they interact with terrestrial races such as humankind. Sea demons in the ocean are dangerous. They will closely protect their territory. Any navigation that goes through their territory will incur their attack. ¡ª¡ªBut all the deep ocean routes have been canceled, so there¡¯s no need to worry about that.¡± Gawain frowned. Looking at the Knight biography in his hand, he let out a light sigh. ¡°Legendary species is it¡­? If only we could find a sea demon and interact with her. Alright, enough about this. Have you checked those biological tissues that I brought back from the Kant territory? Any progress?¡± Gawain took a lot of samples with him when he left the Kant territory, including the flesh of those strange biological tissues connected to the human brains in the underground hall. There were also those soft, fungus-sheath-like dark substances on the rectangr tforms around the stone pirs. Of course, the runes that the heretic of the Eternal Sleepers carved on the stone pirs had also been copied down by him. ¡ª¡ªAlthough Sir Philip had destroyed all the ruins, there were still many stone pirs left; copying down the runes in various spots then putting them together would eventually give them aplete draft. However, those magic runes were too dangerous, and their mechanisms were unclear, so Gawain did not begin the study on them. On the other hand, those dead flesh tissues still hadn¡¯t dposed after they¡¯d returned to Cecil territory, so they were handed to Pittman to be researched. ¡°About those biological tissues, I did a series of tests.¡± Pittman nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve confirmed that they contain traces of being reformed using magic, and Druid spells yed a part. The Oblivion Association clearly has a hand in it ¡ª¡ª just like what you were worried about, the Oblivion Association and Eternal Sleepers have coborated in the field of this ¡®technology¡¯. If they have the same kind of coboration with the Sons of the Storm, then the level of threat that these heretic cult believers pose¡­ would probably exceed many people¡¯s imagination.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already written to Francis II. I hope the warning that I personally raised could make that King take things more seriously.¡± Gawain rubbed his temples. ¡°I¡¯m now most worried that the Eternal Sleepers have already taken control of arge number of aristocrats. Their powers are even stranger and scarier than the Oblivion Association. Once they¡¯vepleted their infiltration, it would be difficult for outsiders to sense their existence again. If it wasn¡¯t because I happened to devour the consciousness of a heretic from the Eternal Sleepers, I¡¯m afraid even I wouldn¡¯t have realized anything unusual about the Kant territory.¡± ¡°That¡¯s something the King has to worry about.¡± Pittman nodded. ¡°Also, I found some clues when I tested those flesh pieces ¡ª¡ª although they all contain traces of being reformed using magic, such reformation was acquired. This means that a natural prototype exists in them.¡± ¡°Natural prototype?¡± Gawain instantly realized what Pittman meant. ¡°You¡¯re saying that those strange biological tissues were reformed using some species that already exist in nature? Are there such strange species in the world?¡± ¡°Yes, soul-absorbing octopuses in the western shores of the Dwarf Kingdom, spirit-engulfing demons near the Ancestral Peak, demonic beings with the power of the undead. Simr developed nerve organs that can connect and control the brain tissues of victims exist in all of them. And in those tissue samples that you brought back, I also found original structures simr to those of the demonic beings mentioned, they were clearly a part of the ¡®raw materials¡¯. However, the abilities of these monsters are not powerful enough to the extent of being able to connect so many humans together to create a ¡®true dream realm¡¯. Moreover, the differences between the respective races are huge. The conventional life-cultivating spell ispletely insufficient to blend them together. So, I suspect that the heretic cult believers of the Oblivion Association might have gained a breakthrough in the aspect of life fusion, such that they were able to forcefully ¡®piece¡¯ so many demonic beings together, and created a functional product that could be mass-produced.¡± ¡°¡­Such a feeling that the heretic cult believers have grasped core technology, while civilized society has made no progress really doesn¡¯t feel good.¡± Gawain sighed. ¡°Do you not have any better news for me?¡± Pittman looked a little troubled. ¡°I do, but you might not be too happy about it either.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Those pieces of flesh taste pretty good after being braised¡­¡± ¡°Bleuurp¡ª¡ª¡± Chapter 189 - The Videos That Selena Gerfen Left Behind Chapter 189: The Videos That Selena Gerfen Left Behind The tenth day after winter set in, the New Cecil Territory¡¯s brick-kiln yard and Magic Crystal Refinerypleted their overall expansion. Mining machinery being put to use ensured a steady increase in the output of steel, and steady increase in steel output guaranteed sessivemissioning of machine equipment in other areas of the territory. In the brick-kiln yard and magic-crystal refinery, an improved tamping machine, a crusher, a tunnel kiln, and a Honeb Magic Web that was of higher power output reced the old equipment and impelled a renovation of these factories in advance. ¡ª¡ªAlthough in the eyes of many, those ¡°factory sites¡± that took up considerable ground space in the territory were already extremely amazingrge-scale buildings, in Gawain¡¯s eyes, they had always only been slightly bigger work sheds. Only when all the factories had been expanded once would they, to a certain degree, carry some traces of the ¡°factories¡± in his mind. Changes were taking ce in the territory every day. Ample reserves of food and supplies to keep warm ensured the maintenance of personnelbor, while Nichs Egg¡¯s nature-defying level of metal control allowed the machine equipment to walk out of the blueprints in batches into reality like they were being printed. Gawain would see a big heap of progress reports on his work desk every day. Though reviewing these reports were significantly draining to his mental power, he found pleasure in doing so. Reading reports was certainly much moreforting than carrying a knife to go hack heretic cult believers ¡ª¡ª thetter only meant there were people being assaulted by those viins, while the former meant that the lives of every person in the territory were getting better and better. However, apart from reading reports, Gawain also had something else to do. He had ced the ¡°soulntern¡± that he had retrieved from the Kant territory on his desk. Thentern was radiating a weak yet pure white glow. When they first left the Kant territory, thisntern always appeared to be not too ¡°stable¡±. It constantly emitted the kind of faint purple light fog that was like starlight, and so long as a person came into contact with it, he would hear indistinct weird sounds, let alone other influences such as triggering illusions and nightmares. In addition, it could not be activated and put to use ording to the method in Gawain¡¯s memories. It seemed that even after leaving the ¡°user¡± Lilith Kant, the negative power entrenched in thentern still would not dissipate. Thus, Gawain had no choice but to seal this item up temporarily and left it in a certain storage shed in the mountain vault. However, the soldier keeping guard suddenly reported yesterday, saying that thentern¡¯s purple starlight had faded. It had returned to normal ¡ª¡ª at least, that was what it looked like on the surface. It seemed that the kind of evil rituals that the heretic of the Eternal Sleepers carried out could not umte energy for a long time. So long as the ritual had ended, the forces of nightmares in thentern would swiftly decline too. Gawain lifted thentern and carefully examined its crystal outer case as well as the exquisite brass base. Through that translucent crystal case, extremelyplicated ruins could be seen slowly moving inside. Everything was simr to how it was 700 years ago. Thisntern wasn¡¯t a product of the ancient Gondor Empire. In fact, its techniques came from the Dwarf Kingdom in the west of the continent. Those stumpy mining enthusiasts often gave one a boorish feeling, but in actuality, they were experts in working on sophisticated articles and were especially skilled inbining crystals and metals into unbelievable magical tools. The ¡°dreamntern¡± was the proud work of a well-reputed dwarf craftsman then. In Gawain¡¯s memories, other than strengthening dream theurgies as well as protecting the consciousness of the user, it also had some peculiar little functions. He ced his hand on thentern and slightly infused magical power, yet notpletely activating it. And in this process, he sketched out the figure of Selena Gerfen in his mind and silently recited her name in his heart. A few secondster, some messy and broken images began to emerge in his mind. He ¡°saw¡± himself floating in a position about one meter above the ground. His vision swayed slightly. From his peripheral vision, he spotted a female figure dressed in a moon white priestess robe, and slightly farther, objects resembling tents and simple houses could be seen. Excitement surged in Gawain¡¯s heart: this information indeed had yet to disappear! This was the unique function of the ¡°dreamntern¡± ¡ª¡ª upon infusing suitable magical power, it could be used to record some images and sounds, and through a particr method of retrieval, it could reproduce the record in the user¡¯s mind. Back in those years, Selena Gerfen often used this function to record images on the way during the journey of pioneering, and for a few times, she¡¯d even sessfully passed on crucial intelligence using such a method. The only thing Gawain worried about was whether the new owner had also activated this function after Selena Gerfen¡¯s death ¡ª¡ª in this case, Selena Gerfen¡¯s ¡°videos¡± would have been overwritten by the new user¡¯s. But now, it seemed that it was indeed only Selena and himself who knew of this secret function. The very first images were scenes of the pioneering journey. These things were present in Gawain Cecil¡¯s memories too, so Gawain quickly skipped past them. Soon, he found the records near the end. He hoped that Selena Gerfen retained her habit of recording images of significance at any time and recorded the scenes that he wanted to know most badly. Finally, another image appeared. Gawain ¡°saw¡± Selena Gerfen walking on a rough mountainous path, and many solemn-looking ¡°pilgrims¡± dressed in priest garments or church armors could be seen ahead and behind. In the next image, Gawain saw an open space at the peak of a mountain. A huge altar had been set up, and many priests and church Knights stood silently around the altar. In the distance, cloud and mist could be seen lingering; the mountain range in ups and downs were partly concealed in the sea of clouds. It was the Ancestral Peak! That ceremony 700 years ago where the higher ranks of the respective sects pooled efforts tomunicate with the gods! ¡°I¡¯m a little nervous. Everyone¡¯s expression is very tense. I hope everything goes smoothly.¡± Gawain suddenly heard a fuzzy yet soft female voice in his mind. After faltering for two seconds, he then realized that this was Selena Gerfen¡¯s voice ¡ª¡ª the dream priestess seemed to be doing a voice recording, taking down her feelings at the actual scene of the ceremony. This was also a habit of hers. Then, the image swayed for a while; Selena seemed to be moving and when the image stabilized, Gawain saw a familiar figure beside therge altar in the middle of the empty space. He saw the Pope of the Church of Holy Light, the Pope of the Sect of the God of War, the Archbishop of the Church of the Holy Spirit, as well as each and every bishop and saint¡­ They were the top leaders of all the sects. At this point in time, the ¡°religion peace agreement¡± or the ¡°ancestral peak agreement¡± had not been signed. The various sects were still in an opposing state, but this scene on the Ancestral Peak was totally not as blustering and aggressive as the outside world had guessed. Although the air around the various leaders was tense and solemn, it was in greater part due to this ceremony itself and not their religious standpoint. It seemed that before reaching out to the gods, these religious leaders had arrived at a consensus of peace? Even the Church of Dreams, Church of Storms, and the Druids whoter fell to be dark sects had also agreed? All sorts of guesses emerged in Gawain¡¯s mind, and in this process, he saw a religious leader step out from the crowd. The person was dressed in sombre ck robes and wore a wooden mask painted with designs of constetions and eyes. Gawain hesitated briefly before he recognized that this was the Pope of the Church of Dreams 700 years ago ¡ª¡ª Megal III. This Pope stood before the altar and then removed his mask and robes, standing there in only his shirt and casual clothes. And he began receiving the blessings from the leaders of the other sects, and what happened next had Gawain puzzled: After the other religious leaders blessed Megal III, there were actually several Archmages who came forward. ¡ª¡ªThese non-priest spellcasters began releasing spells one after another at Megal. They were all kinds of protection; almost all the protective spells that Gawain could name had been released on this dream pope. From the magic robes that those Archmages wore and their dispositions, each of them was extremely powerful. The effect of those protective spells would be unimaginable then. After receiving the support of these protective spells, Megal III started putting on a set of unusual ¡°clothes¡± with the help of the others. That clothing didn¡¯t have the resplendence and elegance of a priest¡¯s long robes at all. Instead, it could only be described as ugly. It had a thick and multiyer structure and connected gloves and shoes. Everywhere was tightly covered, and iparablyplicated magic patterns could be seen on everyyer of fabric. Only when Megal III put on an odd-looking, crystal ball-shaped helmet did it finally strike Gawain what that was: It was a magical edition of a spacesuit! Selena¡¯s voice sounded from outside the scene simultaneously. ¡°¡­The Pope has already epted the blessings and magic support. He has also put on the protective magical suit that can withstand the might of the divine realm, specially tailored ording to the ¡®god-sent¡¯ hints. To be honest, that clothing is very ugly, but it has all the functions it needs to have. Hopefully, everything goes smoothly¡­¡± Alongside Selena¡¯s soft prayers, Gawain saw Megal III walk onto the altar, and at the same time, another two people stepped out and stood at the spots of two special nodes on the outer edge of the altar. They were the Pope of the God of Storms, and the Druid Archbishop of the Church of the Holy Spirit. They seemed tomunicate something to the Pope of the God of Dreams who stood in the middle of the altar, but their voices weren¡¯t in the recording. Due to the angle of the image, Gawain was also unable to read any information from their lips; he could only judge from the shape of the altar that those two church leaders would be participating in the subsequent ritual and might shoulder certain risks. Then the ritual began. The runes on the altar lit up one after another. The majestic energy released by the theurgy circle had the surrounding air all slightly warped. Megal, who was shrouded in the spacesuit, lifted his hand and waved hard to the popes, bishops, and saints around the altar. Following that, a white light descended from the sky, and Megal III¡¯s figure vanished instantly in the white light. And the image sank into darkness at the same time ¡ª¡ª the recording ended. It seemed that a certain powerful force had ended Selena Gerfen¡¯s ¡°recording¡± ahead of time. Chapter 190 - Heidis Work Arrangement Chapter 190: Heidi¡¯s Work Arrangement Gawain rubbed his eyes before exiting the dreamntern¡¯s magical connection. When the image of the Ancestral Peak ended, thentern didn¡¯t put on any more new images. Perhaps it was because Selena Gerfen had turned into a dark priest afterward. Due to the great change in personality, she might have lost her habit of making regr recordings. It was also possible that she had an unnatural death shortly after the recording. No matter what the reason was, the clues from thentern had ended here. However, these clues were already enough to reveal countless facts. Gawain had around 90% confidence in determining that Megal III was wearing some kind of ¡°spacesuit¡± back then. Furthermore, he had received all sorts of magical enhancements, allowing him to stay in an outer space environment (or some simr environment). As for the objective of the entire ritual, or should it be Megal III¡¯s ¡°destination¡±¡­ If Selena¡¯s ¡°voiceover¡± was trustworthy, then the attempt for the mysteriousmunication with the gods was actually to send a pope to the god realm? So the god realm was situated in space? Or could it be that a space journey was required before reaching the god realm? What kind of truth did those religious leaders obtain 700 years ago? Selena mentioned the ¡°god-sent¡± hints in the voiceover. Those religious leaders seemed to have received information that involved the god realm from the god-sent hints and also understood the environment condition of the god realm. They then used that information to design a protective suit that was simr to a spacesuit. The god-sent hints seemed to alsoe from the Eternal Stone te¡­ It also meant that those religious upper echelons who could have direct contact with the Eternal Stone te wouldn¡¯t just be able to learn knowledge of theurgy, they could also ¡°see¡± the god realm? Gawain stood up and muttered as he paced around in the study. Right now, he was the most curious about that final oue of the ritual¡­ Did Megal III seed? Did he reach the god realm? Did he return? What did he see or hear? What did he bring back? After the conference at the Ancestral Peak, there were several factions that degenerated into the evil dark cults. Among them, the strongest, most mysterious, andpletely corrupted factions were the Oblivion Association, the Eternal Sleepers, and Sons of the Storm. Furthermore, the leaders of these three factions just happened to be standing at the altar¡­ Right at this moment, a knocking sound interrupted Gawain¡¯s thoughts. Gawain was instantly able to determine that it wasn¡¯t Amber standing at the door¡­ Because that half-elf youngdy would definitely jump in through the window or emerge from the shadow realm. It wasn¡¯t Reba either as she would normally use her hand to st the door open before recalling that she should knock first. He shook his head to temporarily put theplicated thoughts aside before he cleared his throat and said, ¡°Come in.¡± When the doors were opened, Heidi, who had a pair of dark circles around her eyes, walked inside while carrying arge stack of documents that were arranged orderly. Her magic staff was floating right beside, which she had used to knock on the door. ¡°Ancestor, the steelworks¡¯ production report and the exploration report of thend at the northern bank have been delivered.¡± Heidi carried the documents to the work desk and ced them on the table carefully. She let out a breath and said, ¡°There is also the development of the forest in the next season, the production and expansion of the mines, the construction of the new residential area, the expansion of the night school, the construction of the gravel factory, the recruitment of apothecaries, and the nurturing proposal. Please take a look!¡± After the eldest granddaughter bbed out a whole list of proposals, and when those heavy documents mmed on the table, Gawain felt a slight shock. He had an astonished face as he asked, ¡°You specially umted a stack before looking for me?¡± Heidi had a face as though she was excessively overworked. ¡°Of course not. I have been arranging everything for nights, and each of these projects were urgent. Previously, you instructed me to bring these proposals to you once they were ready.¡± The proposals were the sequential development prepared by Gawain. Heidi had to admit that these proposals could greatly increase the overall efficiency and also the execution uracy. However, when dealing with these proposals, Heidi recalled the suffering days she went through back when she was learning magic and how she was force-fed and forced to memorize the information. However, there was a minor difference between then and now¡­ When she was young, if she was overly pressured when she was learning magic, she could use her magic staff and fight with her mentor. Right now, even if she felt overly pressured by these proposals, she didn¡¯t dare to fight with her ancestor¡­ As such, she could only use eyeshadow to draw dark eye-circles beforeing. She hoped that the old ancestor would notice that she was overworked and could reduce some of her workload¡­ Gawain could also feel the intenseints in Heidi¡¯s tone, and when he carefully pondered, it seemed like he impulsively instructed her to prepare all these huge tasks. Therefore, he could only smile wryly and said, ¡°Cough, cough. It is rather good. You did a good job. After all these things are done, you may rest for two days¡­¡± As Gawain spoke, he lowered his head and took a rough nce at the topmost reports. Heidi took this moment to let out a sigh of relief and casually looked across Gawain¡¯s table. The first thing she saw was the dreamntern and paid a little more attention to it. However, her specialty wasn¡¯t in such theurgy support items; thus, she shifted her eyes away and saw a knight¡¯s biography at the corner of the table. As such, she curiously picked it up and read the title on the cover. . Heidi¡¯s expression immediately turned strange. ¡°Ancestor, is¡­ is it fine for you to read such books?¡± Gawain looked up and took a nce, only to see Heidi holding a book that had a topic which was rather sensitive. He felt extremely embarrassed. ¡°Goddamn it, I forgot to keep it¡­ Cough, cough. It is just a novel. It¡¯s fine¡­¡± Halfway through his exnation, he suddenly realized something and looked at Heidi suspiciously. ¡°¡­How do you know what is written in the book?¡± Heidi was startled and had frozen for a few seconds before cold sweat started to drip down her face. After a long moment, she gave a vague exnation, ¡°I merely guessed the contents after reading the title of the book¡­¡± Gawain sized up Heidi and said, ¡°If you were to say so earlier, I might have believed you, but your expression now is too unconvincing.¡± Heidi: ¡°I¡­ I identally read it! After all, the book is rather popr among noblewomen. Moreover, this¡­ this is a romance novel, and the contents are rather straightforward¡­ Sorry, Ancestor, I was wrong!¡± Gawain¡¯s mouth twitched as he looked at ¡°Madam Heidi¡±, who was reputed in noble society for being ¡°mature, earnest, graceful, and wise¡±, as she was bowing and apologizing like a youngdy who had done something wrong. Her face was so red, and her forehead was filled with cold sweat¡­ If it was anyone else, they would never have been able to see her current expression in a lifetime. How should it be said? It was rather interesting. To be honest, it felt like an aplishment to asionally tease the usually (and overly) stern Heidi. Gawain knew when to stop and gave a slight cough before speaking seriously, ¡°Alright, alright, why are you so nervous? I have read the book, and although most of the stories are made up, it is merely a regr romance novel of knights marrying princesses. Although, marrying over eighty princesses is indeed a little too many¡­ Mmm, there isn¡¯t anything carnal.¡± Heidi nodded forcefully and said, ¡°Ancestor is right!¡± Gawain curled his lips and looked at Heidi. ¡°But I have to inform you about something.¡± Heidi answered with reverence, ¡°Please say it, Ancestor!¡± ¡°Your dark eye-circle makeup has shed off.¡± Gawain looked at this great-great-great¡­ granddaughter helplessly and said, ¡°They have started to fade due to the sweat.¡± Heidi: ¡°¡­¡± Subsequently, Heidi bowed to the bottom this time and shouted, ¡°Apologies, Ancestor! I was wrong!¡± Gawain¡¯s eyes twitched a little as he was worried that he might have put too much work pressure on Heidi, causing her to buckle under the heavy responsibilities. Heidi was starting to gradually reveal Reba-like thoughts¡­ After all, they were both flowing with the same bloodline, and after looking at Reba¡¯s behavior, Gawain knew that it was more or less rted to her bloodline¡­ The more Gawain thought, the more possible it seemed. He sighed as he didn¡¯t know whether to cry orugh and said, ¡°Alright, your work pressure is indeed a little too much recently¡­ But it is fortunate that the most important winter construction sites have already been settled, and the craftsmen now have their own leaders, while those clerks and internal-affairs apprentices should be capable now. You can have a short rest¡­ I shall give you a two-day break.¡± build Heidi blinked her eyes and was pleasantly surprised but also rather apprehensive. ¡°No¡­ Ancestor, I am actually fine. It is now the crucial period of the territory¡¯s construction¡­¡± ¡°Every single day of development is crucial, but no one can continue without rest. Even Nichs Egg has a specific break to bask in the sun. You should just rest.¡± Gawain smiled at Heidi who was conflicted. ¡°But after your break, I hope you can quickly conduct a test for the apprentices from the various departments and show me the test result. If it is useful, then we can consider putting in the administrative structure that I have drawn up a few months ago. All along, Gawain had been striving to implement aplete, scientific, and efficient administrative structure for the new Cecil territory. However, due to theck of intellectual personnel in this era, it was hard to fulfill the conditions. The crucial departments like agriculture, internal affairs, military, and medical were all fully managed by one or two individuals. It could also be said that the management of the entire department¡¯s supervisors down to the workers was ced on a single person. Even though such division ofbor was already superior to most of the management systems in the noble ns¡¯ territories, it was still very far from what Gawain imagined. As a result, whenever literate ¡°intellectual personnel¡± appeared in the territory, Gawain would immediately pick out the excellent ones and assign them as subordinates for each of the department supervisors. These people never had any contact with the concept of management in advanced organizations; therefore, they had to start as apprentices. Even the unconventional schrs and poor knights hired from Tanzan Town would have to start from the role of apprentices first. It was also due to theplex conditions of these apprentices, Gawain didn¡¯t believe that all of them would be able to sessfully ¡°transform within the organization¡±. Especially those poor knights and schrs. Now that the ¡°intern¡± period was over, those apprentices who couldn¡¯t withstand the pressure and adapt to the new system should already be on the brink of absconding. Gawain felt that it was time to conduct a test for them and to select the talented people that were truly useful and to allow the territory¡¯s management to advance. Heidi seriously epted Gawain¡¯s arrangement. Before leaving the study, she suddenly recalled something and spoke with uncertainty, ¡°Ancestor, earlier on, I saw the Grade-2 Arcanist from the royal capital pacing around the feudal lord residence. Do you wish to call him in?¡± Gawain was startled for a moment before he pondered carefully. ¡°¡­So there was someone like that?¡± Chapter 191 - Santis Seid Chapter 191: Santis Seid Santis Seid was standing in front of the feudal lord residence in a reserved and uneasy manner. He repeatedly inspected his buttons and clothes; his messy hair and bloodshot eyes indicated that he didn¡¯t have a good sleep for the entire night. This was the result of being extremely nervous. ¡°I have to show that I am confident. I have to show my profound knowledge of magical theory. I have to answer each question promptly. I cannot cough loudly or speak in an unclear manner. I cannot behave inappropriately in front of the feudal lord¡­¡± The Grade 2 Mage was muttering something as though he was trying to memorize the crucial points for questions in a test. At this moment, the doors of the feudal lord residence suddenly opened. A young girl wearing a female servant dress ran out with rapid speed. She ran out of the door and through the front yard. She then used a dangerous posture, seemingly about to fall over, and stopped in front of Santis Seid, giving a shock to thetter. The little maid Betty looked around before staring at Santis¡¯s eyes and asking in a sharp and pleasant voice, ¡°Have you seen any suspicious person loitering secretively around in the vicinity?¡± Santis was awakened from his repeated chants and didn¡¯t react in time. ¡°Ah? Suspicious person? I don¡¯t see any¡­¡± ¡°Okay, thank you!¡± Betty bowed in an exaggerated manner and ran back inside with the same speed she used when she ran out. She left behind the Arcanist who was stunned and didn¡¯t know what had happened. Two secondster, Santis finally understood something¡­ Could the suspicious person that the female servant was looking for be him? Then again, how could there be such a bold and forthright female servant in this world¡­? Just as he was feeling dumbfounded, someone opened the doors of the feudal lord residence again. That energetic little maid ran out again and arrived in front of Santis to ask, ¡°Are you that suspicious person who had been loitering around secretively?¡± ¡°Erm¡­ I was loitering around just now, but I am not secretive or someone suspicious.¡± Santis tried to exin, but he felt that this little maid didn¡¯t have a very good mind and was afraid he might say something wrong that might let her have the wrong ideas. The maid might not have a very high status, but if she could run here to ry the message, it meant that she was able to contact the feudal lord directly. It was best for Santis to speak carefully. ¡°I wish to see the feudal lord. It is¡ª¡± Before Santis could finish, Betty yelled out with a delighted face, ¡°Oh, thene in. Master is looking for you!¡± Momentster, Gawain met with the royal capital¡¯s Grade 2 Arcanist, Santis Seid. Gawain had already recalled the time he saw Santis Seid¡¯s name. He was that Grade 2 Arcanist who was part of the 100-men assistance from the royal capital. A Grade 2 Arcanist was considered a rare ¡°higher-ranked talent¡± within that group. ording to this era¡¯s status ranking, a person with an upation would definitely have a higher status than regr craftsmen. Spellcasters were considered nobles among the upation holders. A Grade 2 Arcanist might only be a low-ranking upation, but due to the convenience of magic and the extensive knowledge that Mages had, this Arcanist was considered among the elites of the group. As such, when he first arrived, Gawain had arranged for Santis to work at the Magic Crystal Refinery and was responsible for testing the various types ofpatible crystal products. After making those arrangements, Gawain hadpletely forgotten about Santis Seid. On the one hand, Gawain was indeed very busy, and he wasn¡¯t able to have any peace with all the affairs happening within the territory and the disturbance of the heretics on the outside. On the other hand, Santis Seid wasn¡¯t very prominent, and he didn¡¯t strive to have better treatment or status, nor did he have any outstanding contribution. After he was arranged to work at the Magic Crystal Refinery, he had been quietly staying at his post. ording to what Heidi found out, this royal capital¡¯s Arcanist had been ¡°mixing around with those kiln workers every day, and it was impossible to differentiate him from the workers as they were all covered in dirt¡±. If Santis Seid hadn¡¯te over here spontaneously, Gawain might havepletely forgotten that the territory had this spellcaster. Now that Gawain thought about it again, he used particrly curious eyes to look at this royal capital¡¯s mage¡­ Santis had disheveled hair, reddish and sunken eyes, and a skinny and tall body. He was wearing old mage robes that were washed so much that it was turning pale. He stood in the center of the room in a reserved and nervous manner while his hand subconsciously fiddled with the button on his clothes. It seemed like the button was about to be pulled off by him. ¡°Santis Seid, Grade 2 Arcanist, youe from the Royal Mage Association, right?¡± Gawain looked at the nervous young mage for a moment before asking, ¡°Why are you looking for me?¡± ¡°Ah, I¡­ I am here¡­¡± All of the mental scripts that Santis had prepared had instantly vanished. He spent a lot of time before stating his purpose foring here. ¡°I heard from Miss Jenni that you are recruiting teachers¡­¡± Gawain was stunned as he had already put out the notice to recruit teachers for over a month ago, and he had also disseminated the information to the 100-men aid team. There were a few literate craftsmen who had already applied to be temporary teachers at the night school. However, he didn¡¯t expect a Grade 2 Arcanist to also be attracted by this information. ¡°Indeed, I am recruiting teachers¡­ Could you be interested?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ yes, I am.¡± Santis Seid exerted strength and finally pulled the button off his shirt. ¡°I¡­ I can¡­ I hope I can serve as a tutor in your residence. I am good at arcane magic and the fundamental theory of magic. I also know heraldry, Anzu history, and noble etiquette. I might not have a high status, but I am good at teaching others. You can be at ease to hand your heirs to me¡ª¡± ¡°Hold on, hold on.¡± Gawain knew that this Arcanist was only halfway through the exnation, but he couldn¡¯t help but interrupt. ¡°I think you have mistaken the objective of this recruitment¡­ I am not finding a noble tutor for my heir.¡± Santis¡¯s expression was at aplete loss as he nervously rubbed the button in his hand. ¡°Ah? Isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you know? I only have two heirs now, Heidi and Reba. The former has already graduated a long time ago, while thetter is well-versed in both the literate and the martial. Both of them have mage ranks higher than yours. Reba might possibly need etiquette sses, but you are obviously not a match for her¡­ unless you are proficient with weapons and also adept at long-distance running and assault?¡± Gawain spread his hands and said, ¡°Anyway, I am not looking for a tutor for my granddaughters. I am looking for night school teachers.¡± ¡°Night school?¡± Santis continued having a nk expression. It seemed like he didn¡¯t know about this at all. ¡°I¡­ After receiving the task, I have been staying in the Magic Crystal Refinery.¡± Santis revealed an ashamed expression. ¡°Apart from work, I have been reading in my dwelling, and I don¡¯t really pay attention to other things. If Miss Jenni didn¡¯t tell me about this matter, I might not have known you were recruiting teachers. Gawain didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry when looking at this reserved, nervous, and a little sluggish Arcanist. He was thinking that Santis was truly worthy to be among the elite talents picked out by the nobles in the royal capital. If they didn¡¯t have any personality ws, they wouldn¡¯t have made it into the 100-men aid team. ¡°The night school is catered for themoners and also the serfs and ve workers on the territory, do you understand? I am not looking for a top-ss teacher to educate noble descendants on etiquette and heraldry. I am looking for a person to teachmoners how to read.¡± Santis¡¯s mouth was wide open while he was at a loss for a moment. It looked like this was really his first time hearing that Gawain was wiping out illiteracy among the residents. Furthermore, he couldn¡¯t understand why. Just as Gawain thought that the now-enlightened Arcanist was about to bid farewell, thetter suddenly nodded and asked, ¡°Will you also issue the same additional reward ording to the recruitment notice for being a night-school teacher?¡± ¡°Are you willing?¡± Gawain was surprised. ¡°You know that you are going to teach a group ofmoners that only knows a few words and can only count until a hundred?¡± Santis let out a reserved smile and said, ¡°I have taught magical theory to ipetent and ignorant descendants of merchants in the royal capital. I feel that it wouldn¡¯t be too difficult¡­ I think.¡± After confirming that the Arcanist was truly willing to take up this job, Gawain couldn¡¯t help but smile. There was finally an official spellcaster who was willing to teach at night school. Before this, he had attempted many times to recruit mages from Tanzan Town and the Kant territory. He had even tried to recruit mage apprentices to be night school teachers at the territory, but when they learned they would be teaching a group of ¡°lowlymoners¡±, every single one of them refused. It seemed like in their opinions,moners and serfs werecking intelligence innately, and they felt that themoners and serfs¡¯ brain structures were entirely different from mages and nobles. Therefore, they didn¡¯t believe they would be able to teach profound knowledge to themoners and weren¡¯t even willing to ept this challenge¡­ They didn¡¯t just refuse because of their arrogance, but they had also assumed that they wouldn¡¯t be able to teach anything to those ¡°lowlymoners¡±, so they refused to fail. However, there was actually a Grade 2 Arcanist that took the initiative to apply. The process and the expectation might be different, but this Santis Seid seemed to be willing to take up this job. ¡°Are youcking money?¡± Gawain might be very happy, but he still had to ask. Gawain could see that Santis was tempted because of the additional reward every month. ¡°Mages shouldn¡¯t be in need of money, right?¡± ¡°Actually, mages are often short of money too, especially those who are born as amoner.¡± Santis Seid was embarrassed to say it. ¡°I need to send money back to my home. My family is still at the royal capital¡­¡± Gawain raised his brows. ¡°You were born as amoner?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ my father is a chef of a noble family in the royal capital, and my mother is a herbalist.¡± Yes,moners. But there were also wealthymoners and those who had a status. Such families were indeed able to make a push and send their children to learn magic and hope they would be able to rise to the upper-ss of society. Santis who was already an official Grade 2 Arcanist had actually gotten rid of hismoner status and was qualified to be in the upper ss. However, from his appearance¡­ it was impossible to tell. When Gawain asked of his doubts, Santis¡¯s expression looked even more awkward and had a trace of shame. ¡°I indeed have my qualification as a Grade 2 Arcanist, but my magic capacity is innately wed. Everyday¡­ I can only release three to five spells.¡± Gawain was enlightened¡­ As expected, there was a w, and that¡¯s why he fell into poverty. Santis¡¯s spellcasting w was simr to Reba¡¯s, but they were fundamentally different. Reba had powerful spirit energy and magic capacity. She could throw out a hundred Large Fireballs and not feel tired, but she could only construct one spell model. Santis was able to construct multiple spell models and could learn the most profound andplicated arcane spells, but he had extremely weak spirit energy and magic capacity¡­ Reba might have ws, but she was a noble, and even if she was inferior in the n, she was still a noble. Therefore, she could still stay in the castle and live a liberal life aspared to anymoner. However, Santis was born amoner, and he had painstakingly be an official spellcaster, only to find out that his magic capacity was innately wed. As a result, he was kicked out of the upper ss of society, and his family owed huge debts of favors and money. He had participated in the 100-men aid team probably because of the allowance given by the king. After finding out everything, Gawain was finally left without any more doubts about Santis¡¯s choice. ¡°Then, I shall wee you to be an honorable teacher.¡± Gawain stood up behind his desk and nodded to the young mage with a smile. ¡°The sses you are going to teach¡­ shouldn¡¯t just be restricted to ordinary literacy lessons. I have other arrangements for you.¡± Santis bowed in a great rush and said, ¡°Ah, yes, Your Excellency.¡± Gawain: ¡°I am going to talk about the first thing¡­ Put the button in your hand down first. You are already going to create a blister from all the rubbing¡­¡± Santis: ¡°¡­¡± Chapter 192 - Fish, What a Huge Fish Chapter 192: Fish, What a Huge Fish When the morning¡¯s first ray of sun basked on the ground, Pea had already woken up. The first thing she had to do was to head to the za at ¡°Knight Street¡± to draw water. ¡°Knight Street¡± was one of the earliest districts constructed on the territory. It was said that this ce was originally the old barracks for the soldiers that garrisoned here. Initially, there were unending and orderly military tents and multiple warehouses to store military supplies. However, half a yearter, this ce now had two rows of neat and tidy brick houses and also a za at the end of the street. The soldiers of the Cecil army would mostly reside in this district. On one side of the street was the new barracks, and the other side was the feudal lord¡¯s residence and the offices of a few important departments. As such, Knight Street could also be viewed as the innermost defense line of the Cecil territory. To be able to stay here seemed to be the dream of many of the territory¡¯s young people. This meant that the soldiers possessed the most reputable status, and they could also wear awe-inspiring magic armor and could also wield the legendary heat-ray gun that was very powerful. Furthermore, their job qualified their families to enter as ¡°city residents¡±. Pea arrived at the territory when brick houses on Knight Street were halfway through the renovation process. She had personally witnessed the workers on thisnd using astounding efficiency to tear down the tents and wooden boards before building firm and secure brick houses. The front of each house was also fitted with a magic-driven magic crystalmp, allowing this ce to be even brighter and more beautiful than some of Tanzan Town¡¯s most prosperous streets. She apanied her foster father, the territory¡¯s Chief Knight Byron, and entered one of the first few brick houses that were already built on Knight Street. Right now, she had the status as the Chief Knight¡¯s daughter and also the ¡°mute youngdy¡± of Knight Street. To Pea, the changes in life didn¡¯t seem to overly affect her. Perhaps, it was because no one was able to figure out what this mute girl was thinking in her heart. She was unable to speak, and such ¡°silence¡± would give others an easy reason to make wild guesses. Therefore, she used to work silently and finish the tasks she was given silently. She wouldn¡¯t be curious nor would she attempt to make contact, and she wouldn¡¯t invite trouble to herself. This was the life wisdom that Pea had umted from her past life experiences. Even after shifting to an unfamiliar ce, even after residing in a firm and big house, it was still the same. However, as she continued to stay in this ce, she realized that this ce was indeed different from the environments she was familiar with. After closing the doors, Pea carried the water bucket and walked on the path to the za. On the sides of the road were neat and tidy rows of two-floored brick houses. These houses thatbined the ssic Anzu style and Duke Cecil¡¯s ¡°pragmatic¡± style were houses that couldn¡¯t be seen anywhere else. At the very least, residents in other ces couldn¡¯t possibly be so extravagant as to embed magic crystalmps at their doors. On the streets, there were basically no men; only married women would be working at the front of the doors, and only while doing their chores. The men of Knight Street were mainly soldiers of the Cecil territory. Even if they weren¡¯t soldiers, they would be workers in the various factories. The former would spend most of the month in the military camps or standing at lookout posts as sentries. Thetter would need to work during the daytime. As such, only women could be seen on the streets during this period of time. Madam Myelin was sun-drying the fish jerky at her doors when she saw Pea. This plump madam was one of the fortunate survivors from the old Cecil territory, and her husband was a veteran soldier; she also had quite the prestige in this street. After seeing Pea holding the water bucket, the prestigious madam immediately yelled out and greeted, ¡°Pea, are you drawing water? Do you want help?¡± The difference between Cecil territory and other towns: someone would help me. Pea let out ¡°ah ah¡± sounds and shook her head to Madam Myelin as an indication that she was fine on her own. ¡°You are such a fine youngdy.¡± Madam Myelin was a person that loved to talk with others. She was so good at this aspect that she could have a long conversation with a mute person. ¡°Is Sir Byron still not back yet? Or has he gone out again?¡± Pea was holding onto the water bucket, and after thinking for a long time, she didn¡¯t know how to reply to thisplicated question and could only shake her head in an apologetic manner. Madam Myelin wasn¡¯t really concerned if Pea was able to answer or not as she started saying, ¡°Hey, I heard that he is scouting the ancient fortress in the mountains. My husband had also gone with him previously but didn¡¯t say anything to me after he returned. Tsk tsk, men always have secrets¡­ Pea, are you going to visit Miss Betty at the castle?¡± Duke Cecil didn¡¯t build a traditional ¡°castle¡±, but it was obvious that everyone was still used to calling the feudal lord¡¯s residence a ¡°castle¡±. In their in and simple minds, the feudal lord had to reside in a castle. After mentioning Betty, Pea finally smiled and nodded happily. The difference between Cecil territory and other towns: even the chief maid in the feudal lord¡¯s castle was a good talker. She would also bring a neer like me on a tour of the territory. She also shared sweets that were bestowed by the feudal lord with me. Even though it seemed like the feudal lord only had one maid¡­ Subsequently, Madam Myelin continued talking about many things, from the weather after winter to the rumblings of the workces, from those mystical machines to this year¡¯s particrly great harvest. It was fortunate that she still remembered that Pea had to draw water, and when the conversation topic was extended to how much bigger Viscountess Reba¡¯s Large Fireball could be, she stopped decisively and said, ¡°Hey, once I start talking, I can¡¯t seem to stop¡­ Hurry up and draw the water! When you return,e over to my ce to eat!¡± Pea then bowed to Madam Myelin and carried the bucket and walked to the za at a fast pace. Along the way, people would constantly greet her. Most of the people would call her directly by her name ¡°Pea¡±, while there were a rare few that called her ¡°Byron¡¯s Young Lady¡± or ¡°Young Lady Kirk¡±. Thetter was due to Byron Kirk¡¯s family name. Pea would respond to each greeting seriously, and a rather rxed smile would gradually appear on her face. The difference between Cecil territory and other towns: the people here would call her by her name and not call her ¡°mute¡± or ¡°thrash¡±. Initially, Pea assumed that it was due to her ¡°status¡± as she had a foster father who was the Chief Knight; therefore, everyone had no choice but to respect a little mute. However, she quickly realized that such an attitude could be seen throughout the entire territory, and everyone treated each other the same way. After staying here for a period of time, she heard a statement from her foster father that came from Duke Cecil: Most of the bad habits and objectionable practices were due to theck of food. When people were able to eat to their fill, they would start to consider morality. It might not be absolute, but it was probably the case. Up until now, Pea still couldn¡¯t understand the feudal lord¡¯s wisdom, but she could feel the reasoning behind this statement. When she was hungry, she had also stolen things, and there was once she sufferedshing from public-security officers for stealing a piece of bread. Furthermore, the public-security officers had dered in public that she had a ¡°habit of stealing that was innate and came from her bloodline¡±. Right now, when she picked up something that didn¡¯t belong to her, her first reaction would be to hand them to the patrolling soldiers. She too believed that the soldiers wouldn¡¯t hog the things that she handed to them. On multiple asions, her foster father had talked to her about how strict the feudal lord was when managing the soldiers, and she trusted her foster father wholeheartedly. Pea carried the bucket and arrived at the za. The za was currently very quiet, and she could see the workce opposite the za that was making preparations before working. That ce was the new residential area, and thest batch of homeless people that arrived after Fog Month were currently transporting the materials and were given tools under the supervision of the soldiers and foremen. Their faces still had vacant and numbed expressions and seemingly couldn¡¯t understand why they still had to work during winter. However, Pea knew that these people would be buzzing with excitement soon enough. Once they understood the ¡°Cecil housing system¡± that would be read out by the soldiers, they would understand that they were currently building the houses that they would be residing in themselves. Pea arrived at the well in the center of the za. This well¡¯s water was actually connected directly to the White River. The feudal lord might have talked about the concept of ¡°supplying water to the houses¡±, but no one understood the meaning of it. Everyone in this district would be drawing the water from this well, and in Pea¡¯s opinion, this was already very convenient. She put her bucket by the side and started to pull the well pulley. She then tossed the wooden bucket that was tied with the rope into the well¡­ There was a strange ¡°tter¡± sound that came from the well, and Pea couldn¡¯t help but be startled. Immediately after, she heard the normal sshing sound of the wooden bucket and was at ease. Could the wooden bucket have knocked into the wall of the well earlier? She used two hands to grab the well pulley and used strength to pull the bucket back up. However, there wasn¡¯t any movement. Pea tilted her head and tried to push it, but there was still no movement. The youngdy was troubled. She had never encountered such a situation before. She might still be a child, but she had been doing chores since a young age, and her strength was normally sufficient. Furthermore, with the recent addition of a nutritious diet, her body was being nurtured well, and her strength was much greater than before. Drawing a bucket of water couldn¡¯t be so strenuous. Pea approached the well and carefully held onto the frame of the well pulley before looking down. However, it was pitch-ck on the inside, and she couldn¡¯t see anything. Right at this moment, a voice echoed from the side. ¡°Isn¡¯t this Byron¡¯s youngdy¡­? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Pea turned to look and saw a carpenter that she knew. The carpenter was probably passing by, and when he saw Pea looking over the well, he came over to ask. The carpenter was apanied by his two apprentices. ¡°Ah¡­ ah ah!¡± Pea let out some vague noises while pointing and gesturing at the well, indicating that the bucket was stuck on something in the well. The carpenter and the two apprentices looked at each other and quickly understood what she meant. ¡°Just watch by the side. We will help you to bring the bucket up.¡± Pea obediently stood by the side while the three grown men used their strength to turn the handle. The well pulley frame that was made of firm iron pirs and hardwood was actually echoing with creaking sounds. It seemed like there was a huge person on the rope below. No matter what, the rope was finally moving up. ¡°It ising up! Don¡¯t loosen your grip!¡± The carpenter yelled, and when he finished his statement, Pea suddenly heard a giant ssh from the well. Ssh! A figure rushed out from the well along with sshes of water. One could vaguely see the upper body of a human and the tail of a fish. Pea looked at this figure with a nk expression. The difference between Cecil territory and other towns: fish would leap out from the well, and it was a very big fish¡­ Chapter 193 - Lost in... the Deep Sea? Chapter 193: Lost in¡­ the Deep Sea? In front of Gawain was the newest batch of investigation data about the remnants in the mountains delivered by the messenger soldiers. This file contained a detailed description of what Sir Byron had seen and heard in the remnants with a rtively thorough map and handwritten descriptions of some unfamiliar objects attached. After winter set in, Sir Byron¡¯s mission of exploring the remnants in the mountain still hadn¡¯t ended. He continued to spend half of his time every month wandering in the especiallyrge-scale facility in the mountains, searching for more corridors, hidden passages, and rooms, and drawing a map on the way. Every three days or so, he would dispatch a soldier to send the newly collected data to the territory. At present, these were all conventional information; there were no new discoveries of research facilities rted to the gods¡¯ secrets. However, the map itself that was being continuously expanded was already enough to amaze Gawain considerably ¡ª¡ª the actual scale of these ruins had challenged his expectations time and time again. The scale of those corridors and halls had reached the extent of a small-sized city. Even after exploring for such a long time, Sir Byron had yet to cover the main level he was on. And not too long ago, Byron and the exploration team had even found two big staircases leading to upper and lower levels. More and more clues proved that there were still whole newrge areas in the ruin waiting to be discovered. Gawain could understand having an upper level ¡ª¡ª perhaps it led to a certain observation deck or lookout structure on top of the Dark Range, but what would the lower level lead to? The middle level of the ruin had nearly emptied out the entire body of the mountain, could the lower level actually be extending underground? Even as an ancient facility researching the mysteries of the gods, this scale was really a little too big. But regardless of how big its entire scale was,plete exploration and mapping of fairlyrge areas in its middle level had been done. Byron confirmed the safety and sturdiness of those ces. The next step in Gawain¡¯s n was to shift a part of the things in the territory into the ruin in the mountain. Those spacious ancient halls could not be wasted; their sturdiness and covertness were of great value. They nned to shift the newly assembled heat-ray-gun production line, press-molded-armor production line, and rune-base-te productions in there. In addition, other objects that needed to be kept secret or that would endanger the environment or were slightly noisier could also be shifted into the mountains. It was a research facility of the ancient Gondor Empire, there existed advanced protective structures and sound-proofing effects, definitely much better than the brick factories that the territory could build at present. Gawain picked up the dip pen at the side, preparing to leave some notes on one of the files. But just then, hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the door. Knocks sounded. After getting Gawain¡¯s response, Betty pushed open the door and walked in. ¡°Lord!¡± The little maidservant pattered to the desk and bowed with her signature pose that looked like she was about to flip herself over and then said in a clear and sharp voice, ¡°Someone caught a big fish at the public square on Knight Street!¡± ¡°Big fish?¡± Gawain was taken aback at once. He didn¡¯t expect that this youngdy hade running so urgently to report such a baffling matter. ¡°Is there a need to report the catching of a big fish¡ª¡ª send it directly to the kitchen.¡± Betty straightened up and thought nkly for a moment before shaking her head hard. ¡°Too big. It can¡¯t fit in one pot!¡± ¡°Did you people catch a shark?¡± Gawain broke intoughter. ¡°A fish from the White River had probably gotten into the well at Knight Street through the water diverting channel¡­¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like those in the White River, because half of it looks like a human¡­¡± ¡°¡­What?!¡± Gawain dashed over to the Knight Street¡¯s public square, and this area had long been cordoned off by the patrolling soldiers who reacted in time. A young Knight-in-training wearing amander¡¯s armor was maintaining order at the scene, while those residents kept outside of the cordon were curiously looking on at the happening from the corners of the streets andnes. Gawain recognized that youngmander because he had personally awarded this soldier a medal. ¡ª¡ªDuring the first Cecil Defense Battle, this young soldier called Krim had been especially courageous and thus gained recognition. Not only did he receive a promotion in his military rank, he also epted Byron¡¯s guidance as a Knight-in-training. ¡°Lord!¡± Krim immediately went forward with a bow when he saw Gawain. ¡°The situation is already under control. That¡­ creature is still beside the well.¡± ¡°What exactly happened?¡± Gawain frowned. ¡°I heard you people caught a half-human, half-fish¡­ female?¡± Krim shook his head. ¡°It wasn¡¯t caught. Miss Pea found it when she was fetching water. ¡ª¡ª At that time, that half-human half-fish creature seemed to be hiding under the well and was subsequently pulled up under the joint effort of carpenters and apprentices who were passing by.¡± The ¡°book¡±[1] ¡ª cough, cough ¡ª Knight biography about himself that he had read a few days back suddenly appeared in Gawain¡¯s mind, and he was reminded of those ¡°sea demons¡± mentioned in the book¡­ biography. Could things be so coincidental? He was expectant yet could not believe that he would be this lucky. However, his feet were already striding out; he led Betty past the cordon of the soldiers and saw several people surrounding the well in the small square that was temporarily enclosed using wooden fences. Pittman, Reba, Amber, Heidi¡­ almost all the well-informed ones were here. Three craftsmen being questioned by the soldiers also stood at the side, along with a young girl holding an empty pail; that was Pea. An unknown female satnguidly on the edge of the well. She had a head of beautiful sea-blue colored long hair, wearing a blue ¡°jacket¡± of a strange style made of a material that resembled leather on her upper half. Scale-like structures could be seen on her cheeks and exposed parts of her arms, while her lower body¡­ just as Betty and Krim had described, was a gorgeous fishtail of faint gold color and blue patterns. Gawain¡¯s heart jolted, and he quickly went forward on quick steps. Reba and others were surrounding this unknown female in curiosity. Heidi was analyzing those beautiful patterns on her tail that resembled magical runes with a solemn look, while Amber was inquiring about her origins and purpose for visiting this ce. However, the half-human half-fish female maintained anguid manner, with no reaction to the majority of the questions. ¡°What kind of situation is this?¡± Gawain asked out loud, and only until he spoke up beside them did those few people inextricably immersed in the seafood finally notice his existence. Reba was the first to leap out. ¡°Lord Ancestor! This mishmash of human and fish seems to be the type of ¡®sea demon¡¯ you went around asking about previously!¡± Look at her¡ª¡ª using ¡°mishmash¡±! This instantly summarized the fusion of two creatures¡­ Pittman also turned his head over; there was a rare soberness on the old Druid¡¯s face. ¡°Lord, I¡¯m afraid this really is a sea demon¡ª¡ª but we don¡¯t know how she came here. Earlier, she showed extreme vignce and hostility when she saw us, but after we expressed that we mean no harm, she then became¡­ rather inactive.¡± It really was a sea demon?! Gawain controlled his agitated feelings and looked curiously towards the ¡°Miss Mermaid¡± seated on the edge of the well. Then thetter also lifted her eyelids to survey him curiously. The two stared at each other for some time. Miss Mermaid¡¯s tail suddenly pped the edge of the well, and she then let out a pleasant butzy voice. ¡°I seem to have seen you somewhere?¡± Gawain faltered; then he was overjoyed, to the extent of feeling tempted to do an ecstatic dance. Had this sea demon been thrown from the sky by the Goddess of Luck, specially for him to solve the mystery?! ¡°You¡¯re a sea demon?¡± Gawain only calmed down after taking in two breaths. Following that, he immediately burst out eagerly with his question. ¡°If you are, perhaps we¡¯ve really met before. ¡ª¡ª My name is Gawain Cecil. Did we meet seven hundred years ago?!¡± ¡°Gawain Cecil? Ahhhhhh¡­¡± Miss Mermaid let out a big yawn and rubbed her eyes. ¡°Seven hundred years ago¡­ I think I have some impression of it. Such a human did seem to have appeared at that time, but I didn¡¯t really make contact with that human. You¡¯re saying that was you? Can you humans live seven hundred years?¡± Gawain was at a loss of how to exin it for a moment. ¡°Uh¡­ I came back to life only recently.¡± Miss Mermaid batted her eyes. ¡°You people developed a new function?¡± ¡°¡­Not quite.¡± ¡°Never mind, I don¡¯t know you well anyway.¡± Miss Mermaid swayed her head, her sea-blue long hair shining with an intriguing luster under the sunlight. ¡°I¡¯m so sleepy. I was woken up by a hit from a pail when I was sleeping earlier. Say, who was it who threw the pail?¡± Gawain awkwardly darted a look at Pea who wasn¡¯t far away at once but quickly reacted. ¡°Of course you¡¯d get hit when you were sleeping in our well¡­ What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Tiel,¡± Miss Mermaid mumbled her reply. ¡°So the ce where I was earlier was a well?¡± It could be seen that she really wasn¡¯t too keen on speaking to people yet was a little interested in Gawain, so the two were considered to have reached an exchange, and this bit of interaction was enough to have the others around marveling. Reba watched with a look of almost worship as her ancestor reached an understanding with a fish. She couldn¡¯t help but blurt, ¡°Lord Ancestor, you¡¯d even done fishing back in those days?¡± He had absolutely no idea how she came to that. Gawain found it both funny yet annoying as he nced at Reba; then he looked at the sea demon calling herself ¡°Tiel¡±, unable to restrain his curiosity. ¡°Where did youe from? Why did youe here? Do you need our help with anything?¡± ¡°Me? I came from the deep sea.¡± Tiel swayed her body lightly on the edge of the well. ¡°How would I know why I came to humankind¡¯snd¡­? I was still battling another group of humans in the sea a few days ago. ¡ª¡ªThen I got separated from the main unit. I swam towards home by myself but somehow ended up in this ce. The moment I opened my eyes, I saw humans all around. I thought I¡¯d fallen into the enemy¡¯sir. Gave me a big scare.¡± ¡°Battling another group of humans in the sea?¡± Gawain sharply caught the main point of her sentence and then was quickly aware of another. ¡°You mean you wandered here when you were swimming back to the sea demons¡¯ territory?¡± Tiel nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡± If the legends and elven records were correct, sea demons were a kind of intelligent beings who lived in the open sea in the west of the continent¡­ Gawain¡¯s expression became odd. ¡°Miss Tiel, if I have not guessed wrongly, you¡­ probably swam the wrong way, the opposite in fact¡­¡± ¡°Huh?¡± [1] The term used here trantes to ¡®book¡¯ but usually refers to pornographic works in ACGN (animation,ic, games, short novels) Chapter 194 - Sea Demon Tiels Big Adventure Chapter 194: Sea Demon Tiel¡¯s Big Adventure The sea demon, Miss Tiel, was discernibly not too pleased about herself having ¡°swam the opposite way¡±¡­ And Gawain also finally understood how this deep-sea creature had foolishlye to humankind¡¯s continent through his conversation with her. ording to her ims, the sea demons had a battle with a group of humans a month ago, and it had been at the Endless Sea in the east that was far fromnd. They were ¡°a group of crazy humans, dressed in long ck robes and tunics, and could use strange spells¡±. The battle did notst for a long time. Although those humans had formidable spells, they were isted and helpless on the ind, and they were numerically disadvantaged. The sea demons broke through their defenses with just two summons of lightning storms and several tsunamis. The humans escaped in a hurry. Miss Tiel lost contact with the main unit during thetter half of the battle ¡ª¡ª the spells that those humans used might have interfered with her judgment (she said so herself), resulting in her being unable to distinguish the directions. She was originally swimming towards the sea demons¡¯ territory but ended up at the humans¡¯ continent as she swam on and on¡­ ¡°I still found it odd at first ¡ªwhy thendscape of the seabed looked increasingly unfamiliar.¡± Miss Tiel sat on the edge of the well, her fishtail beating the ground on and off. ¡ª¡ªGawain was very curious about theposition of her fishtail; it could actually bend to such an extent. ¡°As I swam, I sawnd and arge river¡¯s estuary¡­ I thought that I had rounded to the back of ourndmass.¡± ¡°Yourndmass?¡± Gawain was stunned. ¡°You people have andmass there as well?¡± ¡°We do.¡± Tiel nodded. ¡°But you can call it a slightly bigger ind too¡­ I¡¯m not familiar with the situation onnd. We stay in the sea the majority of the time.¡± Another useful fact! This sea demon was definitely a heaven-sent surprise. Gawain felt that his knowledge of this world would be greatly improved with Tiel¡¯s supplement. He could not help but continue questioning closely, ¡°Do you all know the background of the humans who battled with you?¡± ¡°How would I know. They suddenly came to our territory and even upied an ind, wanting to hold some ritual ¡ª¡ª that was in a danger zone. There are very strong and unstable energy fields at the bottom of the sea. Ten to one, a mishap would happen if they messed around there. So, we sent people to remind them not to do so. In the end, those humans, without a word, rushed over shouting ¡®the storm is rising¡¯ and was beaten up by us¡­¡± Tiel tilted her head as she recounted, as if rather lost with the illogical thinking of creatures like humans. ¡°We don¡¯t have many dealings with humans, but it was really our first time seeing those mad fellows¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s the Sons of the Storm!¡± Pittman immediately guessed the identity of those people from Tiel¡¯s descriptions. ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ Other than the Sons of the Storm, who else would appear in the sea area so far fromnd? That bunch of lunatics have kept clear of human territories after their degeneration, 80 to 90 percent of them have all gone to the sea.¡± As he spoke, the little old man could not help but twiddle his beard. ¡°Who would have thought, who would have thought¡­? Not only had that bunch of fellows run to the deep sea, they actually also fought sea demons there¡­¡± Heidi also looked towards Tiel. ¡°In that case, your people wanted to remind those mad humans not to take the risk. They refused to listen, and that¡¯s why you all fought?¡± Probably because she had said a lot, though Tiel¡¯snguidness was still present, she had started to answer the others¡¯ questions. ¡°Yeah. Otherwise, who would be so idle as to go fight you humans? ¡ª¡ª We¡¯re very busy every day, alright?¡± ¡°Do you know what those humans were holding the ritual for?¡± Gawain frowned and followed with another question. ¡°I didn¡¯t understand, couldn¡¯t read it. The spells of you humans are too strange. I couldn¡¯t figure them out at all.¡± Gawain sighed, thinking to himself that nothing could be done about this. The two races have almost zero exchange of knowledge; to have a sea demon clearly exin what those human heretics were doing specifically would be truly imposing. Meanwhile, Reba had be curious about Tiel sleeping in the well. ¡°Have you been hiding in our well the whole time?¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t the whole time. It hasn¡¯t been long since I reached here.¡± Tiel yawned. ¡°I swam for so long and was exhausted. Then I found a spot where the water flow was rtively gentler, so I nned to get some sleep¡­ I never expected to have my head struck in the middle of my sleep. Say, who exactly was it that hit me with the pail?¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± Don¡¯t fish only have seven seconds of memories? Why was it that this sea demon still remembered this! ¡°Don¡¯t mind who hit you with the pail.¡± The corner of Gawain¡¯s lips twitch. ¡°Who would know there would be someone sleeping in the well?¡± Tiel looked at Gawain curiously. ¡°Is sleeping in the well against thew with you humans?¡± Gawain faltered instantly, feeling that this question had touched the blind spot of his knowledge. After pondering carefully for a long while, he then exined hesitantly. ¡°Sleeping in the well indeed isn¡¯t against thew here, but it¡¯s considered suicide¡­¡± Tiel stretched herself hard, her tail pping on the ground as she exerted force throughout her body. ¡°Then I¡¯ll sleep somewhere else.¡± ¡°Eh, hold on.¡± Gawain jolted and abruptly reacted. ¡°Are you nning to go around the human world like this?¡± Tiel paused for a moment and only seemed to notice then that she looked rather different from the people around her ¡ª as well as the soldiers who cordoned off the scene and their curious nces. Miss Mermaid let out an ¡°oh¡± btedly. ¡°Oh¡­ I forgot you people don¡¯t look like this!¡± Just as her voice fell, Gawain saw a sheet of mist disperse instantly before his eyes. When the mist re-condensed into human shape, Miss Mermaid¡¯s appearance had changed ¡ª¡ª the scales on her cheeks and arms vanished; her fishtail also became a pair of human legs; even the leather clothing on her had be a long light blue dress! The style of that dress was clearly very much like the one Heidi was wearing; only the color had changed. Undoubtedly, this was a product she had created using a certain magic or innate power after observing the way humans dressed. Gawain watched this scene in amazement, unwittingly recalling the legends about the sea demons that Pittman had told him previously. ¡°This race possesses the ability of unending change. When they are active in human societies, they can transform to look like humans. That is why legends about sea demons moving onnd have been left in the world¡­¡± It was also the first time Heidi, Amber, and the rest standing around saw such a miraculous yet convenient ¡°spell¡±. This was much more convenient than human Mages¡¯ ¡°transformation spell¡± or the Druids¡¯ ¡°animal morphing¡±. Reba couldn¡¯t resist eximing, ¡°Wah! So impressive!¡± Then her thoughts unfolded, ¡°If I were to master this, won¡¯t I have countless new clothes to wear¡­¡± Amber nced at the doofus scornfully. ¡°Come on, you couldn¡¯t even learn a Repulsion spell¡­¡ªUsing your staff to hit someone is foul y, I¡¯m telling you!¡± Gawain blocked out these two moring girls and looked at Tiel who was not too skillfully standing on two feet and preparing to walk uprightly. ¡°Your transformation spell is pretty good, but I suggest you do not walk about as you please before adapting to thend environment. ¡ª¡ª If it is possible, do you want to be a guest of the Cecil territory?¡± Tiel familiarized herself with the feeling of walking upright while looking towards Gawain. ¡°¡­Is this a ¡®capture¡¯ that is slightly more tactful?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m offering out of goodwill,¡± Gawain said very seriously. ¡°As you know, I¡¯ve had contact with the sea demons seven hundred years ago. I could more or less be considered your race¡¯s old acquaintance? In those years, your people helped me in the sea. Now that a sea demon hase tond, I naturally ought to reciprocate in kind. I do not know what the sea-demon society is like, but the human world is extremelyplicated. There are lots of countries that differ in customs and culture, and innumerable forces and races whose ideologies are entirely different. I cannot be sure what the humans of othernds feel about a sea demon. ¡ª¡ªEspecially in the situation where you¡¯ve yet to adapt to human society, you will easily be met with their hostility.¡± Tiel thought for a while. ¡°Mm¡­ your words do make some sense.¡± ¡°I am the feudal lord of thisnd. At least within the Cecil territory, I am able to guarantee your safety ¡ª¡ªand can also keep your race and origin a secret,¡± Gawain stated with a smile. ¡°Of course, this is merely an invitation. If you¡¯re really unwilling to, you may leave anytime. Just remember to try not to sleep in wells in the future.¡± ¡°Ah, walking onnd feels even more troublesome.¡± Tiel stepped out and briefly took a few steps. She seemed to have missed Gawain¡¯s endingments and instead waved her handzily. ¡°In any case, I don¡¯t n on leaving anymore. I¡¯ll stay here. Do you have a ce to sleep here?¡± Althoughmunication with this fish was a little difficult, it seemed that his objective had been achieved? This sea demon held all new knowledge that Gawain had no clue of. He wanted to keep her at the territory by all possible means, and so long as she was willing to stay, providing afortable living environment wasn¡¯t a problem at all. Gawain smiled at once. ¡°Of course there are ces to sleep. ¡ª¡ª Feel free to raise whatever requests you have.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have too many requests. Just sprinkle some salt.¡± Tiel waved her hand. ¡°I don¡¯t need you people to change the water either. I can purify it myself.¡± Gawain was lost for a long while before he realized that the other party was asking for a saltwater pool¡­ Of course, a fish tank or water basin should work too, as long as it was big enough. Although Gawain believed that his authority could ensure that whatever he said would be executed thoroughly in the territory, there was no telling how useful his authority would be on this saltwater fish. In order to avoid Tielmitting shocking acts that do not conform to human values (for example, suddenly bringing her fishtail out and then fighting with fishermen) when no one was watching, he decided to have her in the newlypleted feudal-lord residence. Though he did not build a huge castle like those extravagant conventional aristocrats, the newlypleted feudal-lord residence was still a very big building: there were plenty of empty rooms that had yet to be put to use. Setting aside one for this sea demon wasn¡¯t a problem at all. It happened that Heidi and Reba had moved into the new home recently; he¡¯d just let Tiel live next to the two of them. Chapter 195 - Information Brought by Tiel Chapter 195: Information Brought by Tiel The sea demon Tiel moved into the Cecil feudal lord¡¯s official residence, bing neighbors with Heidi and Reba. To this Miss Sea Demon who¡¯d always been living in the deep sea, the human world was novel and fascinating ¡ª¡ª although sea demons do go ashore asionally to travel around, that was something that only the exuberant and overly curious among them did. As for Tiel whose favorite hobby in life was to hibernate to her death, she clearly wouldn¡¯t have such thoughts that were an extreme waste of time ¡ª¡ª if she hadn¡¯t swum in the wrong direction, she probably wouldn¡¯t havee to hisnd located on the west of the ocean for her whole life. But now that she¡¯d already arrived at this ce by some strange chance and seen the human world, Tiel suddenly felt that¡­ moving about outside once in a while seemed pretty interesting too! These houses of humankind built on the drynd, the crops growing between the air and soil, queer culture and traditions ¡ª all indeed seemed more interesting than staying at home and sleeping. And Gawain had arranged for Miss Sea Demon a ¡°bed¡± that fulfilled her demands. In a guest room in the residence, Gawain had ordered men to move in a huge wooden box that took up a third of the room and had Heidi further reinforce it using magic. Then, they filled the wooden box with clear water (of course, salt was also added). This naturally couldn¡¯tpare to the actual ocean, but Tiel was already quite pleased with it: as Miss Sea Demon was only obsessed about sleep itself, it worked as long as the ce wasrge enough for her to stay. ¡°Not too bad. This is enough to sleep in.¡± Miss Sea Demon stirred the water in the wooden box with satisfaction. ¡°Thank you.¡± Gawain surveyed the decor of the room. As such a massive ¡°fish tank¡± was put inside, the amount of space that could fit furniture had naturally shrunk. Right now, other than a set of table with chairs and a cab, there was only a small single bed left. He had specially left this single bed behind. ¡°Actually, you can also try sleeping on the bed ¡ª¡ª it will probably be a unique experience.¡± ¡°I will, I will.¡± Tiel waved her hand impatiently and then in front of Gawain, did a backward dive into that big wooden box filled with clear water. Water instantly sshed in all directions in the wooden box. Amidst the sshes, a long tail emerged from beneath the water surface and briefly swayed in the air. ¡°But I still like sleeping in here~¡± Gawain was taken aback once he saw the tip of the tail¡ª¡ª That wasn¡¯t the fishtail he¡¯d seen earlier, but was a tail that seemed like a sea snake! At the side, Amber could not help eximing, ¡°Wah¡ª¡ª Why has your tail changed?!¡± ¡°Oh ya?¡± Tiel faltered for a moment; turning to look at the sea-snake tail that was swinging behind her, she was pretty surprised too. ¡°Seems like I got it wrong¡­ Never mind, it doesn¡¯t matter. I don¡¯t have to swim everywhere here anyway. The snake tail is more convenient for moving around.¡± ¡°So the tails of you sea demons can be freely changed?!¡± Gawain felt that he had grasped some unbelievable new knowledge once again (though such knowledge seemed to be absolutely useless). ¡°I¡¯d thought that the upper half of a human and lower half of fish was the standard form of sea demons¡­¡± ¡°The outlook of people onnd is really narrow.¡± Tiel pointed at Gawain using the tip of her snake tail. ¡°That is because your imagination isn¡¯t strong enough¡ª¡ª I can even turn my upper half into a fish and lower half into a human! If you don¡¯t believe it, I¡¯ll do it on the spot for¡ª¡± Before she could finish, Gawain had imagined what a sight it would be having a bighead fish with a pair of long fair legs running around. Threeyers of goosebumps instantly flooded his skin. ¡°Stop, stop, stop. No need, no need. It¡¯s enough knowing that you sea demons have myriad forms¡­¡± ¡°¡­So easily frightened.¡± Tiel flipped her hair and submerged herself into the water, only leaving her head floating above it, while watching Gawain. ¡°Do you have any other questions? If not, I¡¯ll be going to sleep¡­ I swam from the Endless Sea all the way here at one go. I¡¯m dead tired.¡± ¡°Last question.¡± Gawain quickly spoke up before she fell asleep. ¡°About seven hundred years ago¡­ do you know what experiences I had at the sea demons¡¯ sea area at that time?¡± ¡°You have to ask me about something you went through yourself?¡± Miss Sea Demon nced at Gawain in surprise. ¡°I slept for a very long time. After waking up, I found that my memories didn¡¯t really match reality,¡± Gawain exined casually. ¡°Besides, there¡¯s a difference in the world views of humans and sea demons. What I experienced might have another look in your eyes¡­¡± ¡°Seven hundred years ago¡­¡± Tiel rolled up her eyes, making it seem like she was in thought, her tail unconsciously dangling lightly on the edge of the wooden box. ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m really not too clear. Although you did go past our sea area, you only had a little contact with us. Besides, I was busy heading home to sleep, so I only took a nce at you on the sea surface from afar, then left. At that time, you were searching for something called ¡®revtion articles¡¯, but to the end, you and my sisters didn¡¯t seem tomunicate clearly what those so-called ¡®revtion articles¡¯ were. Therefore, my sisters brought you to an area wrapped in strong maic fields ording to your request. As for what exactly you went through at that sea area¡­ I¡¯m not really sure.¡± Revtion articles? Sea area wrapped in strong maic fields? Gawain felt very rueful that Miss Tiel was unable to provide enough information, but from her descriptions, even if the sea demons that Gawain Cecil had directly interacted with back then were here, they probably wouldn¡¯t be able to tell anything more: the sea demons had merely showed him the way that time. The truly crucial information were these two key points that Tiel had mentioned! Was that sea area wrapped in strong maic fields the legendary Sea of Eternal Darkness? Then what connections would the revtion articles have with the tall tower under the starlight that reached the sky? Could it be referring to those crystals that could help strengthen the satellite signal? The crystals that Gawain Cecil brought out from the tower were the revtion articles? ¡°As for that sea area enveloped in strong maic fields, are you all familiar with it?¡± Gawain asked another question, slightly unresigned. Tiel thought for a while. ¡°It is outside of our sea area. Though not far away, we never go there. ¡ª¡ª The strong maic fields there are only a small problem. The greatest trouble is that there is some being called the ¡®ancient guard¡¯ lingering there. It will randomly attack intruders. Honestly, we¡¯d thought you were mad when you insisted on entering back then. To think you actually came back alive¡­ and you¡¯d even resurrected?¡± Now even an ancient guard hade along¡­ New information that streamed in continuously had Gawain swelling with the urge of heading out to sea immediately, but he knew very well that the productivity and technology of the present could not support him through such an impulsive venture to the deep sea¡ª¡ª Moreover, there also existed an ¡°ancient guard¡± whosebat ability was extremely strong in the Sea of Eternal Darkness. But he still added, ¡°If we get a chance in the future, I hope that you can bring me to that ce again.¡± ¡°You humans are really a type of creature that loves taking risks, huh?¡± Tiel yawnednguidly. ¡°But let¡¯s see about it when there¡¯s a chance. ¡ª¡ªI don¡¯t n on returning for the time being. I had a hard time swimming so far to find this ce. It¡¯d feel like such a loss to return right away.¡± As she spoke, Miss Sea Demon lifted her eyelids and nced at Gawain. ¡°And swimming is so tiring. I want to rest~¡± The unspoken words behind these were that she couldn¡¯t be bothered to continue answering questions. ¡°Alright, have a rest first. We¡¯ll chatter when there¡¯s time.¡± Gawain nodded and took half a step back. ¡°Tell Betty if you need anything, or you cane to me directly. I¡¯ve shown you around this ce earlier.¡± ¡°I got it, I got it.¡± Tiel pped her tail impatiently; then she did a good stretch in the water, straightened her back, flipped her belly up, and closed her eyes to sleep. Soaked in the water with her belly up, she was sleeping like she¡¯d suddenly passed away. ¡ª¡ª It was also fortunate that she now had a snake tail; it would really be rather terrifying if it was a fishtail. Gawain left Tiel¡¯s room with Amber and the rest. Only when they¡¯d reached the corridor did Heidi break the silence. ¡°Ancestor, what do you think about this¡­ sea demon that suddenly appeared?¡± ¡°What do I think?¡± ¡°Sea demons are a species of mysterious yet ancient intelligent beings. Although there is no proof, the majority of the legends rted to them all contain descriptions of ¡®dangerous, peculiar, mysterious¡¯. Do you think this sea demon¡­ can be trusted?¡± Gawain rolled his eyes. ¡°Do you think her behavior is associated with the three adjectives above?¡± Heidi: ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Of course, I understand your worries too.¡± Gawain changed the topic. ¡°We cannot judge a person by appearances. The same goes for a fish¡ª¡ª Oh, and also a sea snake. Regardless, this sea demon carries knowledge and information that I urgently need. I have an obsession with the deep sea. It isn¡¯t easy exining such an obsession to all of you for now, but for that reason, I have to keep Tiel here. In addition, I¡¯ve also studied those legends about sea demons carefully. I found that almost all of them came from the coastal fishermen or sailors of the Typhon Empire and Silver Empire. These two groups¡­ To put it bluntly, even if they¡¯d caught sight of a slightly bigger fish out at sea, they would be able toe up with a heap of tales about gods and ghosts. The legends they left behind contain too much exaggeration and cannot be trusted, notpletely.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Heidi nodded. ¡°Since you¡¯ve thought it through, I no longer have any questions.¡± ¡°Mm. But you still have to remember, pay more attention to Tiel¡¯s movements. On the one hand, it¡¯s necessary vignce and precaution, and on the other, it¡¯s to stop her from doing anything shocking. ¡ª¡ª Shees from the deep sea after all. Her worldview is highly likely entirely different from humans¡¯.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Another thing, have the witnesses and soldiers maintaining order at the square today been spoken to?¡± ¡°They have.¡± Heidi nodded. ¡°The exnation to the outside is that an old friend of a different race whom you got acquainted with seven hundred years ago rushed over for a meeting as she¡¯d heard news of your resurrection. This has been told to Miss Tiel too, and she is willing to cooperate.¡± ¡°The convenience brought about by the identity of a legendary hero, is it¡­?¡± Gawain chuckled. ¡°It feels like no matter how many bizarre and strange incidents ur, as long as it has something to do with me, theymen would easily believe them.¡± Amber rolled her eyes. ¡°You could do something like opening and rising from your coffin after all. What else isn¡¯t possible.¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± Chapter 196 - The First Church Chapter 196: The First Church There was now a mysterious new guest at the territory, but this was merely a small part of the chit chat after dinner for the majority. In fact, the impact it had on the civilians couldn¡¯t evenpare to a newly built house in the xx area. Especially right now ¡ª¡ª many people were paying attention to a new building on the east of Knight Street. The Cecil territory¡¯s first church was finally being built. Cleric Wright used more than two month¡¯s time and finally passed the feudal lord¡¯s appraisal, attaining permission to preach on the Cecilnds; as well, a piece ofnd was allocated to him, along with materials, equipment, and personnel needed for the construction of the church. This Cleric was clearly delighted and erupted with immense enthusiasm and work efficiency at once, making this small church spring up at an astonishing speed ¡ª¡ª of course, this also had to do with his adept skill from carrying bricks for two months at the territory. The newlypleted little church looked very simple from its outer appearance. Although it also consisted of spires, a small tower, a prayer hall, and various facilities necessary for a church of the Holy Light, everything revolved around practicality and adequacy. The kind of extravagant style of putting gold and iying silver on the walls in the churches of the central region was absolutely nowhere to be seen, but it could still be described as a beautiful new building. With the church itself, together with the small public square in front, as well as the neat brick houses of Knight Street in the background ¡ª the territory¡¯s first street that could be described using ¡°modern town¡± finally took shape. And before the church officially opened its doors, the feudal lord even specially arranged for a small unch ceremony¡± for it. This was a rather bizarre arrangement in the eyes of the civilians ¡ª¡ª the great figure of the territorying forward personally and organizing an activity for theunch of a building. This was very rare in the past. At other ces, there wouldn¡¯t be any solemn ceremony with the appearance of a new facility. Usually, there were only some crass customs established through repetition from the people: a jar filled with ale would be smashed at the entrance before a craftsman shop was opened; on the one hand, it was for celebration, and on the other hand, it was using the aroma of ale to publicize and notify people that a new shop had been opened, while the priests and clerics of the various churches would organize some religious activities after a new church waspleted. The clerics would preach at the entrance and give out wheat cakes. Whereas, when racecourses, theaters, and the like established by aristocrats werepleted, there would be some celebrations, but they were all balls and cocktail parties for the upper-ss figures, nothing to do with civilians at all. The ceremony known as ¡°ribbon-cutting¡± that Gawain had arranged was novel and baffling to the people. However, the civilians of this era would not think deeply about matters that appeared to be unrted to their lives. In any case, the feudal lord¡¯s arrangements were simply right, and to them, novel happenings in the territory were something to be happy about ¡ª¡ª especially when this was a church that could bring convenience to their lives. Lots of crowds were gathered at the small public square in front of the church. They curiously watched the church doors that were still tightly shut, as well as the feudal lord andpany who stood in front of the doors: Gawain, Heidi, and Reba stood right there, and beside them was the Cleric Mr. Wright, who had a distinctive presence. Apart from them, the rest were just some soldiers responsible for maintaining order at the scene. For the sake of adapting to the aesthetic taste of the masses and conventions of this world, and to create an even more important ¡°symbolic significance¡±, Gawain redesigned a new set of so-called ¡°ribbon-cutting¡± procedures. He gave orders to attach a symbolic colored knot on the doors of the church and to also set up a blocking rope on the steps leading up to the entrance, representing that this building was still sealed. And when the sun rose to the highest point, he would appear here and open up the church as the feudal lord. Amidst the countless curious and reverent gazes, Heidi took a step forward. With the support of magic, her voice that was gentle but loud enough to ring through the crowd entered every person¡¯s ears. ¡°Today is a day worth celebrating. ¡ª¡ª The missionary of the God of Holy Light, Mr. Wright, has brought the morals of the Holy Light for everyone. Our feudal lord, Duke Gawain Cecil, believes that the way of the Holy Light is beneficial to the territory and as such, approved the construction of this church and personally sent his congrattions for the implementation of the morals of the Holy Light. ¡ª¡ª I will now read out the feudal lord¡¯s decree: ¡°Through the application of the missionary of the Holy Light, Wright Awiken, I, Gawain Cecil, feudal lord of the Cecil territory, have ruled that spreading the way of the Holy Light on thisnd is legal and beneficial. I hereby permit missionary Wright¡¯s preaching and approve the construction of one church.¡± Following that, with the civilians¡¯ gregarious and spontaneous apuse, Gawain cut the blocking rope, while Heidi and Reba undid the colored knot on the doors of the church. Cleric Wright watched the full course of this ceremony with curiosity. He felt that there was some significance in this ceremony, yet he ultimately wasn¡¯t a ¡°true clergyman¡± who was good at scheming. As a missionary who was considered to have been thrown out with a kick by the central region church, he had been spreading religious doctrines ording to his own understanding and way the whole time, so he quickly stopped thinking on it ¡ª¡ª it was a good thing so long as he could preach without a hitch. The feudal lord even came personally to give his congrattions; that was something even better. As for the matter about ¡°the God of Holy Light needing Gawain Cecil¡¯s permission to construct a church on hisnd¡±¡­ it didn¡¯t matter, since the church had already been built. To be honest, Wright even felt that the Cecil territory suited his own tastes even more: at other aristocratic territories, he needed to approach the local feudal lord for permission too. Although essentially every feudal lord would agree, there was never a ce that was formal and solemn like the Cecil territory. Instead of saying that the feudal lords of other aristocratic territories had permitted him to develop on their territory, it was more like theypletely blithely took on an uncaring attitude. The so-called ¡°feudal-lord permission¡± was merely a show of going through the formalities; it was a mutualpromise between the church and aristocratic influences and a show of respect on the surface. However, here at the Cecil territory, this ¡°permission¡± seemed much more formal. Wright liked such ces where the rules were clear and definite because he had seen too many instances where chaotic rules had led to the suffering of the people ¡ª¡ª many people wouldin that it was because the feudal lord set too many rules that caused life to be difficult, but few people realized that what led to a hard life weren¡¯t the rules, but carelessly and constantly establishing rules that even the feudal lord himself did not n on abiding by. Here, such situations clearly did not exist. ¡°Everyone interested in the way of the Holy Light can drop in. The space in the preaching hall is really big! People who do not believe in the Holy Light but have minor illnesses and injuries cane too. Healing holy water will be provided here every day!¡± Wright stood happily on the steps before the entrance of the church, his loud voice so resonant that the whole square could hear him. ¡°But those with major illness and injuries have to inform me in advance. Holy water is processed from river water. Its effects are limited. Healing spells should still be used for major illnesses¡­¡± Gawain stood at a side and watched as the continuous stream of believers of the Holy Light, or civilians who wanted to collect some holy water, walked into the church. Listening to Wright¡¯s loud greeting, he suddenly couldn¡¯t help but chuckle: it was his first time hearing a Cleric actively admit that the raw material of holy water was river water, and he even reminded people that the healing effects of holy water weren¡¯t good¡­ Meanwhile, Heidi stood beside Gawain. She had already perceived some deeper significance from this ceremony today. When she saw that there were asionally civilians thanking the feudal lord while walking into the church of the God of Holy Light, she asked in a low voice, ¡°Ancestor, are you putting religious authority into your own control?¡± ¡°I actually have no intention about holding religious authority and whatnot, but I dislike being controlled by religious authority even more,¡± Gawain said coolly. ¡°The church is a good thing. Theurgies, holy water, sacred objects, and war clerics are all good things. But if these things have their own system and will, then they¡¯re not quite good anymore.¡± ¡°A good number of aristocrats would be on guard against the overdevelopment of churches, but there was never anyone who¡¯d thought of using such a method to ¡®cage¡¯ it.¡± Heidi revealed a thoughtful expression. ¡°You used explicitws to stipte that all religious activities had to be approved by the feudal lord and ritualized actions to show everyone who to listen to when the feudal lord and the gods are put together, and you also expressed the feudal lord¡¯s support for the church¡­ Ancestor, your handling of matters is always unpredictable.¡± Yet Gawain shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not that no one thought of usingws and power to repress the church, Heidi. I¡¯m not the only smart person. ¡ª¡ª It is only because all of them do not have the resources to. We are very lucky that the southern border is an uncultivatednd with many years of regress. Many things could be constructed starting from zero, and Wright is also really devoted to the way of the Holy Light, instead of being a scheming ¡®true believer¡¯. That is why I was able toy this foundation, but in the central and northern regions where the power of the church is already deeply ingrained, I would not be able to do so at all. ¡ª¡ªJust like how you were able to perceive the significance behind my actions, those shrewd bishops would be able to do so as well.¡± Heidi faltered for a moment. She had to admit that Gawain was reading this matter very clearly, but she was also a little curious. ¡°If we were at those ces, what would you do?¡± ¡°Very simple, it would work so long as your fists are bigger than theirs,¡± Gawainughed. ¡°Sometimes, problems that cannot be solved using the brain are instead the simplest. Justpeting with fists would do.¡± Reba listened to Heidi and Gawain¡¯s discussion at the side. She essentially didn¡¯t understand a single word of the earlier half, but she understood Gawain¡¯sstment and was especially in favor of it. ¡°Lord Ancestor is right! Problems that can be fought out aren¡¯t problems!¡± Gawain helplessly darted a look at Iron-Headed Girl. ¡°Could you listen morepletely? I emphasized on using brains before fists!¡± Heidi was just about to follow and teach her a lesson, but an Amber crawled out of nowhere. ¡°She¡¯d realize that her brains weren¡¯t enough after using her brains¡­¡± Before this ultimate disgrace was beaten up, Gawain moved and held down the person¡¯s head. ¡°Your skin will itch if you do not provoke someone every day, huh? ¡ª¡ª Why are you here? Don¡¯t you dislike the Church of Holy Light and ces like it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here to watch the fun¡ª¡ª Let go, ay, let go.¡± Amber struggled vigorously under Gawain¡¯s hand. In the end, she simply shifted into the shadows and escaped the devil¡¯s clutches. ¡°Let me tell you, actually this cleric feels pretty okay to me. He¡¯s not as nasty as those clerics of the Holy Light that I met previously¡­¡± Gawain knew this half-elf very well. Only after she was doneining did he ask, ¡°Other than watching the fun, there should be another reason why you¡¯re here?¡± ¡°Tch, an old cured meat, but your eyes are pretty sharp¡­¡± Amber pursed her eyes. Then, before she was beaten up once more, she swiftly sputtered, ¡°Pittman is looking for you. ¡ª¡ªSaid he made a breakthrough in the research on mass-producing Druid potions!¡± Chapter 197 - Inversion Circle Chapter 197: Inversion Circle Even thoughrge-scale construction of brick houses in the territory hadmenced, and despite all the previous tents being reced andrge numbers of wooden huts being demolished and rebuilt in batches, Pittman¡¯s residence was still that wooden hut he had since the very beginning. ¡ª¡ª This had nothing to do with the little old man¡¯sborious style of work (in fact, he didn¡¯t have this attribute at all), nor was it Gawain targeting this little old man¡¯s indecency; it was simply due to a considerable amount of Druid spells being rted to the organic environment. Druid spellboratories requiredrge amounts of wooden base to serve as magic-conducting materials, and wooden houses were also more convenient for them to reform and catalyze using magic. Thus, this wooden hut remained in use till today, and it seemed Pittman satisfactorily nned to continue using it like that. In reality, although the wooden hut was still wooden, through Pittman¡¯s magic transformation over the past few months, it had apletely changed look ¡ª¡ª those felled wooden boards that had originally lost their vitality gained a certain kind of ¡°activation¡± under the permanent infiltration of Druid spells. Vines, branches, and leaves grew out from the gaps between the wooden boards. While making the wooden hut even tighter and more solid, they also greatly beautified its appearance. And the interior of the wooden hut became warm in winter and cool in summer due to the effects of natural spells. Gawain believed this was a ratherfortable lodging. Otherwise, that old rascal ¡ª who peddled ointments all day long and scrounged for free meals everywhere, drinking and ying cards, with no ends to his bad habits ¡ª would¡¯ve long approached him for a change in housing¡­ Pittman wasn¡¯t the kind of fellow to willingly be poor; otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have gone so far as to bing an antique appraiser because being a Druid wasn¡¯t profitable¡­ Walking into this already renewed (and taking on a new look every day) house, Gawain caught the old Druid who had his head bowed and was busying about beside theboratory bench at first nce. Thetter had clearly already noticed the arrival of the feudal lord but still didn¡¯t lift his head. ¡°Lord, please hold on for a moment. I¡¯ll be done here right away. ¡ª¡ª Spell experiments cannot be interrupted. The equipment is slightly worn. I¡¯ve got to watch them carefully to¡ª¡± At the side, Amber exposed him without the slightest hesitance. ¡°Stop pretending. That pile of vessels of yours hasn¡¯t started reacting. ¡ª¡ª Such a respectable style of being engrossed in academic research and responsible to the truth! Being too upied to attend to the feudal lord doesn¡¯t suit you.¡± Gawain heard the truth exposed by Amber midway, though feeling touched due to Pittman¡¯s rigorous and earnest working attitude. He instantly examined Pittman from top to bottom with doubt, and thetter straightened up from beside theboratory bench. He scowled and red at Miss Half-Elf. ¡°I just wanted to cheat and get some experiment funds. Do I have it easy?! Whose side are you on?¡± Amber rolled her eyes. ¡°Duh, I¡¯ll be on the side of whoever pays me.¡± ¡°Cough, cough¡±, Gawain quickly cut off the topic of conversation that was about to digress with a dry cough. ¡°I¡¯m here to look at your experiment results. ¡ª¡ªYou seemed to have settled the most critical step for the mass production of potions?¡± Pittman put down his old and worn alchemy tools that he used to cheat for funds upon hearing him. He straightened up triumphantly and led Gawain towards another alchemy tform on the other side of theboratory. ¡°Come look at this first!¡± Gawain walked over curiously. He saw a series of connected sks, retort, condensing tube, distition kettle, and other equipment ced on the alchemy tform. All these weremonly used items when metallurgists concocted potions. Although they were ratherplicatedly assembled together, there was nothing too specialpared to when Pittman concocted the potions previously. What was truly particr was theplex magical runes carved on the surfaces of two of the vessels, as well as an unfamiliar rune formation in the middle of the tform. Gawain could be sure that there were no such structures on normal alchemy tforms and alchemy vessels. ¡°What are these?¡± Gawain asked curiously. ¡°This is the ¡®Druid theurgy circle¡¯ used to rece the spellcaster¡¯s participation.¡± Pittman blinked and said rather proudly. ¡°Druid theurgy circle?!¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Pittman nodded. ¡°As you know, the biggest problem we encountered when we wanted to mass-produce Druid potions previously was the necessity of a spellcaster participating in thest step of ¡®enchantment¡¯. Only Druid spells could catalyze these potions.¡± At this point, Pittman paused before going on, ¡°Druid spells were born from the ancient nature theurgies, entirely different from the present conventional magical system, so there isn¡¯t a set of perfect ¡®spell mold ¨C rune formation¡¯ corresponding conversion system. In other words, many Druid spells cannot be converted into magic circles. This led to the inability to rely on carved magic circles on external materials to rece the spellcaster like how we did with the Magic Web or heat-ray gun¡­ Thus, this restricted the mass production of alchemical potions because the number of Druids is limited, and the total magical power of an individual is also limited.¡± Gawain looked at this little old man whose usual performance was rather frivolous in surprise. ¡°So you sessfully converted Druid magic into magic circles?¡± ¡°Strictly speaking, it¡¯s the ancient Druid theurgy circles ¡ª¡ª the ¡®theurgy circles¡¯ back when the Druid faction was still the Sect of the God of Nature and Druid magic was still theurgy,¡± Pittman rified in a low yet solemn voice. ¡°For this, I went throughrge quantities of ancient books and records. ¡ª¡ª I spent a total of one hundred and twenty gold coins buying the books, and the total cost of the errand fee from asking someone to buy the books is¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s not suitable to talk about this in such a solemn atmosphere. I¡¯ll reimburse youter.¡± Gawain cut him off directly. ¡°But I remember that the Druid theurgies have all be invalid. Those ancient theurgy circles could actually still be used?¡± ¡°Of course they cannot if they are being used directly, but look at these runes¡­ Don¡¯t you find them familiar?¡± With such a reminder, Gawain then noticed that those magical patterns on the surface of those vessels and the alchemy tform were indeed a little familiar. Regarding thebining of the elemental runes and sacred symbols together, there was an even stronger feeling of d¨¦j¨¤ vu¡­ A few secondster, it then suddenly struck him what this was: in the ruins in the mountains, in the shadow realm, thatrge fused magic circle used to confine the flesh of the gods! That magic circle had been drawn bybining elemental runes and sacred symbols! Gawain revealed a surprised look. ¡°It¡¯s the skill dug out from the ruins?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Pittman nodded. ¡°The various kinds of magic circles that you discovered in the ruins at that time have been copied down, but regarding the theurgies, Madam Heidi was stumped studying them, so she got me to help. ¡ª¡ª Although Druid theurgies are already lost, as an ancient upation that attaches extreme importance to legacy, we kept those sacred symbols as pure academic materials the whole time and handed them down. Madam Heidi got me to help with identifying the meanings of those symbols, and through this process, I discovered a daring endeavor of the Gondor Empire¡­¡± ¡°Daring endeavor?¡± Gawain frowned. From Pittman¡¯s tone, he got a sense of foreboding that this probably wasn¡¯t any simple secret. Of course, this could also possibly be the little old man¡¯s new attempt to cheat for funds. If that was the case, it¡¯d be even easier to resolve: giving him a beating would be enough. ¡ª¡ª He was a 700-year-old coffin spirit and a 7-million-year-old satellite spirit. No matter who he beat up on thisnd, he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about being criticized for being disrespectful to the elderly¡­ Of course, if someone insisted on saying that him beating up an old man was considered child abuse, then he could only ept it. Fortunately, Pittman really wasn¡¯t cheating for funds this time. ¡°They were attempting to ¡®search for the interface of divine power¡¯.¡± As he spoke, the little old man pointed to those magical patterns carved on the vessels and alchemy tform. ¡°Unless religious doctrines are strictly adhered to, divine power cannot be used by humankind. This is considered a shackle universally acknowledged by the world, but the Master Mages of the ancient Gondor Empire were clearly intending on doing something revolting. Their objective behind designing such a fused magic circle was to bypass some kind of ¡®prohibition¡¯ set up by the gods, so as to utilize the powers of the gods through the forces of magic. Judging from the clues you found in the ruins, they had evidently seeded, or rather, a portion of their work was sessful ¡ª¡ª they found the ¡®ess point¡¯ of using magical runes to control theurgies. Although given our current technology, we are unable to restore the original set of theplex fused magic circle, nor are we able to create a source powerful enough to drive it, we can still draw lessons from the reasoning of rune arrangements¡­¡± Not only were the contents of Pittman¡¯s speech astonishing, they also seemed rather promising, but Gawain could not help but feel uncertain. ¡°I remember someone had once attempted to use the forces of magic to utilize theurgies, but it all failed. A priest of the Holy Light was even devoured by the Holy Light as such¡­ Are you sure there are no risks to this technique?¡± ¡°The risks definitely exist. All magic has risks, but controlling the risks is apulsory lesson for us.¡± Pittman nodded. ¡°I also know about those failures you mentioned. We¡¯ve discussed them the previous time. At present, in my opinion, their failures are actually having gone the wrong way.¡± ¡°Gone the wrong way?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, gone the wrong way. Those people who attempted to use magic to control theurgies but failed were merely forcefully recing the symbols in theurgies with elemental runes through the trantion of elementalnguage and the method of substitution. It is just like forcefully recing every individual word in the elvennguage into those with simr meanings in humankind¡¯smonnguage and attempting to trante an elven book using such a method. Although all the individual words have been changed, due to differences innguage and morphologyws, the product of such recement can only be unreadable rubbish.¡± Pittman shook his head. ¡°Whereas the Master Mages of the Gondor Empire have done much more brilliantly. They realized that they could not ¡®trante¡¯ divine power using humankind¡¯s nguage¡¯, so they created a kind of ¡®interface¡¯. This interface did not try to forcefully trante the symbols in theurgies but drew theurgy circles. Then it would set up magical runes used for control at every critical position and use materials that are both spiritual and magic-conducting to serve as ¡®transfer mediums¡¯ at the input and output stages. Through such a method, they indirectly changed divine power from a ¡®rigid energy¡¯ that can only work through strictly adhering to religious doctrines into a ¡®flexible energy¡¯ like magical power that can be easily used by mortals.¡± For some reason, when Gawain heard Pittman¡¯s description about forcefully using elemental runes to rece theurgy symbols, what emerged in his mind were the two words, ¡®machine trantion¡¯. Was this the otherworldly version of machine trantion making people miserable¡­ Gawain shook his head, casting those unreliable associations about ¡®machine trantion¡¯ out, then looked at Pittman, and asked, ¡°So, you¡¯ve grasped the skill of such ¡®interfaces¡¯?¡± ¡°I cannot say I¡¯vepletely grasped it. After all, what you had copied back were only some magic circles, and not the Gondor Empire¡¯s primary research data. I still have to properly dig into those magic circles before I can figure out the specific theory behind such interfaces.¡± Pittman was not careless in such areas that involved professionalism and risks and answered honestly. ¡°Right now, I¡¯ve only found some ways of utilizing it and attached it to the Druid¡¯s ancient theurgy circle.¡± Pittman stroked his beard when he came to this point, a smile appearing on his face. ¡°Strictly speaking, what I¡¯m doing on the Druid theurgy circle is the opposite of what the Gondor Empire Master Mages had done ¡ª¡ª they were drawing powers from theurgies, but the Druid theurgies had long be invalid, so the theurgies are no longer able to release energy to the outside. Therefore, I reversed this process, using magical power to ¡®charge¡¯ the theurgy circle, thereby allowing thetter to operate. Of course, there is a measure of waste in this process, but it isn¡¯t too big. Under the support of the new Honeb Magic Web, the energy waste caused by such inverse change can totally be epted.¡± The old Druid lifted his hand and pointed to a certain corner of the set of apparatus on the alchemy tform. ¡°You should have noticed already. It has an interface to connect to the Magic Web left. So, we just have to connect it to the Magic Web, and the power of the Magic Web would convert into energy for the theurgy circle through this ¡®divine-power inversion circle¡¯ on the alchemy tform and as a result, catalyze the potions in these two vessels, just as if there¡¯s an ancient Druid priest casting spells on them, turning the ordinary herb juice in the vessels into magic potions¡­¡± After ending the exnation, the old Druid exhaled deeply and turned to Gawain. ¡°Lord, this is the avenue for mass production that I found.¡± Chapter 198 - Height of the Technique Chapter 198: Height of the Technique The theory that Pittman recounted wasn¡¯tplicated. Regarding the connection of theurgy circles and magic circles, in Gawain¡¯s understanding, it was actually just a process of ¡°frequency conversionpatibility¡±. Although the structures of the two differed, and the rune system and effectual mechanism were also different, theurgy circles and magic circles were essentially a kind of system that consumed magical power and produced effects (energy umtion magic circles like the Magic Web actually did not produce magical power either. It only concentrated andpacted the dispersed magical power already existing in nature. There was also the loss of its own waste energy in this process). Such systems had the innate possibility of being connected: so long as a suitable transfer pathway was found. In general, elemental runes and theurgy runes could not be mutuallypatible; the only oue from forceful mutual recement would be the spell going out of control ¡ª¡ª those priests would exin this as the gods being supreme; thus, the powers bestowed by the gods were also above the spells that mortals used. Low-level spells naturally could not be mutuallypatible with high-level theurgies. However, in Gawain¡¯s surmise, he believed that this was only due to the two¡¯s challengingpatibility or mon frequency region being overly narrow¡±. This surmise did note without cause, but a rational guess that emerged because of the historical facts of the transition of Druid theurgies to magic, as well as the fused magic circle discovered in the ruins in the mountains ¡ª¡ª now, it turned out that his guess was correct. The so-called divine power wasn¡¯t superior to magical power. It was only because the connection of theurgy runes and elemental runes wasn¡¯t as easy as that between elemental runes, and in the situation where theoretical guidance was absent, finding the correct permutation amongst the vast number of runes was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Thus, the schrs believed that these two systems were ipatible. The Gondor Master Mages from 1,000 years ago seemed to have found this ¡°needle¡±. The Druids¡¯ theurgies were already invalid. After the source of energy that was derived from the gods¡¯ ¡°gift¡± vanished, they had to draw magical power from nature to utilize the former ¡°theurgies¡±, and theurgies became magic in this process, while theurgy circles gradually became ineffective historical heritage as reasonable remodeling ways could not be found. However, the ¡°interface¡± that Pittman found gave the ancient abandoned theurgy circles the possibility of operating again. In Gawain¡¯s opinion, the mysterious veil of theurgy circles had beenpletely uncovered right at this moment. They were actually magic circles; sacred runes were actually some kind of special magical runes (independent of the elemental rune system); only its energy could not be derived from nature but required ayer of ¡°filter¡± or ¡°conversion¡± before it could be used. The inversion circle was the key to carrying such conversion. Gawain¡¯s reasoning extended¡ª¡ª he thought of those mysterious gods. What role did those gods assume in this process? Perhaps¡­ they were the earliest and also biggest inversion circle. The gods purified and extracted nature¡¯s original basic energy to transform it into the so-called ¡°superior energy¡± that could release theurgies: for example, the forces of nature, the Holy Light, divine war power, and more. Then, with strict religious doctrines as the ¡°authorization standard¡±, they allowed those mortals who carried out religious rituals to borrow these secondary energies that had been transformed. If this was on Earth, it would be equivalent to a developed country monopolizing the entire world¡¯s fossil fuels, sr energy, wind energy, and all primary resources, as well as the corresponding electricity generation technology. Then, the country converted these resources into electricity and exported it to a certain primitive country ¡ª¡ª thetter would, therefore, enter the age of electricity in one swoop, but so long as they did not find the way to generate electricity, they would forever be stuck in this state ¡ª¡ª leading a life of electricmps and telephones on the surface, but a primitive and backward life in reality. Because they were missing the technology of the most important ¡°conversion step¡± in the middle. Humankind was the only intelligent race on Earth, and the disparity between people was limited; thus, such monopolization was difficult to achieve. But in this world, the gods possessed powers that far exceeded the imagination of mortals; therefore, they seeded with such a monopolization. The ¡°White Starfall¡± 3,000 years ago was the beginning of the breaking of the monopoly. On that day, the God of Nature worshiped by the Druids disappeared for some reason. Consequently, the refinement authority of nature¡¯s divine power was released, and mortals obtained the ability to use the magic of nature. The Master Mages who studied the flesh of gods in the Dark Range a thousand years ago further reinforced the breakup of the monopoly. They used an even more aggressive method to bypass the ¡°authority lock¡± set up by the gods and achieved sess. However, the overall monopoly still could not be broken. The gods, who stood in great numbers in the world, were still present. Mortals, still, could only obtain the corresponding divine power by praying to the gods, but the key to breaking the monopoly was already held in Gawain¡¯s hand. As Gawain¡¯s mind calmed down, he looked fixedly at Pittman and asked, ¡°Do you know what this ¡®inversion circle¡¯ signifies?¡± The old Druid smiled. ¡°I do. To be honest, I¡¯m pretty proud of it.¡± ¡°The entire world will see us as their arch enemy,¡± Gawain warned slowly. ¡°Ny percent of the clergymen wille huffing over.¡± Pittman batted his eyes, revealing a trace of slyness in them. ¡°Not just those priests, there¡¯s also the ¡®gods¡¯ behind them.¡± Yes, there were also the gods behind them. Although the Eternal Stone te divulged the information that ¡°the gods were dead¡±, the fact that divine power still existed in the world was irrefutable. Gawain had no choice but to beware of those ¡°gods¡± hidden behind the scenes. Were they the resurrected gods? Or some kind of ¡°usurper¡± who took advantage of the empty position and took the role? Regardless of what was responding to the mortals¡¯ prayers, they probably wouldn¡¯t like to see their monopoly being broken. ¡°Do not use the inversion circle technique on any other theurgy circles other than those of the Druids for now,¡± Gawain said solemnly. He did not know how sharp the gods¡¯ eyes were. He could only assume that they would jump up even if one leg hair of theirs was plucked. ¡°I understand.¡± Pittman nodded. He evidently didn¡¯t dare to mess around in this aspect. ¡°This technique, we need to package it.¡± Gawain took a breath and went on, ¡°This was an attempt to convert Druid magic into ¡®magic circles¡¯, and due to the origins of Druid magic, ancient theurgy symbols naturally existed in the magic circles. This happened naturally. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Of course. I am merely a low-ranked Druid. How would I know the technique to steal divine power?¡± Pittman stroked his beard with his eyes narrowed. ¡°I¡¯d merely copied the ancient Druid theurgy circles from books, then connected the Magic Web recklessly. As for the so-called inversion runes¡­ given the brains of the majority of the spellcasters and clergymen of this era, they would only pay attention to whether the item was usable or not. Who would care about the theories and functions?!¡± Gawain detected deep disdain and even a hint of resentment towards conventional spellcasters from Pittman¡¯s tone. He knew that there was definitely a story there, but he only gave the other person a long deep look and didn¡¯t pursue further. He nodded. ¡°These deluding statements are just to be on the safe side. So long as we do well in keeping the technique confidential, we do not have to worry about the dangers that would ur after it has been leaked. There are only the three of us present here today. Before I believe that the time is right, we will be the only ones aware of this secret, and at the most, the core technicians added in in the future. Understand?¡± Pittman nodded lightly, while Amber suddenly stared at Gawain with a terrified look. ¡°You can¡¯t be thinking of killing me to silence me, right?¡± Gawain casually knocked on this half-elf¡¯s head. ¡°Are there any normal operations in your brain?¡± ¡°Damn, silencing a person still isn¡¯t considered normal?¡± Gawain helplessly darted a look at Pittman. ¡°To be honest, how did you and your old mate educate thisss back then?¡± ¡°Sigh, we didn¡¯t expect her to grow up into this,¡± Pittman sighed dejectedly. ¡°Her adoptive father and I worked conscientiously the whole time to earn money and raise the kid. We taught her stealth, poisoning, grave digging, exhumation, swindling and bluffing, pilfering, and even got the best shadow mentor for her. We were so serious in our education. How did she go astray¡­?¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± Damn it, how could she not go crooked with this education? That Amber only had some faults of pilfering till now was already considered having a naturally good soul, huh?! ¡°¡­I¡¯ve got to properly rectify your values.¡± Gawain resignedly waved a hand at Amber and turned back to look at Pittman. ¡°Sort out the new flow of production and technical requirements of the various equipment into a detailed file. I will arrange for the industrial department to start designing the corresponding equipment and workshop. It is just nice that it¡¯s winter right now. If weplete it within these few months, it can be used just in time when springes. In addition, I remember you recruited a batch of apothecary apprentices. Can they be put in important positions?¡± ording to Gawain¡¯s directive to ¡°increase talents¡±, Pittman recruited a group of apothecary apprentices in the territory to impart the way of nature ¡ª¡ª those plots in stories where a child randomly taken from a poor family possessed unusual talent and became a nature-defying genius with some nurturing did not happen. Not a single one of the dozen had Druid aptitude; only two or three possessed the weak ability to sense magical power but found it strenuous to even be a Mage apprentice. Fortunately, there weren¡¯t only spells in Druid knowledge; knowledge about all sorts of potions, animal domestication, and nt cultivation could be picked up byymen. Thus, these apprentices were considered to have grown swiftly under Pittman¡¯s lead. At present, they were doctors and apothecaries of the territory, and when needed, they would also help Pittman concoct those catalytic potions required for agriculture. ¡°Saying they can be put in important positions would be ttering those young fellows, but they¡¯re considered hard working. Their fundamental alchemy skills are alright.¡± Pittman touched his beard. ¡°You have arrangements?¡± ¡°Using the reaction vessels to prepare magical medicine is a technical job. Laymen who haven¡¯t been trained won¡¯t be able to handle them. After the pharmaceutical synthesis factory has beenpleted, on top of workers doing the chores, we also need technical personnel who know the ropes in there. Select a few reliable and steady apprentices. We¡¯ll let them manage the factory.¡± Pittman was a little surprised. ¡°I thought you would have wanted me to manage the factory.¡± ¡°What you ought to be managing is the research and development system that¡¯s at an even higher level, and not a concrete factory.¡± Gawain darted a look at Pittman. ¡°There won¡¯t only be one pharmaceutical factory in the territory in the future, and the Druids¡¯ ancient theurgies¡­ aren¡¯t only used to concoct medicines either.¡± ¡°It seems you¡¯re thinking very far ahead.¡± Pittman nodded. ¡°I understand. I will pick a few suitable apprentices to train and get them to go to the steelworks and mechanical research station to familiarize themselves with ¡®factory production¡¯.¡± Gawain let out a breath. ¡°Then¡­ apart frompleting these tasks, I think you ought to consider the next research project .¡± Pittman blinked. ¡°Next step of research?¡± ¡°That is to study ¡®why¡¯.¡± Gawain looked at those theurgy runes and elemental runes on the alchemy tform, as well as the ¡°inversion circle¡± serving as the conversion interface. ¡°Why can the inversion circle convert primary magical power into so-called ¡®divine power¡¯? Why must secondary energy that has been converted be used to drive theurgy circles? What exactly is the difference between magical power and divine power?¡± Gawain eased his tone, but his expression was especially solemn. ¡°Conventional spellcasters rarely pay attention to spell theories at a deeper level, and you¡¯ve also mocked this point earlier, so we absolutely cannot be like them. Especially with the inversion circle technique ¡ª¡ª it is a technique that was excavated, a property of the ancient Gondor Empire. It isn¡¯t some god bestowed item that cannot be analyzed, but something that ancient Master Mages who were also humans studied and came up with. And very luckily, we happened to have the chance to study it. We definitely cannot let go of this opportunity.¡± Pittman faltered for a while before he suddenly broke into a smile. ¡°Whenever I believe that I¡¯ve thought far enough, I¡¯d always find that you¡¯re already standing somewhere even further, waiting for me to catch up¡­¡± Before Gawain could respond, Amber had already voiced what he was about to say for him. ¡°This is the wisdom of the elderly.¡± Chapter 199 - The First Lesson Chapter 199: The First Lesson ¡°Following the time¡± was originally a characteristic and privilege of the aristocrats because only the aristocrats held the tools and methods to urately calcte time. Whether they were magic timers or mechanical clocks from the Dwarf Kingdom, all of them weren¡¯t items that civilians could possess. Thus, the aristocrats viewed ¡°following the time¡± as a part of upper-ss society, treating it as an etiquette and rule, while civilians simply relied on the sun and astrology to roughly gauge the time and arrange their work using that. This was a normality at any aristocratic territory other than the Cecil territory. However, in the Cecil territory, everyone¡¯s lives would strictly follow ¡°time¡± ¡ª which hour and minute to start work, which hour and minute to end work, what time the mess hall served meals, what time night sses began. Everything had a precise timescale, from the territory officials to themon people; that was the case for everyone. This was the change that Gawain brought. It was a change made to reverse the chaotic, primitive, and inefficient production model; only an exact timetable could ensure that factories could operate smoothly, and only an exact timetable could have people aware of the importance of efficiency. Initially, many civilians were rather puzzled by such a requirement; only because of the feudal lord¡¯s great prestige did they confusedly follow this newly set rule. However, at this point, ¡°punctual¡± had be a familiar term in the territory: even young children understood the necessity of punctuality. This was because they had toe to school punctually for lessons ¡ª even earlier than the adults ¡ª and study longer than the adults; the requirements for them were even stricter. Gawain had yet to implement full-time schooling for the time being, so the children of the Cecil territory currently had to spend half of their day helping their parents with manualbor at home. After lunch, they had to report to the ¡°Cecil General Academy¡± located in the south of the territory. This was a brand new school constructed using bricks and cement. Its main building was the territory¡¯s most stylish building, with thergest area other than the various factories. And the Cecil territory¡¯s g fluttered above the square by the school, the huge and prestigious emblems of Cecil and Anzu printed on the walls ¡ª¡ª Gawain was firmly convinced that the sense of honor and belonging had to be fostered from a young age. Compared to the adults whose worldview was already solidified, having children develop knowledge of this aspect early was even more important. Moreover, the distinct and dignified symbol of the school also helped in raising the civilians¡¯ enthusiasm about ¡°enrolling in school¡±: receiving education arranged by the feudal lord in such a stylish facility, this would be something very honorable in the eyes of many. Even if they could not sense honor, Gawain wanted to instill in them the thinking that doing so was very honorable. The adults¡¯ night school began after work had ended in the evening, whereas the children attended lessons in the school from the afternoon. They would learn here until the sun set, then have a free dinner with the teachers (this dinner was also one of the motivations for adults being willing to send their children to school), and then continue learning after dinner. When the adults¡¯ night sses ended, the children would return home together with their parents. The mindset of adults was typically solidified: epting new knowledge would be something rather difficult. Thus, Gawain¡¯s demands for the majority of the adult workers in the territory was simply being able to read and count; at the least, they would be able to understand the operating instructions of the machines in the factories. On the other hand, children were precious ¡°nk papers¡±: they had yet to be polished and numbed by life and could still ept liberal new thoughts and new knowledge. Therefore, Gawain always attached great importance to the children¡¯s education. At the beginning of the territory¡¯s construction, there were almost no children in the entire town. This was because those who fled from the old Cecil territory were basically all robust adults. Although women and children were given priority during the evacuation, under the Dark Wave¡¯s corroding environment, more than half of the children who had weaker constitutions weren¡¯t able to survive. ¡ª¡ª Only until several poption expansionster did the Cecil territory finally have a juvenile generation once more. Some were ves sold here together with their parents (if not for Gawain¡¯s liberation system, these children and their descendants would be ves for generations). There were also the homeless rescued by Joan and Tom. Even though these children still had to live in the buffer camp with their parents, there were arrangements for them toe for lessons at the academy every day. Today, they were adding a special new course. Santis Seid nervously tidied his clothes in the staff room. The staff room was very simple and unadorned, but there was a full-length mirror. A maxim that the feudal lord bestowed to the teachers of the academy was pasted on it: Be a mirror. Santis straightened out his slightly worn magic robe, smoothing out the creases on the robe a little clumsily. He saw the maxim on the upper section of the mirror; there was wisdom in the feudal lord¡¯s words, yet he still couldn¡¯t quite understand why this maxim would appear here. Only,pared to understanding this phrase, he was more worried about whether he would be able to smoothly cope with this first lesson. He was going to teach a group of poor children, getting them to learn knowledge that even children of wealthy merchants and Knights might not be able to take in. Could this really be done? He had once worked as the family tutor of some merchants or small aristocrats; those children of the wealthy could more or less be considered ¡°the future upper ss of good upbringing¡±, but teaching them to study was still a chore, and now, he was about to face a bunch of children of serfs, veborers, contract ves, and freemen. This young Grade 2 Arcanist literally didn¡¯t dare to imagine how he would begin this first lesson with them. But the bell for lessons was about to be sounded. Through the window, he saw the hunched old man responsible for sounding the bell already walking towards the brass bell hanging in the courtyard with a small hammer. Any more hesitance at this moment was meaningless. Santis Seid tidied his cor onest time. Then, with a determined expression, he picked up the rough draft and lesson n that he had prepared at the side, pushed open the door of the staff room, and strode out on wide steps toward the children¡¯s ssroom. After pushing open the door, he saw two apprentices who were cleaning the room stare nkly at him ¡ª¡ª he¡¯d gotten the wrong door. ¡°Sor¡ªsorry!¡± The haughtiness and imposing manner of an upational spellcaster waspletely absent in the young Arcanist. He nervously apologized, his face flushed due to embarrassment. Without waiting for the two apprentices to respond, he had returned to the corridor like he was escaping. The bell for lesson had already sounded, but Santis consecutively pushed open the wrong door twice in the corridor before he found the ssroom where he ought to be holding his lesson. He pushed open that door almost frantically. Upon seeing a room full of disorderly, dirty children of staggered ages dressed in patched clothes, he finally heaved a sigh of relief. The children who rushed to lessons were making a din. Despite this not being their first time entering the school, the word ¡°discipline¡± still hadn¡¯t entered their heads. These children of different ages who came from different ces treated the ssroom as a ce for gatherings, making it noisy and chaotic. Their parents could be serfs, freemen, ves, or even refugees, but they¡¯d yet to grasp the concept in this aspect, so all the children were mixed together, aplete, utter mess. Usually, the teachers who taught the general-studies lessons could use loud voices to intimidate these children, but Santis Seid did not have such a loud voice (or the courage that corresponded with a loud voice). When he¡¯d just pushed open the door to step in, the ssroom had indeed gone quiet for a moment, but that was merely the children temporarily pausing their racket due to curiosity. Soon, the noise returned, and this time, the children¡¯s focus of discussion had changed from dinner to the magic robe on Santis. ¡°Look! A new teacher!¡± ¡°A new teacher wearing a magic robe. That must be a magic robe!¡± ¡°The new teacher is a Mage lord! He must be able to conjure a dragon¡­¡± ¡°Shh, you¡¯ll be dead if he gets angry!¡± ¡°That magic robe is so old¡­¡± The slightly older children still knew to look at Santis¡¯s magic robe and the short staff at his waist with fear, but those younger werepletely fearless. They had yet to learn to immediately bow humbly upon seeing Mage lords, like their parents would. ¡ª¡ª Simrly, Santis had also failed to grasp the ¡°guts¡± of themon Mages who would casually toss out a small fireball when they were offended by rude lowlymoners and cripple them. He could only release that few arcane bullets a day. Hence, he could only open his mouth futilely, his voice so soft that even the first row could barely hear him well. ¡°Be quiet¡­ Everyone, be quiet. It¡¯s time for ss¡­¡± No one listened to him, just as he had expected: the children of civilians were even harder to handle. Santis felt perspiration oozing out on his face. He felt that his first lesson might have failed, but a handkerchief was suddenly handed to him from the side. ¡ª¡ª He looked over in surprise and saw a girl with big eyes holding the handkerchief, looking at him. This girl was slightly puny but was dressed in a very clean and neat cotton dress; there was also a small hairpin on her head. This showed that she probably came from a rather well-to-do family. She held the handkerchief forward again, opening her mouth to make ¡°ah ah¡± sounds. ¡°Than¡ªthank you¡­¡± Santis didn¡¯t think that there would be a child this sensible. He immediately said his thanks while he took the handkerchief, wiping his perspiration and smiling. ¡°You didn¡¯t scream and shout like the others. You¡¯re really sensible¡­¡± His words had just fallen when a boy suddenly shouted out, ¡°Because Pea is a mute!¡± The girl with very big eyes immediately red at the boy. Thetter quickly shrunk his neck. ¡°Sorry, Sister Pea¡­¡± This girl was called Pea, and she was a mute? Santis faltered for a moment. He recalled that he had indeed seen the odd name, ¡°Pea¡± previously in the student register, but he didn¡¯t expect to actually have a mute amongst his students. And within two seconds of his daze, Santis suddenly caught, through his peripheral vision, a small hand poking out from under his desk. This hand was holding a te used for writing; several words were crookedly written on it: Use a magic, sir. Then, this te was swiftly retracted. Santis didn¡¯t even get a clear look of who it was from. He was stunned for a moment and finally responded. Then, he briefly lifted his right hand. ¡ª¡ª He only had a few precious chances of spellcasting everyday, and he was using one on his first lesson. A small arcane energy ball flew out from his hand, all the way to the middle of the ssroom; then it exploded with a pop. The magic sparks that scattered in all directions looked as if a firework had been lit up in the room. All the children quietened down at once. They watched their new teacher in awe, as if they¡¯d only finally realized now, finally confirmed that ¡ª¡ª this was a true Mage. Just like Madam Heidi, he was a Mage. The children gazed speechlessly at one another, while Santis finally knew what he ought to do. ¡°Children.¡± The young Grade 2 Arcanist put on a smile. He tossed his former experiences of tutoring the young aristocrats and merchants to the back of his head, throwing away those meaningless ostentatious opening remarks, throwing away those ¡°etiquette of first contact¡± and rules, and said what he most wanted to say right now. ¡°Let me tell you how to distinguish runes, as well as the basic theory for them to be effective.¡± These children might not be able to release one spell using their own hands all their lives. Santis turned around and used chalk to write down the title of the first lesson on the ckboard. No one in history had considered imparting all the secrets of magic to every single person without reservation. The fundamental runes for earth, fire, wind, and water were transferred from the tip of the chalk to the ckboard, followed by the derived runes of frost, lightning, and various others. However, these children could use their brains to remember this knowledge, using paper and pen to calcte this knowledge. Miss Jenni had already proven the value of such ¡°calctions¡±; the feudal lord also believed in these values. Santis turned around. What he saw were dozens of curious and intent eyes ¡ª¡ª they were capable of paying attention. ¡°Let us begin the first lesson.¡± Chapter 200 - Rune Research Center Chapter 200: Rune Research Center In front of Gawain was the blueprint of a new type of processing facility that he was envisioning. If it was a few months ago, Gawain would think that he was delusional for trying to design such a machine in a society that was so backward. He would have felt that he was not respecting reality and forcing the advancement. However, recent experiences made him understand one logic: he still had to further adjust his thoughts and to get rid of the experiences left behind by his previous life. It was to prevent him from making a wrong judgment due to those experiences. It was a machiningthe that had various magical equipment: It used the Scorching Ray base te that could constantly release a heat ray as a cutting head. It used the repulsion apparatus, which could conductplicated quick activations and quick shutdowns, as the moving mechanism. It used the control cores of the magic puppets as the central control. ¡ªThis operation was temporarily left out¡­ Gawain had yet to design a simple rune trigger to fix on theplicated puppet core. This was entirely a ¡°blueprint machine¡±, and it was impossible to construct this at this juncture. However, Gawain was certain that the direction of the design was fine. He had temporarily drawn the impossible design on the blueprint. In recent days, he had been arranging the necessary actions and rewards that happened over the past few months and had developed some ideas that were uncontroble during the process. There were footsteps that could be heard from the hallway, and Gawain lifted his head to see the door being opened by someone. Reba made a ruckus as she ran inside. ¡°Lord Ancestor, I heard from Betty that you are looking for me?¡± After Reba ran in while making a ruckus, the white-haired Jenni then walked into the room carefully. The Runemaster had a helpless expression, and it was obvious that she was embarrassed by all the inevitable idents andmotions whenever she moved together with Reba. She took a nce at the proud Viscountess and greeted Gawain with her head lowered. ¡°Your Excellency, do you have instructions?¡± Before Gawain had time to even speak, Reba had already noticed the blueprint on the table, and she yelled out, ¡°Hey, Jenni! Look! My ancestor drew a new blueprint~!¡± ¡°Your Excellency, are you designing a new machine or weapon?¡± This time, even the respectful and well-behaved Jenni couldn¡¯t hold back her curiosity and approached. She looked at the concept machine on the table with surprise. Looking at the distinct and prominentponents¡¯ designs that were beside the machine¡¯s blueprint, she could vaguely guess the function of this machine. ¡°This is¡­ a kind of equipment to cut materials? No¡­ it isn¡¯t just meant for cutting. It seems like it can also mold or sculpt? It is using the Scorching Ray as a cutting tool?¡± Jenni was looking at the blueprint on the table with fervor and curiosity. She had a peculiar feeling of reverence towards Gawain, and it wasn¡¯t just because of Gawain¡¯s social status or hero status. It was more so for his ¡°concept of thinking¡± that was far beyond an ordinary person¡¯s mind. Gawain would always be able to propose some bold yet feasible designs, and when those designs were made into reality, ordinary people like them would discover how deep his intentions were with each step of the design. It was like this when he was governing the territory, and it was the same in the field of magic¡­ Gawain might not be the inventor of rune logic, but he was able to find the proper method to use it. Those interchangeable base tes and ideas for mass production were things that a Runemaster like Jenni had never thought of. This time though, Jenni felt that Gawain¡¯s design for this equipment was truly¡­ far too advanced. ¡°Your Excellency, please pardon me for speaking bluntly. Many structures on this machine¡­ are probably unable to be produced in reality for now. Putting other things aside, just talking about the magic-puppet-core portion, we do not have any technical personnel for it. This is the profound technology that belongs to the northern Violet Kingdom¡­¡± ¡°I know. This machine isn¡¯t a mission for you two.¡± Gawain knew that these two youngdies had already gotten the wrong idea, but he still allowed them to finish observing the blueprint before he broke his silence. ¡°I am going to give the two of you a special and long-term task.¡± ¡°A special and long-term task?¡± Reba¡¯s eyes widened before she got delighted and asked, ¡°Ancestor, are you asking us to be in charge of another project?¡± ¡°This time, it isn¡¯t as simple as a project.¡± Gawain smiled and said, ¡°I want to establish a new department.¡± Jenni asked cautiously, ¡°Will it be¡­ like that mechanical research station?¡± ¡°Simr.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°I am preparing to establish a department that specializes in the research of rune logic and to use rune logic to achieve simplification, optimization, and generalization of all sorts of magic circles. This department will belong to the recently established, ¡®Magical Technology Department¡¯. I shall name it ¡®Rune Research Center¡¯. Jenni, you will be the person in charge of the Rune Research Center. Of course, the territory iscking in talented people now, and this so-called research center is only a framework. For now, you will not have any subordinates or assistants. As for your new assistants, it will depend on when you are able to nurture the first batch of students from the rune-logic sses in the school.¡± ¡°I am in charge?¡± Jenni pointed at herself with surprise and quickly shook her hand before pointing at Reba beside her. ¡°I feel that the Viscountess is much more suitable than me! I¡ªI only know rune calction, while the Viscountess already knows rune calction, and she even knows the knowledge of official mages. She also knows the principle and functionality of various magical equipment. No matter how I see it, she is better than me¡ª¡± ¡°Of course I know that.¡± Gawain smiled and interrupted Jenni. He obviously knew that everything Jenni said was true, and it wasn¡¯t because this Runemaster was trying to be humble. In fact, this foolish one was indeed a genius in her specialized field, and she was the only person in the territory who was able to wlessly fuse the magic and mechanical fields together. ¡°That¡¯s why she has something else to do. I am preparing to make Reba in charge of the Magical Technology Department. This department doesn¡¯t just have to be in charge of rune logic, it would also have to research various things about magical technology.¡± Reba was blinking while she listened to everything before she suddenly lowered her head and calcted something with her fingers. She then lifted her head and looked at Jenni with surprise. ¡°Jenni! I have a higher position than you!¡± Jenni looked at Reba with a strange expression and said, ¡°You¡­ are already holding a higher position than me¡­¡± Gawain also looked at his youngest granddaughter with a strange expression and asked, ¡°Did you forget that you are still a Viscountess?¡± Reba was stunned and eximed two secondster, ¡°¡­I really forgot about it¡­ No, I didn¡¯t forget, I just didn¡¯t mind it normally!¡± Gawain took a deep sigh and was thinking of this child¡¯s head being mmed by a door when she was young. Her head might have been mmed by the city gates¡­ Subsequently, Gawain quickly tossed this problem aside and continued to say, ¡°Of course, due to the new organization structure and theck of talented people, even after establishing these departments, the two of you will still be conducting research together. In addition, I have another research project for the two of you.¡± The duo immediately shut their mouths and listened to Gawain¡¯s arrangement in a serious manner. ¡°I want the two of you to start from Grade 1 and create a cotion of all themon spells that could be turned into magic circles. In short, I want you to list down and file away all the traditional magic circles. At the same time, use rune logic to carry out a corresponding simplification and optimization before designing a rune base te. After each magic circle has been ¡®generalized¡¯, file them into the archive. As for those magic circles that are unable to be optimized for now, or have unknown fundamental principles, or are considered ¡®technological ck boxes¡¯ ¡ª they will all have to be listed ordingly. Record the reasons why they couldn¡¯t be optimized and the current status before storing them for future research.¡± Jenni and Reba both had their eyes wide open, but the former was eximing in admiration of the ¡°great scale¡± of Gawain¡¯s n, while thetter was already simting the prospects and developments in her mind. A few minutester, Reba couldn¡¯t help bbing. ¡°Lord Ancestor, are you preparing to make a general archive so that it will be convenient for future researchers to refer to and also to make custom orders to the factories at any time? Ah right¡­ this archive can also be released to the school for those children that just started studying mathematical logic and runes to use as reference materials¡­ I heard that Mister Santis has already started lessons? Oh, oh, also, we might be able to make a summary of thew of changes for the Grade 1 to Grade 9 spells. We might even be able to backward research those ¡®technological ck boxes¡¯ afterward¡­¡± Was this silly-looking granddaughter really not a transmigrator?! How many points did she invest in ¡®Inspiration¡¯ and ¡®Advanced Foresight¡¯ in order to achieve such a level of thought? Gawain looked at Reba with a shocked expression before he immediately lowered his head and coughed to cover up his loss of manners. ¡°Cough, cough. Everything can be put to use. Reba, Jenni, you have to remember that establishing a foundation and framework is the greatest part of all projects. In the beginning, you might only be rearranging those Grade 1, Grade 2, or even apprentice-grade magic circles, but if those magic circles are used appropriately, it will produce enough drive to advance the entire territory.¡± Gawain added on immediately after, ¡°The task I am giving the two of you is long-term and arduous. Don¡¯t think aboutpleting it in a short period of time. Go back and slowly ponder, while notgging behind on the research of the new generation Magic Powered Engine¡¯s repulsion-magic-circle formation, theption of these ¡®teaching materials¡¯. The power from two individuals is ultimately limited. You will only be able toplete this task earlier by nurturing more talented people.¡± ¡°Yes, we understand.¡± Jenni nodded. She didn¡¯t even question the problem of ¡°a Grade 3 Mage and a Grade 4 Runemaster trying to decipher those high-grade magic circles.¡± Firstly, she knew that this world had so many spells, and it would take an extremely long time to cote all the magic circles that were below Grade 3. It was basically impossible to get the high-grade magic circles within a short period of time. Secondly, she knew about the essence of rune logic; it was an art of calction that was established on pure mathematical logic. In this hall of maths, individual spellcasting ability was merely a supporting factor. Even though the Viscountess was only able to cast Large Fireball, she would still be able to calcte optimization ns for middle-grade or even high-grade magic circles! ¡°Then, I shall hand this important task to the two of you.¡± Gawain then leaned on the chair while looking at the two youngdies with eyes of expectation and praise. ¡°I am looking forward to your results.¡± Chapter 201 - Catching a Cold Chapter 201: Catching a Cold When Reba and Jenni left, Gawain stood up from behind the table and walked to therge french window. He then looked at the opposite za and at the new building that was being constructed. That was the headquarters for ¡°public security¡±. A group of native militia who went through training and thought education would be the first batch of professional ¡°police officers¡± or ¡°public security officers¡± on the territory to rece the soldiers from the Combat Corps who were currently patrolling the streets. Gawain wasn¡¯t thinking about the implementation of the new system, he was paying attention to the construction process of the new building. Wherever a new facility was constructed, the Honeb Magic Web would beid down. As such, before the Public Security building began construction, the foundations in the vicinity were already installed with the honeb units and the output points. These magical energies would be an important support for the construction site. Before starting the constructions, the craftsmen would use the blueprints distributed to them and draw out the simple Weight Reduction magic circles, heating runes, elemental support runes, and others on the magic web¡¯s output points. The construction materials delivered from the cement and brick factories would be processed in the areas with the simplified magic circles. Some of the materials would go through the heating and solidification process, and some would receive the elemental support to prolong the material¡¯s lifespan. Most of the materials would go through weight reduction to make it convenient for transport and instation. An inferior Weight Reduction magic circle drawn with cheap materials could produce a weight reduction effect that wouldst for one hour. During the time limit, the construction materials would be transported to the suitable position, like the roof beams and pirs. The intelligent craftsmen had gained experience during the process, and they knew how they should make use of the materials that had their weight reduced and to ensure that there wouldn¡¯t be any conflict to the building structure when the weight was suddenly reverted to normal. Instead, they made it so that it would be securely connected with the other building materials. Throughout the entire territory, the blending of magic and traditional craftsmanship was progressing quickly in the construction work. The craftsmen in the construction were considered the first to quickly adapt to the use of magic in their daily work. The involvement of these simple spells allowed the new Cecil territory¡¯s construction efficiency to reach an unbelievable rate. In fact, it was beyond Gawain and Heidi¡¯s initial prediction. They were both surprised that magic could actually bring so many changes to themoners, while Gawain was rethinking whether his judgment of this world was correct¡­ Was it just the Anzu Kingdom that was in its medieval period, or was this entire world truly gging¡± in technology? Gawain frowned while he thought about the task he handed to Reba and Jenni, and also about the things that he had seen and heard during the past few months. Themunication ring from the Mithril Vault, Heidi¡¯s Levitation and Weight Reduction spells, the Eternal Sleepers¡¯ human-brain array, the Oblivion Association¡¯s biological reformation¡­ If Gawain was to judge from the angle of ¡°if a goal could be realized¡± or ¡°if a technological method existed¡±, this world wasn¡¯tgging at all and was unimaginably advanced. Long-distance and short-dymunication technology existed in this ce in the form of the magicalmunication spell or the Mithril Vault¡¯smunication tool. There were also advanced facilities like the magic information towers between kingdoms. In the silver elves¡¯ empire, there was also a flying city called the ¡°Sacred Stars Temple¡±. The city could cover the entire Silver Empire with long-distancemunication signals. It was considered a base station with the highest output of power that Gawain had ever heard of. The Scorching Ray disyed a power that was equivalent to a high-energyser or an ion st that had extreme heat and extreme concentration. The Eternal Sleepers¡¯ technology created a mental-linkwork. In Gawain¡¯s opinion, the human-brain array was simply a type of ck technology, and what else did this technology achieve? It achieved apletely immersive virtual reality¡­ and it could even affect the real world. Many years ago, the Oblivion Association¡¯s biological-reformation program had already achieved the ability to conduct organ transnts and DNA fusions between different species. The Church of Holy Light¡¯s holy water could already achieve 100% sterilization, while their healing theurgy could allow a human limb to instantly regenerate. The Mages could create energy shields, concentrated energy rays, harmful sound waves, and even small-scale man-made weather¡­ A roof beam had half its weight reduced and was being shifted to the roof by construction workers using a suspension rope before being easily installed in ce. What did this look like in Gawain¡¯s eyes? It was anti-gravity technology! The Sacred Stars Temple must be using some sort of powerful anti-gravity device for it to float in the skies of the Silver Empire for thousands or even ten thousand years. If its technology could be used, how many airships would be in the skies? Could a world that contained all of these technologies truly begging? ording to normal reasoning, they shouldn¡¯t begging and should already have advanced to a stage that could be described as ¡°science fiction¡±. However, in Gawain¡¯s eyes, the world was still consideredgging: Most of the people were living off thend through agriculture. They were still using crude wooden tools and physical power to survive. They were still living difficult lives with barely filled stomachs; a small sickness or a minor disaster would be enough to take their lives. All these things were happening not because their technological standard wasn¡¯t at the required level; rather, it was because while the technological standard might have already been achieved, they weren¡¯t spread extensively. This was the usual thing about this world: magic could make all kinds of advanced technology, and it wasn¡¯t being generalized, but it was still utilized by individuals! Even if technological advancement was restrained by ¡°not being generalized¡¯, the ¡°high starting point¡± of magic had already determined that even the most primitive method of its usage would allow people with power to have a rather good life. The people of the upper ss had the powers of Beyonders, and they could use such powers to live extremelyfortable and convenient lives. At the same time, they had arge quantity of ¡°lower-ss people¡± to order around; therefore, they didn¡¯t wish to spread the power that was maintaining their privileged life. While in the lower-ss society, when those people who were fortunate enough to grasp even a hint of such power, they would be immediately absorbed into this world¡¯s societal structure and would turn into a newly promoted noble. They would then be a member that would try to maintain the status quo. Most importantly, before the Honeb Magic Web and the rune logic appeared, before Gawain the ¡°third party observer¡± appeared, no one ever thought about generalizing the knowledge or what the generalization would bring about. As such, this world fell behind. Even though there was long-distancemunication, energy weapons, biotechnology, virtual-reality constructs, and anti-gravity technology, they were still advancing at an extremely slow pace. Gawain believed that even if he didn¡¯t appear, this world would eventually get over such a depraved situation. As long as humans could still ponder and reflect, changes would inevitably happen. Even if a rogue mage was overlooked, someone else would sum up the concept of runews and the magic web. There would be an abnormal talent, or even an excessively lucky person, who would achieve all these¡­ There wasn¡¯t a need to worry whether this world¡¯s technology would advance as this world didn¡¯tck technology advancement. It was simplycking the process of generalization and the guarantee of the generalized power. However, since he appeared in this generation, and he didn¡¯t see anyone else apart from himself that realized the importance of generalization; then he was more than willing to personally implement everything¡­ Gawain¡¯s mind was filled with these thoughts. When he realized that this world actually had countless advanced technologies waiting for him to liberate, his fighting spirit was zing again. Right at this moment, a ck shadow suddenly shed by at the za below and was rapidly approaching him. He casually closed the window as though it was routine. ¡°Gawain, I need to tell you something about the Mechanical Manufacturing Facil¡ª¡± Bang! When the half-elf youngdy bounced off after the bang, Gawain realized that he seemingly heard the words ¡°Mechanical Manufacturing Facility¡±. Was this disgrace of all living things actually here to report something proper? Gawain then quickly opened the window again. The moment the window was opened, he saw a ck shadow climbing at rapid speed before crashing into his body. ¡°You are awful! How can you intentionally close the window when you already saw meing!¡± Gawain grabbed threatening Amber with a single hand and said, ¡°Who asked you to not use the front door all the time?! Let me warn you, I am going to put mouse traps on the window next time. In any case, you mentioned about the Mechanical Manufacturing Facility. What happened?¡± After Amber made a few more threatening gestures, she realized that she couldn¡¯t get free and quickly talked about the proper matters. ¡°It seems like Nichs Egg is having a situation. He fell onto the ground earlier, and it is now a mess over there!¡± Something happened to the mother machine?! It wasn¡¯t exaggerating to say that Gawain¡¯s head was perspiring with cold sweat. He didn¡¯t hesitate as he grabbed Amber¡¯s waist and mped her in his arm before jumping off the window. ¡°Hold on tight!!¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you also jumping out of the window?!¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± Gawain rushed to the Mechanical Manufacturing Facility¡¯s new building in a straight line. When he passed through the residents along the way, they didn¡¯t even see anything clearly and merely felt a gust of strong wind blowing through the streets. In just a few minutes, he had already arrived at Nichs Egg¡¯s current location. The new Mechanical Manufacturing Facility¡¯s workshop was brightly lit. The spacious workshop was already gathered with almost all the craftsmen and apprentices that worked in the facility. Nichs Egg was quietly ¡°lying¡± in the middle of the crowd. The giant silver emoji was facing the sky, and it was simplyical¡­ Gawain¡¯s mouth twitched a little as he felt that this giant ball of a joke was simply too dazzling and was even able to produce such aical feeling in such a situation. However, Gawain quicklyposed himself and asked, ¡°What happened? Egg Egg¡­ are you able to hear me?¡± ¡°How many times do I have to say it? At least call me Boss Egg!¡± Nichs Egg¡¯s body emitted a buzzing sound while his spherical body rocked a little but didn¡¯t seem like it was going to float at all. ¡°Why are you humans always making a fuss about nothing¡­ I am not dead yet¡­¡± After hearing the metal-ball alien responding, Gawain was relieved. He then looked at therge metal ball and asked suspiciously, ¡°Then you are¡­¡± ¡°It seems like I caught a cold.¡± Nichs Egg buzzed and said, ¡°A sudden cold.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, a cold. Isn¡¯t it normal that I cannot float after catching a cold?¡± ¡°¡­This isn¡¯t normal for a human!¡± Gawain widened his eyes as he thought about the differences between species. He then asked with concern, ¡°Why would your species catch a cold? Is it due to your immunity? Or are you infected?¡± ¡°Probably contact with a stimnt,¡± Nichs Egg spoke with a muffled voice. ¡°When I am stimted by a specific energy field or material, I will catch a cold easily¡­ I was processing various new materials today, and there was probably a stimnt among them.¡± Gawain immediately shifted his attention to the surrounding craftsmen and apprentices. ¡°What did he make contact with today?¡± A rune craftsman shrank and said, ¡°Your Excellency, the mostmon item that the Boss processed today should be these¡­¡± As the rune craftsman spoke, he asked the apprentices to push over a cart that was loaded with ¡°raw stones¡±. ¡°These are the newly discovered ores that the exploration team found in the Dark Range. Madam Heidi said that she could sense high magical activity from these ores.¡± Chapter 202 - New Ore Chapter 202: New Ore When Gawain saw ores being pushed over by the apprentices, he immediately determined that these ores contained a substance that was rted to magic. These were minerals with stripes that were grayish silver and had a hint of bluish purple. Under a specific angle of illumination, it would produce a metallic texture. When paying attention to the bluish-purple stripes, it would look hazy and illusory. They were distinctive characteristics of magic materials, especially magic materials with high purity and superior magic-conducting properties. To discover brand new ores in the Dark Range that could be applied in the magic field was definitely great news, but Gawain was more worried that Nichs Egg might have a long-term illness after being affected by such ¡°stimnts¡±. ¡°How long before you recover from your cold? Is this illness¡­ severe among your species?¡± ¡°It is fine. There is no need to worry.¡± The giant silver emoji buzzed and vibrated. ¡°I will be fine after two or three days. This is a small problem. Furthermore, as long as I don¡¯t make direct contact with the stimnt within this period of time, I will be able to adapt to itter on and will not have the same problem.¡± ¡°¡­Your species is truly strange¡­¡± Gawain muttered softly before putting his attention on the ores again. After observing it, he asked the craftsman at the side, ¡°Did Heidi study these ores?¡± ¡°Madam Heidi has already taken a sample. Her initial analysis determined that there is a great proportion of metal in the ore, so she delivered a portion of it to the Mechanical Manufacturing Facility and wanted Boss to purify it,¡± the craftsman reported seriously. ¡°But we didn¡¯t expect for Boss to fall on the ground after he touched it.¡± ¡°Alright, I shall personally look for her to find out more.¡± Gawain nodded and looked at Nichs Egg who was lying on the ground. ¡°You can have a good rest for the next two days. Since most of the extension machining beds are already online and you also have a batch of proficient workers, while the daily parts production and processing can bepleted by the other facilities, you can just rest at ease. Do you have any requests for an environment to recover?¡± Therge metal ball merely rocked a little. ¡°Just give me a ce where I can bask in the sun. Also, pile up some metallic shards with iron and copper beside me, or the quartz sand is fine too. I can replenish my body¡­¡± This was truly a very fitting and logical ¡°setting¡±¡­ Gawain sighed in his heart before he rubbed his chin and looked at therge ball. ¡°It isn¡¯t going to be easy to shift you to a ce to bask in the sun¡­ looking at your size and weight. Wait a moment, I will look for Heidi to put a Weight Reduction spell on you¡­¡± ¡°Hey, no need, no need. I am notpletely paralyzed, and I can still suspend myself in the air, just that I cannot float around.¡± Nichs Egg buzzed and said, ¡°Just look for someone to push me. Don¡¯t worry, it is rather easy.¡± Gawain truly had a hard time challenging his world outlook while trying to have a conversation with such a strange-looking metal-ball alien. Gawain was really trying hard not to burst out intoughter while trying to adapt to Nichs Egg¡¯s strange appearance and special physiology. After painstakingly holding back and twitching his mouth, he turned to look at the craftsmen and the apprentices and asked, ¡°Which of you¡­ will push your Boss out to bask in the sun?¡± Immediately after, two sturdy and strong apprentices stood out and said, ¡°We are willing to take care of Boss!¡± Subsequently, Gawain looked at the two apprentices pushing their round Boss and rapidly rolling him out of the workshop. Behind them, all the craftsmen and apprentices were seeing them off with worried expressions. A craftsman then led his apprentice to pick out metallic shards to nourish their Boss¡¯s body. Gawain overheard them discussing softly: ¡°Does the Boss like sweet or savory things?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ Do we actually have to sprinkle some seasonings on the iron and copper?¡± ¡°¡­Let¡¯s just sprinkle some salt.¡± ¡°Pick the smaller ones. It should be easier to ingest.¡± ¡°Then again, where is the Boss¡¯s mouth?¡± ¡°Why are you worried about this¡­?¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± Why did it seem like the apprentices and the craftsmen of the mechanical research station had spent too much time with the metal-ball alien? It seemed like their world outlook was transforming¡­ He shook his head and didn¡¯t ponder about this matter anymore. After making sure there was nothing major with Nichs Egg, Gawain ordered the other workers to return to their stations before he left the mechanical research station with Amber. They then headed for the magicboratory that was outside the feudal lord residence where Heidi was currently at. The feudal lord residence might have already finished construction. Heidi¡¯s room and two other normal magicboratories were also inside the residence, but not all magic experiments could be conducted inside the feudal lord residence. After considering the danger of magic experiments and also the uncertainty of testing new materials and spells, Heidi specially preserved theboratory she had constructed on the territory in the beginning. She then renovated and reconstructed it to be used as a ¡°testing center for dangerous spells and materials¡±. Like the unfamiliar magic material harvested from the Dark Range which was obviously delivered to this testing center to appraise first. Gawain and Amber arrived at theboratory. When they were about to enter the ce, there was a sudden explosion: bang!! The explosion sounded like an extremely big firecracker getting lit. It was enough to blow a hole in theboratory, and just hearing it from the outside was already very frightening. However, the people that were working on the spaciousnd in the vicinity didn¡¯t react much. It seemed like the people that were around the vicinity were already used to this phenomenon. Gawain was a little worried and quickly opened up theboratory¡¯s oaken door that was carved with defense runes. As soon as the door was opened, a burst of smoke assaulted his face. Before he could see the situation inside, he heard Heidi screaming, ¡°Reba! Stand there and don¡¯t move!!¡± Apanied by the scream, a rather delicate figure rushed out from the smoke. When Amber saw the figure, she got a shock and instinctively dodged to the side and stretched her leg out to trip. As a result, the figure fell over on all fours while letting out a short shout, ¡°Wa!!¡± Gawain conveniently reached out and caught hold of Reba who had nearly ttened her face and breasts. At the same time, he looked at Amber with surprise while thinking: it was still understandable for Amber to dodge to the side due to her conditioned reflexes when seeing someone rushing at her, but how could she subconsciously stretch her leg to trip the opposition? It was truly perplexing to understand how someone could be nurtured in this manner¡­ Reba had only realized what happened when Gawain grabbed her. She strenuously lifted her head, revealing her face which had been smoked into a ck patch. ¡°Wa! It is Lord Ancestor!¡± Heidi had also rushed out of the smoke at this moment. ¡°Reba, you¡ª Ah, Ancestor!¡± ¡°Are the two of you okay?¡± Gawain looked at Heidi who also had a gray face and noticed that Heidi¡¯s magic staff was glowing with arcane radiance. ¡°Mm¡­ it seems like you are fine.¡± ¡°An experimental ident?¡± Gawain put Reba down before walking into theboratory where the smoke was dispersing. He immediately saw arge ice residual on the experiment table. The ice residual must have been the result of Heidi using a freezing spell to prevent the damage from spreading further. ¡°Did Reba throw a Large Fireball on the experiment table?¡± At the same time, he felt a little strange in his heart: this foolish girl might have the hobby of throwing Large Fireballs, but she shouldn¡¯t be so reckless¡­ Heidi shook her head in response and said, ¡°She didn¡¯t throw a Large Fireball, but when she poured magic into the test sample, she actually blew up the sample! I don¡¯t understand how she can do it?!¡± ¡°Test sample?¡± Gawain immediately raised his brows and said, ¡°It is the new ore discovered in the Dark Range?¡± Heidi was a little surprised. ¡°Ancestor, you know about this too?¡± ¡°I am here because of it. Some mishap happened at the manufacturing facility. Nichs Egg touched this new ore and couldn¡¯t float anymore as he caught a cold, but no need to worry, it is just temporary.¡± Gawain gave a brief exnation for his visit and the situation at the manufacturing facility. ¡°Afterwards, I came over here to see if there was any progress in the research.¡± ¡°Egg Egg fell sick after touching the ores? And he can¡¯t float?¡± Reba asked with a worried expression, ¡°Could these new ores have poison?¡± ¡°That probably isn¡¯t the case. I used a skill simr to Danger Detection and didn¡¯t discover any harmful substances in the ore. It should only be able to affect Nichs Egg who is a special lifeform, and it should be harmless to humans.¡± Gawain shook his head and looked at Heidi. ¡°Have you found any harmful effects originating from it?¡± ¡°No, the ores are harmless by themselves. Furthermore, they had quite good magic-conducting properties. If we can purify it, it might be a brand new type of superior magic material.¡± Heidi summoned a water ball to clean up her face and hair before frowning and looking at Reba. Without a choice, she summoned a water ball for her too and helped to wash her niece¡¯s face while replying to Gawain¡¯s question, ¡°However, its magic-conducting properties are very strange¡­ When pouring magic rapidly into it, the magic would also rapidly scatter into the air. But when pouring magic slowly into it, the ¡®leaking¡¯ phenomenon wouldn¡¯t appear. Also, I discovered that when magic was poured into two pieces of ores at the same time, the scattered magic would actually form a kind of magic field¡­ The property of the magic field is still undetermined, but it is very unstable.¡± When pouring magic rapidly into it, the magic would also rapidly scatter into the air? When magic was poured into two pieces of ores at the same time, the scattered magic would actually form a kind of magic field? Gawain blinked his eyes as he was rather focused on the strange traits of the brand new ore. He instinctively felt that the ore might have some special usage, and not just to be used as a magic-conducting material in the magic circle. However, he was even more concerned about how Reba was able to make this material explode. ¡°What happened when you poured your magic in and it exploded?¡± Reba immediately shrunk her neck and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. When Aunt was testing another set of samples by the side, I merely followed her instructions to pour my magic into the sample. Before I even started, it had already exploded¡­¡± Gawain frowned. ¡°You didn¡¯t even start?¡± Reba¡¯s neck shrunk further and replied, ¡°Yes¡­ I didn¡¯t even start¡­¡± ¡°It is unlikely that she would lie to me,¡± Gawain muttered. He then looked at Heidi seriously and said, ¡°The ident should be rted to a special trait of the new ore.¡± ¡°Special trait?¡± Amber was a dabbler in this sphere but pretended as though she could understand and asked, ¡°What could it be?¡± Gawain looked into Reba¡¯s eyes and asked, ¡°Think about it carefully. Before the explosion, were there any changes to the ore, or was something ced beside the ore?¡± Reba immediately lowered her head and tried to recall. ¡°Let me think¡­ Back then, the ore seems to glow a little. Beside it¡­ there, there seems to be a detonating rune base te¡­¡± Gawain, Amber, Heidi: ¡°¡­¡± Momentster, the trio spoke in unison, ¡°Why would you ce a detonating rune base te at the side?!¡± Chapter 203 - What Did the Dark Wave Bring? Chapter 203: What Did the Dark Wave Bring? When Gawain and Heidi questioned in unison, Reba¡¯s neck shrunk by over two-thirds of the length at a visible speed. Gawain was thinking, if his tone was a little more severe, would this youngdy be able to perform a head disappearing act? However, no matter how much her neck could shrink, Reba still had to give an exnation. Reba carefully looked at the two seniors who were qualified to hang her up to beat and spoke truthfully, ¡°It isn¡¯t my fault¡­ Before the experiment on the ore, I was testing the new detonation rune base te at the Rune Research Center. Aunt suddenly called me over to help with the experiment, and I simply put it into my bag¡­ When I arrived here, I casually put it on the experiment table¡­¡± ¡°¡­Don¡¯t you have anything simr to a safety regtion when doing magic experiments?¡± Gawain¡¯s canthus[1] twitched as he looked at Heidi. ¡°Can you actually put such a dangerous thing on the experiment table?¡± In his opinion, Reba¡¯s actions were the same as welding a detonator or sawing a lightbulb. ¡°Of course we have safety regtions!¡± Heidi immediately rectified the reputation of the Mages, but she quickly turned her head away with embarrassment. ¡°But Reba, she¡­ Since a young age, I never really allowed her near theboratory. Therefore, her knowledge in this aspect isn¡¯t sufficient. This is a problem with my teaching.¡± ¡°The regtion must be thorough in all aspects. It is especially so for the magicboratories. Those who didn¡¯t receive proper safety education cannot participate in experiments.¡± Gawain shook his head and sighed. ¡°It is fortunate that it is only a detonation rune that doesn¡¯t have much firepower¡­¡± ¡°Logically, it shouldn¡¯t have any danger too.¡± Reba felt a little wronged as she said, ¡°This might be a detonation rune base te, but before contacting a source of magic, this is only a passive rune array. It is the same as a piece of metal te that is carved with a pattern. How can it explode¡­?¡± Gawain frowned in response as he knew that Reba was right. The detonation rune was different from the Earth¡¯s detonator. Thetter had a certain risk of explosion, but the detonation rune¡­ actually wouldn¡¯t explode by itself. It didn¡¯t have any structure to store energy, and if this thing was required to explode, it would need to be assembled with aponent that could store magic. This was also the reason why Gawain felt that the detonation rune was far safer than the Earth¡¯s explosives. Since it exploded, there was only one exnation: there was a pure enough magic in the vicinity that could detonate it. ¡°It should still be rted to the new ore.¡± Gawain looked at the other corner of the experiment table that was still stacked with untested ore samples. Those ores had been cut into fist-sized shards, and each of them was reflecting the luster of magic materials. ¡°Heidi, have you inspected if they are able to store magic?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t have that trait. It might be a superior magic conductor, but it isn¡¯t able to store magic. The rate of magic dispersion is simr to the purple steel and copper.¡± Heidi shook her head and said, ¡°Could it be the strange magic field?¡± The new ore possessed many strange traits ¡ª like how it was able to disperse magic into the air at the same rapid speed as the magic was poured in, or like how a peculiar ¡°field¡± would be formed when two pieces of ores were ced close together. In the eyes of Gawain and Heidi, it seemed like the magic field had an unknown function. Perhaps¡­ it was the magic field that activated the detonation rune. ¡°It is very likely.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°Heidi, try activating the magic field again. Reba, do you have extra detonation runes?¡± ¡°I do, I do!¡± Reba nodded happily and took out a long bag from her mage robes and poured the contents out on the table. Arge pile of rune base tes fell out with a ¡°pitter-patter¡±. She then looked through the pile and said, ¡°Let me see¡­ Scorching Ray, Small Fireball, detonation, detonation, detonation¡­ These are all the detonation base tes!¡± Gawain was bbergasted as he watched the silly girl taking out a stack of explosives and was immediately perspiring with cold sweat. ¡°Do you always bring these things along with you?!¡± ¡°Not always. I have been working on the generalization of the magic circles with Jenni for the past two days, so I have been bringing these base tes along.¡± ¡°¡­Before Reba enters theboratory next time, you better search her body first.¡± Gawain¡¯s eyelids twitched as he looked at Heidi with particrly stern eyes. ¡°Didn¡¯t this child ever blow herself up before since young?¡± Heidi¡¯s expression was rather subtle as she replied, ¡°Now that you said it, it is rather strange. All along, she has been the one blowing people up. She is always ying around with Large Fireballs and has never identally sted herself, not even once. At most, she would smoke her face¡­ It is rather rare aspared to the mage apprentices who always hurt themselves.¡± Gawain¡¯s cold sweat was still flowing while he suggested that the experiment could still continue. However, before starting, he ordered Reba to put the rest of the detonation rune base tes at a far-enough ce from the experiment table. The firepower of the detonation base te was seemingly very small when it exploded in the magic field as it was only emitting a firework effect. However, who knew if this silly girl would still have any other explosives that might just st the wholeboratory¡¯s roof off¡­ After all the preparations wereplete, Heidi ced the detonation rune base te in a protective magic circle before putting two pieces of the new ores at a specific distance from the detonation base te. Immediately after, she ced her hands on the two ores and started to pour magic into them. The two pieces of ores emitted a faint glow, while Gawain could feel that there was indeed a magic field developed during the process. In his magic vision, at the center of the two ores, an ¡°environment¡± was rapidly taking form, and it was obviously very intensive and had filled up the entireboratory. In fact, it was possible that it extended far beyond the exterior to theboratory. The radiance of magic was flickering and erratic: it was obvious that it was very unstable, just as Heidi mentioned. After deactivating the magic vision, Gawain looked at the detonation base te on the protective magic circle. There weren¡¯t any changes. ¡°There isn¡¯t any reaction?¡± Reba scratched her head and said, ¡°Could this base te be faulty?¡± Heidi ended the magic release, and the three minds gathered to figure out why the ¡°detonator¡± didn¡¯t explode. Gawain remembered a detail that Reba mentioned earlier. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that before the detonation base te exploded, you were holding a piece of ore and preparing to pour your magic in?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, it was also glowing.¡± ¡°That should be the problem.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°That additional piece of ore probably activated a special function. Look for a piece of ore, and ce it together with the detonation base te. Put them nearer together.¡± After everything was arranged, Heidi activated that strange magic field again. As soon as the magic field appeared, the detonation base te and the ore turned into a bright burning bundle inside the protective magic circle. ¡°This is it!¡± Reba was instantly jumping with joy. ¡°It is a resonance! This is definitely a resonance!¡± ¡°Two of these ores would generate a magic field when magic is poured into them at the same time. If there is a third ore in the magic field, it will develop a resonance¡­¡± Heidi frowned slightly and analyzed the traits that were exhibited by these ores. Immediately after, she looked at the stack of remaining samples and said, ¡°But those ores are also within the magic field. Why aren¡¯t there any changes to them?¡± ¡°Perhaps it isn¡¯t a resonance, but some kind of¡­ magic transfer.¡± Gawain took in a breath to suppress the excitement in his heart before he slowly exined his conjecture. ¡°Only those ores that are connected with the rune base tes or magic circles will have some changes. It is because they have ¡®energy-consumption units¡¯ and developed an internal flow of energy in the ores. As for the other ores, they don¡¯t have any energy-consumption structure, and they naturally wouldn¡¯t transfer.¡± ¡°Magic transfer? Are you talking about transmission?¡± Heidi looked at the unassuming rocks with astonishment and said, ¡°This is truly something¡­ interesting.¡± ¡°It seems like their practicality is very broad.¡± Gawain looked at Heidi and said, ¡°If this ore can be purified and mass-produced, we might be able to extend our magic web system to an unbelievable scale! The magic transmission range will also be greatly expanded and can reach outside the territory!¡± Heidi frowned slightly and responded, ¡°The magic field generated right now is still too unstable. Detonating a rune base te wouldn¡¯t need stable magic, but it is different if we want to drive those magic-powered machines.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why we need to continue the research and find a method to make it stable.¡± Gawain spoke sternly, ¡°Not only must we make it stable, we also need to make sure we can control it. How many of these ores do we have?¡± ¡°ording to the estimation from the exploration team, there is quite a lot. The eastern part of the Dark Range has a long section that is eroded by the wind. The loose and weakyers of rock there are filled with these strange and brand new ores.¡± ¡°New ores¡­¡± Gawain touched his chin and said, ¡°It is the same when we are smelting the Reba Crystals. Only the special limestones from the Dark Range can form those crystals. Pittman had also discovered a lot of medicinal ingredients that hadpletely unique effects¡­¡± ¡°I remember Ancestor saying that the Dark Wave¡¯s corrosion of the natural environment would cause a change in characteristics to the ordinary minerals and nts,¡± Heidi said. ¡°You had also guessed that there would be even more new resources on the south side of the Dark Range¡­¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t the corrosion of the Dark Wave. This is a present from nature.¡± Gawain corrected in a serious tone before he looked outside the window. Through the window, he was able to see a small part of the Dark Range¡¯s mountain. ¡°I will go to the excavation ground of the new ores to take a look. That so-called Wave of Destruction¡­ might bring more things to the world than what we can imagine.¡± As Gawain, Heidi, and Reba were studying the new ores from the Dark Range, another team was working deep inside the Dark Range. ¡­¡­ Strictly speaking, they were working deep inside the ancient fortress. Sir Byron and his exploration team had been in this newly discovered ce for over one week. They drew a detailed new map and recorded all the new things that they discovered. In between this period, they had dispatched messengers twice to send information about the progress of the exploration and had obtained a reply. Byron believed this exploration already obtained a very good result, and considering the umtion of pressure due to the long time spent in the underground ruins, Byron judged that it was time to leave this ce. Just as he was sorting out the umted information and preparing to arrange the return trip, two soldiers that were tasked to scout ahead had suddenly run back to the room that was used as a temporary base. ¡°Sir, we discovered a¡­ strange ce!¡± ¡°Strange ce?¡± Byron frowned. These two soldiers were veterans, and they were exploring this ce with him for quite a long period of time. They rarely used such a vague method to report their findings, and Byron was rather surprised. ¡°Yes, there is¡­ a round-shaped hall, and there is a weird stone ring in the middle of the hall¡­¡± [1] Canthus ¨C the outer or inner corner of the eye, where the lower and upper lids meet. Chapter 204 - Transition of Magical Power Chapter 204: Transition of Magical Power Holme was a serf ¡ª¡ªbut he wasn¡¯t a serf from birth. During the time even earlier, he had been a miner in the mines. Miner, and not veborer. There were two types of people working in the mines ¡ª miners who had freedom and veborers who had no freedom. The former were freemen who willingly chose to ¡°dig rocks¡± in the dangerous mines for the sake of bringing the bacon home, while thetter was the private property of the mine owners, equated to the tools and livestock in the mines. However, there weren¡¯t any differences between the two in some aspects ¡ª¡ª they were all expendables that could die in the mines anytime, and no one would care to ask about them even after their deaths. The process through which Holme lost his freedom was highly dramatic: he wasn¡¯t a miner who ¡°remained in his ce¡±;pared to immutably digging up rocks in the mines, he preferred searching for new objects ¡ª¡ª whether they were new ores or nts, so long as they were novel things. On this point, there were often people who teased him, saying that his ancestors might have had a bit of the dwarf bloodline, but Holme had always taken this teasing with good humor. As he worked in the mines, everything that he had in mind all day long was whether he would be able to dig up some extraordinary treasure underground. And finally, one day, he really did ¡°dig¡± out a ¡°treasure¡±. He had run into the scene of the mine owner¡¯s wife cheating with a supervisor in the mine. It was very easy for supervisors to beat one or two miners or veborers to death. They just had to palm it off using reasons such as the mine caving in or the like after the incident, and there would be absolutely no problem. Holme had even personally witnessed such scenes before. Thus, he chose to flee at the very first moment ¡ª¡ª once he did, he never returned home. After being a refugee for a year, he settled down in the old Cecil territory. Viscount Cecil of the previous generation did not expel him, but he had no choice but to rely on selling himself as a serf to seek survival. In normal circumstances, this would be all to his short yet miserable life ¡ª¡ª after being locked to thend, there would no longer be any changes in serf Holme¡¯s life, no more new encounters, or even hope. He would carry the heavy pressures imposed by thendowner and spend his whole life crawling in the soil, living out his remaining 10 to 15 years as a serf. And if he could, by luck (or unluckily) have offspring during this course of things, then his offspring would also inherit the identity of a serf, thus living under the whip of thendowner generation after generation. And his experiences as a miner in his early years, as well as that bit of restless curiosity during his youth, would one daypletely vanish from his memories. However, after that cmity, everything changed. The old Cecil territory was gone; thendowner was gone; thend was gone. The new feudal lord walked out from a legendary story, leading the survivors to build a whole new homnd at the foot of the Dark Range. Faced with an all-newnd and the Dark Range that was full of secrets, the feudal lord promulgated inconceivable newws one after another. And the serf Holme was rewarded for his participation in making traps during the ¡°Defense Battle¡± in autumn. He became a free person once more, even freer than a freeman. The feudal lord allowed residents to take all sorts of jobs ording to their forte and rewarded anyone who worked hard. On the notice board in the center of the town, new recruitment notices would be put up almost every day, and anyone who wanted to contribute more to their family expenses could respond to the feudal lord¡¯s call through to this channel. To people of this era, the feudal lord opening up so many work posts and even providing remunerations for them was practically an unbelievable gift of grace. Moreover, it was winter whereby in former years, they could only stay home to starve and await death. ¡ª¡ªThus, each time new recruitment notices were put out, countless people who were waiting for jobs (or to provide for their family) would swarm forward, searching for jobs that suited them. The majority of the people in the territory were originally illiterate; they could only wait for the soldiers standing in front of the notice board to read out the contents on it for them. However, the soldiers would only begin reading them out six hours after the new notices were put out. ¡ª¡ª In order to understand the recruitment content a few hours earlier, Holme forcefully learned thousands of new words within the brief period of a few months and was then able to stumble through the contents on the notice board. In night school, people like him who worked hard to learn to read due to simr motivations weren¡¯t few; literate people could know the details of the recruitment several hours in advance and head to the internal-affairs human-resource department to look for clerks to register themselves. By the time those illiterate people went forth to sign up, more often than not, all the posts would already be filled. Those people who did not work hard to be literate at the beginning were all regretting it now. And Holme was very d that he had learned words in time. When the feudal lord announced the organization of a new exploration team that would enter the mountains, he signed up at the very first moment. This team did not require many people. Although there were some risks, the remuneration was even higher than for the technical jobs in the factories. Besides, there was also a small team of magic-infantry troops protecting them. How great could the risks be? The newly organized mountain exploration team entered the Dark Range through a newly discovered mountain path. They saw many incredible mutated animals, nts, and rocks along the way. Because of his former experience in the mines, pretty agile mind, and best literacy, Holme became the leader of this team (of course, another important reason for this was because he¡¯d once been personallymended by the feudal lord; this was a rare honor). Under his leadership, the team found those unusual ¡°raw stones¡± with a faint purple luster from a stretch of weathered rock with weak cohesion. In the process, Holme¡¯s curiosity that had once been slowly worn away by life was gradually revived¡­ ¡­ Under the soldiers¡¯ lead, Gawain and Amber found the ¡°exploration team¡¯s fortified point¡± in the Dark Range. Several simple tents sat in a small empty space in the mountains, while the fully armed Cecil Combatants kept guard around this small campsite. Gawain saw the person-in-charge of this exploration team, a middle-aged man who wasn¡¯t tall but was very robust. Looking at the person¡¯s tanned face and slightly bent body, Gawain instantly sensed familiarity. The memory of a satellite spirit yed its role very well at this point. He recalled that he indeed knew this person: during the Cecil defensive battle against the aberrations in autumn, a serf called Holme had beenmended for his outstanding performance. To set an example, he¡¯d even been given public recognition ¡ª¡ª the facts proved that he really hadn¡¯t misjudged him back then. ¡°I remember you¡¯re called Holme.¡± Gawain nodded to this resident who was once a serf. ¡°You participated in the exploration team this time?¡± ¡°Yes¡ªyes Lord!¡± Holme didn¡¯t expect that Gawain would actually remember his own name; he was instantly slightly filled with profound respect and humility. ¡°You personally presented a¡­ a medal to me!¡± ¡°You¡¯re a little fatter than you were then. Very good.¡± Gawain nodded with a smile. ¡°You were the one who discovered the ores?¡± ¡°Yes, Lord.¡± Holme worked hard to manage his nervous emotions. He was someone who¡¯d gone up themendation stage once; he had to be that bit moreposed than the average man. ¡°The location of the initial discovery isn¡¯t far from here. Let me point it to you¡­¡± On a rock formation not far from the campsite, Gawain saw the few collection points that the exploration team excavated. Such ores with immense potential value were actually ¡°buried¡± in such shallow areas. Gawain came to the collection point. He saw ayer of thick grayish-white porous rock stratum that looked weathered covering those ores, and those ores with faint purple or blue lusters were ¡°mounted¡± in it, like some kind of condensation nuclei. ¡°They¡¯re all very small pieces of ores on the surface ¡ª the deeper we dig, the better and bigger the quality and size of the ores. I think the veins that truly have exploitation value still needs to be dug deep to find.¡± Holme exined at the side. ¡°Such a loose weathered rock stratum isn¡¯t too suitable to be dug as a mine¡ª¡ª It will copse easily, so it would be better to directly make it a quarry. With Reba Crystals, blowing up the rockyers wouldn¡¯t be difficult.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°I saw the reports that you sent back. You all discovered many things that the outside world has never seen. Moreover, the animals and nts all show signs of mutation.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord,¡± Holme replied. ¡°This is the first time an extensive area of mineral ores like this were found.¡± Gawain responded with an ¡°mm¡± before lifting his head to survey the surrounding terrain ¡ª¡ª Gawain Cecil from 700 years ago had once led troops to search for paths in this Dark Range. And back then, this area had yet to be affected by the Dark Wave. In Gawain Cecil¡¯s memories, there were no such peculiar things here. They had appeared after the Dark Wave. Amber pulled out her dagger and curiously picked up a broken piece with a mixed bluish-purple luster from one of the rocks that had been dug out in the collection point. She held it under the sun and examined it. ¡°What a strange thing, old¡­ Gawain. This is what you mentioned ¡ª changes to natural substances due to the influence of the Dark Wave?¡± ¡°The essence of the Dark Wave is an extremely powerful surge of magical power. Although this portion of magical power cannot be used by mortals, it can still engender a far-reaching influence on the natural environment,¡± Gawain exined casually. ¡°Do you know that the magical materials that can be found in the ruins of the ancient Well of Deep Blue are even more than the amount found here?¡± Amber¡¯s eyes were wide. ¡°How reckless does a person have to be to dare to mine in there!¡± Gawain shook his head but did not answer her question. He looked at the ore before his eyes, but what he was thinking about at heart wasn¡¯t just these ores in sight. He¡¯d once guessed that perhaps the Dark Wave had not broken out just that one time. The surveince satellite left in the sky was clearly a kind of early warning equipment targeted at the Dark Wave (or simr phenomenon). The cmity that happened previously at the Cecil territory also showed signs of the Dark Wave making aeback. And the surveince records from when he hung in the sky in the past had also shown the phenomenon of all civilization on the continent vanishing entirely for no reason, the whole ecosphere starting from zero like a shuffle and reboot. In the ¡°satellite era¡±, his observation of the world was disjointed due to severe ¡°frameskip¡±, so there were many times when he couldn¡¯t figure out how those earthshaking changes hade about ¡ª¡ª in the blink of an eye, primitive man had created magical power cannons; then with another blink, they were living in tree trunks wearing animal skins and line dancing around a bonfire. The geomorphology and distribution of vegetation in his vision were also turned upside down. Perhaps there had been a destructive warsting decades or possibly 49 days of floods and tsunamis. However, to a satellite spirit who saw one frame per thousand years, this ¡°swift yet brief¡± moment of disaster was really difficult to capture. But there was definitely something causing such ¡°shuffling¡± ¡ª¡ª if there weren¡¯t other answers, the only answer would be the Dark Wave. The Dark Wave would cause qualitative changes in the substances in the natural world. These things in the Dark Range that had never been seen before in other ces were enough to prove this point. And even if the Dark Wave had retreated, these changed objects would not resume their original form; instead, they would be consolidated to be an all-new material ¡ª¡ª the ores found in the Dark Range could simrly prove this. Then, supposing that the Dark Wave had urred more than once in the world, Gawain would have reason to believe that the majority of the things in this world might have been influenced by the Dark Wave. He came up with the boldest guess throughout history: Those magical materials, magical creatures, or themon soil and rocks that appeared to bepletely unrted to magical power had been gradually molded to be what they were at present through the tempering of the Dark Wave time and time again. The Dark Wave was a ¡°world-shaping phenomenon¡± that would persistently ur and had not stopped showing signs of recurring, even to this day. Chapter 205 - A Door? Chapter 205: A Door? The long period of time hanging in the sky as a surveince satellite did not change the innate character of Gawain but brought him a distinct perspective on the universe ¡ª¡ª when necessary, he could use the attitude of almost aplete bystander to analyze the transitions in this world and sum up some possible rules from the frequent changes thatsted thousands and tens of thousands of years. And these rules, to the species living on the ground (including those elves who had lifespans of a few thousand years), were difficult to summarize. Precisely because he had witnessed the rise and fall of civilization multiple times, Gawain could specte that the Dark Wave happened more than once ¡ª¡ª even if he hadn¡¯t caught any one of those times, the surveince images before and after the urrences were enough for him to guess what had happened in between. And in another of Gawain¡¯s guesses, he thought that the scale of the Dark Wave was uncertain. Arge-scale Dark Wave might cause the civilizations on the entire to be remolded, while a small-scale Dark Wave¡¯s effects would be more localized; the annihtion of the Gondor Empire 700 years ago was probably just a ¡°small Dark Wave¡±. Although it destroyed the most powerful empire in human history, its range was only the central region of the continent. Forget others, even the elves¡¯ Silver Empire and the western Dwarf Kingdom were barely affected. Or¡­ perhaps the event 700 years ago shouldn¡¯t be considered an official Dark Wave but was merely the ¡°prelude¡± of a real one? All sorts of guesses and associations emerged involuntarily in Gawain¡¯s mind. Many of those contents were actually from his imagination,ing out of thin air. Beside him, seeing that Gawain wasn¡¯t responding for a long time, Amber finally couldn¡¯t hold back and poked his arm. ¡°Hey, hey, what are you thinking about?¡± ¡°Just thought of a matter,¡± Gawain jolted and casually replied. ¡°Say, if one day, all the resources in the world that humans are familiar with changed ¡ª for example, the properties of all kinds of magic-conducting materials have been altered ¡ª what would happen?¡± Amber faltered for a moment. ¡°Why is the leap in your thoughts so big¡­?¡± Gawain knocked Amber¡¯s head. ¡°Just say what would happen.¡± ¡°Everything would definitely be a chaotic mess,¡± Amber answered offhand. ¡°Especially the Mages. They probably wouldn¡¯t be able to find spellcasting mediums all at once, and many spell materials would have to be reviewed¡­¡± When Gawain heard Amber¡¯s answer, he kept silent for a good while before letting out a light sigh. ¡°The civilization of mortals is really weak¡­ isn¡¯t it?¡± Amber¡¯s ears quivered. ¡°You really speak oddly.¡± Gawain stood up, turning to look at Holme and the other members who were waiting at the side. These people didn¡¯t dare toe forward to disrupt their feudal lord while he was in thought. Seeing Gawain stand up now, they then came a little closer. ¡°This type of ore needs a name.¡± Gawain nodded at Holme. ¡°I will name it Holme raw ore.¡± ¡°Lo¡ªLord?¡± Holme, who had still been a serf not too long ago was greatly startled upon hearing Gawain. He repeated with eyes wide in disbelief, ¡°Holme raw ore? This¡­ I¡­ this is not befitting of my status! How can I have this privilege¡­?¡± ¡°In the domain of exploring the unknown, discoverers are forever noble. No need to decline.¡± Gawain waved his hand. ¡°Henceforth, we might find even more valuable objects on thisnd. Naming them after the discoverer would be a simple and convenient way ¡ª¡ª and it could very well fire up the job enthusiasm of explorers.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ Thank you!¡± Holme abruptly straightened up. For so many years, it would be the first time his back, which was hunched forward due to heavy work, was straightened. This even caused a cracking sound toe from his back; then pain spread throughout his whole back, but he still put in effort to keep his body straight. ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡± This civilian with shallow insight, who would be considered barely able to read and write by noble standards, could not find the suitable words to describe his own feelings, and Gawain wasn¡¯t bothered by this either. He only waved his hand. ¡°Everyone in the exploration team deserves credit. I will have Heidi put this on record and convert them into rewards ording to the contribution list.¡± Then, he looked towards the direction of the mountainous path ¡ª¡ª earlier, he had already seen abatant run over. The soldier stopped on the path and had been waiting for him. ¡°What¡¯s the situation?¡± Gawain approached the soldier and asked. ¡°Lord, I brought the report from the ruins.¡± The soldier stood straight, bowed, and reported, ¡°Sir Byron found an unusual piece of magical equipment and a strange hall with runes that spread all over in the lower level. He hopes that you can go take a look personally.¡± Another new area was found deep in the ruin?! Gawain brows knitted together. He immediately gestured to Amber. ¡°Make a trip with me.¡± The two went down the mountainous path, led by the soldier. After a rather long journey, they finally arrived at the deepest part of the ancient facility. ¡°It¡¯s really big in here¡­¡± Looking around at the tall and wide corridor and the dim magic crystalmps on both sides of it, Amber could not help but sigh. ¡°Even walking in here on a straight path took so long¡­¡± ¡°And this is still the oue after Sir Byron had cleared the way.¡± Gawain nodded. He¡¯d noticed that the magic crystalmps on the two sides of the corridor were newly installed. Considering the problem with cost and the output rate of the portable Honeb Magic Web, those magic crystals were fixed with great intervals between them. As such, the overall illumination of the corridor seemed extremely dim. However,pared to the original pitch ckness, this corridor that had regained illumination once more was still much better than before. In that circr hall, Gawain saw the middle-aged Knight who he had not seen for a long time. The many days of exploring the ruins did not make this Knight seem haggard and exhausted: his condition was even unusually good, as if he had found the feeling of being a mercenary in his former days once more. Byron looked to be in high spirits. He came forward once he spotted Gawain. ¡°Lord, you should look at this! I bet that the two sets of writings at the entrance are describing the uses of this room ¡ª¡ª but we couldn¡¯t figure out what they meant even after studying them for a long while.¡± Gawain looked over, following the direction where Byron¡¯s finger was pointing. He saw that there was indeed a metal te that didn¡¯t have the slightest sign of rusting on each inner side of the door to the circr hall. Neat ancient script was carved on those metal tes using a technique that resembledser etching. ¡°The left says ¡®caution, beware of idents¡¯, and the right says ¡®personnel to lock the door when leaving¡¯. ¡ª¡ªWhat¡¯s wrong?¡± Byron: ¡°¡­¡± Then and there, Gawain saw the faces of the few soldiers behind Byron be flushed. If it weren¡¯t for the military discipline holding them down, they would probably have the intention of rolling on the floor. ¡°Don¡¯t go to the trouble of studying things that aren¡¯t your specialty in the future.¡± Gawain sighed and patted the wily old Knight¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Even Heidi cannot read all of these ancient scripts, why are you joining in the fun?¡± Byron¡¯s forehead was covered with cold sweat. He turned around awkwardly and pointed to the center of the circr hall. ¡°¡­You are right, Lord. You bettere take a look at this¡­¡± When Gawain looked towards the center of the hall ¡ª¡ª in fact, from the moment he stepped in, he¡¯d already noticed that intriguing object with a bursting sense of presence. That was a circr ring vertically set into the ground; about a third of the structure was buried underground. The inner diameter of the ring was about four meters, and a whole bunch of magical patterns and symbols were densely packed on the upper section of the circr ring. Rare metals and magic-conducting crystals were mounted on the various magical nodes. This showed that it ought to be some kind of equipment that consumed tremendous amounts of energy. Whereas, on the ground around the circr ring were simrlyplicated and massive magical symbol systems, as well as multiple metal devices fixed to the ground and connected to the magical patterns on the ground surface. It looked like a control station. ¡°This is¡­ some kind of door?¡± Gawain rubbed his chin. The figure of the ring-shaped object had him involuntarily reminded of things simr to a portal. However, he remained suspicious of the assessment of the ¡°portal¡± ¡ª¡ª even during the pinnacle of the Gondor Empire, the remote transportation spell was still a theoretical product. This world did not possess such a convenient and speedy spatial teleportation magic. If a mature portal did exist in the Gondor Meteoric Era a thousand years ago, it was impossible that none of the information was handed down. It was more likely a ¡°magic door¡± used for spatial transformation within a small scope, used to link up different spaces with the same coordinates. Such technology was rather developed in the Gondor era. ¡°Initially, we suspected that this thing was rock, but in reality, it was a metal. Only, it is of some unknown material,¡± Sir Byron continued to report. ¡°In addition, we found several sealed off rooms on this level. There were some ingots made of the same material as the circr ring stored in them. It seems like the people here at that time nned to make even more circr rings or to expand it. ¡ª¡ª Only, they evacuated subsequently, so these works were shelved.¡± ¡°Unknown metal material, is it¡­?¡± Gawain muttered to himself. ¡°If it isn¡¯t an ancient alloy, then it could only be that the Dark Wave caused a change in their properties. If thetter was the reason, the trouble with research would be big.¡± Sir Byron did not hear him clearly. ¡°Lord, what did you say?¡± ¡°No, nothing.¡± Gawain waved his hand. At the same, from the corner of his eye, he caught Amber who¡¯d, at some point, wandered over to the circr ring and was using her precious little dagger to poke those dark purplish crystals on the surface of the ring. He immediately called out, ¡°Ay! What are you doing! This thing cannot¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t steal!¡± Amber instantly red at Gawain, loudly clearing away the suspicion of her upational hazard breaking out. ¡°I just felt that the remaining energy fluctuations in these crystals were slightly¡­ familiar.¡± ¡°They¡¯re familiar?¡± Gawain was startled. ¡°You¡¯ve seen such crystals before?¡± Amber examined those crystals mounted on the ring like an expert schr and used her free left hand to rub her smooth chin. ¡°ording to my years of criminal experience¡­¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­What?¡± ¡°Cough, cough. Work experience, work experience.¡± Amber had also caught on and quickly corrected herself. Unfortunately, everyone at the scene had heard her, so she went on with thick skin, ¡°ording to my experience, such crystals should be the very rare shadow affinity crystals ¡ª¡ª the most expensive kind amongst all elemental crystals. And to be honest, its purity is also frighteningly high. Shadow crystals with levels of purity this high are seldom seen these days.¡± ¡°Shadow?¡± Gawain blinked. He knew about the existence of the elemental crystals. This type of unique magic crystals was formed by magical power crystals being corroded and reformed in environments with high concentrations of those elements. As the shadow environments in nature were scarce, locations that could sustain shadow environments with concentration levels hitting the criterion were even fewer. Therefore, elemental crystals with shadow aptitude were the rarest and most expensive ones. Although Gawain Cecil was known to be a schr back then, his main specialties were in herbology, survival in the wild, construction of territories, as well as killing monsters. He did not study much on crystals. But as a thief who dared to pry open the tomb of even a pioneering Duke and was perversely talented with the shadows, it wasn¡¯t odd that Amber had seen such crystals before. ¡°Could it be rted to the shadow realm?¡± Gawain asked as a guess. Amber patted her chest. ¡°Then I¡¯ll go in and check out the situation first!¡± ¡°Hold on.¡± Gawain grabbed her arm before she entered the shadow realm. ¡°Go in with me.¡± Amber faltered. Abruptly recalling the frightening experience of facing the divine flesh when she entered the shadow realm in theboratory in the ruins, she instantly broke out in cold sweat and quickly grabbed Gawain¡¯s arm. ¡°Then you¡¯ve got to walk in frontter!¡± Gawain found it both funny and annoying as he nced at this half-elf who suddenly turned timid. He waved his hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go.¡± Amber inhaled deeply, calmed her emotions, then activated her innate gift of shadow affinity. The familiar trance-like feeling closed in once again; Gawain felt the scenes before him begin to sway. Yet just as he was vaguely about to see the sights of the shadow realm, Amber suddenly called out an ¡°ouch¡± beside him. Then the two of them ¡°fell out¡± of the border of the shadow realm. Amber rubbed her head giddily, only responding after some time. ¡°It seemed like¡­ we were rebounded out?¡± Chapter 206 - The Shadow Realms Big Void Chapter 206: The Shadow Realm¡¯s Big Void After being ejected from the borderline state of the shadow realm, Amber refused to believe it and attempted to enter several more times. But each time, without change, they would fall back into the real world once they¡¯d entered the borderline state. By the fourth attempt, she was really so dizzy that she could no longer take it. Gawain was also muddled by this situation (of course, it was also possible that he was just dazed from the multiple switching across the borders). He subconsciously opened his mouth and asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Your plug-in has expired?¡± ¡°Plug-in? What¡¯s a plug-in?¡± Amber didn¡¯t understand what Gawain was saying but guessed that it most likely wasn¡¯t any kind of praise from his expression. Thus, she angrily pursed her lips. ¡°There must be a problem with this environment! Hold on, let me take half a catty of shadow potion before we try again¡ª¡ª I don¡¯t believe my shadow affinity¡­¡± ¡°Stop, stop, stop, don¡¯t lose your marbles. Calm down and analyze the situation.¡± Gawain stopped the half-elf¡¯s act of courting death with a wave of his hand. ¡°Carefully sense the shadow environment in here. Then try to see if themon shadow walk or stealth technique works.¡± Amber calmed down with Gawain¡¯s prompt. She took in a breath, and her figure gradually faded in the air. After several tests, she released her own shadow state. ¡°The conventional shadow walk and stealth technique both have no problem. Skills like shadow fog and the like can also be used smoothly. It seems that only when entering the shadow realm would I¡­ be affected by some kind of interference and get ejected instantly.¡± ¡°Shadow realm¡­ So, is the problem on the ¡®other side¡¯ then¡­?¡± Gawain offered while thoughtfully looking toward the circr ring equipment in the center of the room that resembled a magic door. Then, an idea shed across his mind as he frowned. ¡°Isn¡¯t the shadow realm equivalent to a certain kind of reflection of the real world? Try entering the shadow realm outside of this room. Then check out the situation from the ¡®other side¡¯.¡± ¡°Let me give it a try!¡± Amber agreed and walked out with Gawain in tow. ¡°Youe over. Protect my eyes¡­¡± Was this person taking him to be the same thing as aments eye-shield filter[1]? Specially used to shield the ancient gods¡¯ faces¡­ Gawain followed resignedly behind Amber. When they were a certain distance from the circr room, the two, as expected, sessfully entered the shadow realm. Seeing the familiar ck and white visual field emerge before his eyes and seeing Amber¡¯s figure switch to an elemental enchantress-like form unique to the shadow realm, Gawain instantly heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°Gave me a scare. I¡¯d thought that your plug-in had really expired¡­¡± ¡°The things you say are really weird. I can¡¯t understand them at all,¡± Amber muttered and then grabbed Gawain¡¯s arm and walked towards the circr hall in the shadow realm. They strode toward that ancient door, yet after passing through it, what they saw was merely a in circr hall. No divine flesh, no concealed research facility. There weren¡¯t even the extra doors and windows and passageways. There was nothing here at all. Amber curiously surveyed the surroundings. ¡°Strange¡­ It¡¯s just an ordinary hall. Why was there interference¡­? And this interference is so funny. We just had to slightly make a bypass, and we could enter¡­¡± However, Gawain immediately sensed an incongruity upon examining their surroundings. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think we were able to bypass it.¡± He lifted his hand and pointed to the center of the hall. ¡°That circr ring equipment is gone. There are scratch marks left on the ground.¡± In the hall in the real world, the most conspicuous thing was the circr ring equipment in the center of the room. However, here, the ring that was as tall as three to four meters had disappeared. In its ce were ragged marks on the ground, as well as a huge piece of ground that had been dug away in whole ¡ª¡ªthere was no doubt that something was once there. ¡°Other than theboratory where we encountered divine flesh previously, the shadow realm and real world basically maintained a state of corresponding projection, and ording to the marks left on this ground, we can tell there also ought to be a circr ring here. But it¡¯s gone now.¡± Gawain frowned as he moved towards the ground that had been dug away. ¡°Look at the measurements here, they should match the base of the circr ring.¡± ¡°Someone came to the shadow realm and stole the door on this side?¡± Amber¡¯s thoughts on this were intriguing. ¡°Nice skills¡­¡± ¡°No one would steal a magic door like they have nothing better to do.¡± Gawain nced at Amber. ¡°I believe a certain force had torn through here and ¡®shifted¡¯ the items that ought to be here to another ce. Entering the shadow realm from the circr hall in the real world should have brought us to the side of the corresponding circr ring, and when we walked into the shadow realm from the corridor outside the room, we could only see this empty ¡®inner hall¡¯. This is some kind of misced projection¡­¡± Amber didn¡¯t know how Gawain had thought of all these either, but after some consideration that her reasoning was impossible, she followed Gawain¡¯s train of thought. ¡°So what does that kind of ¡®interference force¡¯ do?¡± Gawain frowned, leaving his thoughts to unravel. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s for the sake of stopping unauthorized people from bypassing the ¡®magic door¡¯ and arriving at a certain ce¡­ Only by passing through the correctly matched ¡®magic door¡¯ can someone arrive at the correct location. Other than that, it is either one is unable to enter the shadow realm, or one can only enter this empty hall. The Gondor Master Mages back then often used such means to encrypt important treasure vaults.¡± ¡°In other words, if we want to figure out exactly where the correct corresponding location is, the only method is to repair that circr ring in the actual world?¡± Amber lifted her brows. ¡°This is outside my knowledge¡­¡± ¡°Not only outside your knowledge, I¡¯m afraid no one in the territory can interpret suchplicated ancient magical equipment.¡± Gawain shook his head regretfully. ¡°The circr ring ¡®outside¡¯ isn¡¯t some simple magic circle, butplex magical equipment including a mix of magic circles, ancientposites, and Gondorian magic techniques. For a thingamajig of this level and depending on the current standards of spellcasters in the territory, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be able to deal with it at all.¡± Amber stuck out a tongue, feeling that she was truly powerless to render any help in this aspect. Then, she sauntered and casually wandered about the circr hall. She glimpsed here and there, pulling out her small dagger asionally to scratch at the runes on the walls or the ground. However, when she rounded to the opposite end of the hall, she suddenly stopped. She noticed that there was a ck crack on the arc wall ¡ª¡ª the crack wasn¡¯t very wide, but branched out to many crevices; the crooked lines covered the entire wall in her sight. She curiously reached out a finger and touched that crack. Gawain was examining the residual rune marks on the ground of the hall when he suddenly heard a continuous cracking sounding from nearby. He lifted his head in shock to take a look, and the scene before his eyes startled him. Far from the entrance of the hall, an arc wall that was initially intact but now crumbling was covered with extensive ck cracks. The sturdy ancient concrete was falling off in pieces, as if there was a boundless abyss outside the hall swallowing up this structure! And Amber who stood before the wall seemed to have been frightened by this sight. The ground beneath her feet had already cracked open slightly, but she obliviously remained in the same spot, unmoving! ¡°Watch out!¡± At the most critical moment, Gawain dashed forward with a yell and pulled Amber who was in a daze back. The two of them retreated to the entrance of the hall before they stopped, and Amber only eximed at this moment, ¡°Damn, the wall copsed with a poke of my finger!¡± Gawain held on tightly to Amber¡¯s arm as he paid attention to the copse of the hall. He was prepared to retreat anytime, but he quickly realized that the copse had merely extended to a quarter of the hall and stopped ¡ª¡ª though it was massive, it ended unusually quickly. However, the sight after the copse of the wall and ceiling had him frowning hard, and an odd and bizarre sense surged into his heart. The outside was total darkness, pitch ck as if the world had vanished and the universe was quiescent. ¡°What¡­ is that¡­?¡± Amber was so nervous that even the pitch of her voice had changed, and what had her even more tense was standing by and watching Gawain walk towards the area of copse. ¡°Hey! Be careful!¡± Gawain was indeed very careful. He cautiously came to the edge of the copse in the hall and looked out into the space outside the wall. Behind the wall ought to be the Dark Range¡¯s heavy and thickyer of rock and soil, but there was only darkness and nothingness in Gawain¡¯s sight ¡ªplete pitch ck filled his vision, as if everything in the world was abruptly broken off outside of that boundary. But he narrowed his eyes and observed carefully. Finally, he caught some extremely distant and extremely blurred things in the darkness. He saw that there seemed to be a rising and falling outline of nd on the opposite shore¡± in the extreme far end of the dark space, while a thread of something faintly glowing could be seen high above in the distance; that was like daylight. Even in the empty darkness, he could still make out some floating things: they seemed to be huge boulders and inds that had lost their gravity and were floating and tumbling in the air. Gawain finally realized what was with the darkness before him: this wasn¡¯t some ¡°end of all things in the world¡±, but an unprecedentedly massive ¡°void¡±. The scale of this void was so huge that it¡¯d exceeded the distance in which the human eye could still receive light. Thus, it gave one an illusion of ¡°everything vanishing¡±, but the shadow realm¡¯s unique ¡°illuminated environment¡± deemed that there wouldn¡¯t be absolute darkness here. Thus, Gawain could vaguely recognize the things in the void. He casually took out a magic crystal, infused magical power to active this crystal, then tossed it into the distance. The crystal emitting a bright glow flew forward upon leaving his hand. It was originally capable of lighting up a spacious room, but after entering that big void, it was immediately reduced to a speck of insignificant light ¡ª¡ª as the surroundingscked reflective surfaces, its glow appeared so minute that it was nothing worth mentioning. This confirmed Gawain¡¯s guess. ¡°Is this¡­ a cave?¡± Amber also boldly followed over. She looked at the sight before her in shock and noticed that the thread of daylight that was high up and extremely far away. ¡°It seemed to lead directly to the ground surface up there? This cave¡­ How big is it?!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s put aside the size for now. Sir Byron had been burrowing inside the Dark Range for such a long time. The corridors that he¡¯d explored include the corresponding area of this void before us ¡ª¡ª in other words, this void absolutely doesn¡¯t exist in the real world¡¯s Dark Range.¡± Gawain unraveled in shock. ¡°This void is only restricted to the shadow realm¡­ If this wasn¡¯t naturally formed, then it could only be the doing of some forces beyond mortal imagination¡­¡± Amber finally came to a realization at this point. ¡°So, I wasn¡¯t able to enter the shadow realm previously, not because of the interference of some magic door, but because this area¡­ does not correspond with the real world. The dislocation here is overly severe?¡± ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know,¡± Gawain admitted that he was also at a loss right now. ¡°I only know that we probably won¡¯t be able to get to the bottom of this mystery here¡­ unless we can repair that circr ring equipment outside. Otherwise, it would be impossible for anyone to figure out what exactly the ancient Gondor Master Mages had been doing here.¡± Amber rubbed her arms that were beginning to be filled with goosebumps. ¡°Eek¡­ In any case, I can¡¯t stay here any longer. This ce is too strange. I think the correct thing to do is to quickly get out of here.¡± Gawain let out a breath. ¡°I quite agree with your opinion this time.¡± [1] When there are disturbing images in a video, spectators activate their ments eye-shield filter¡¯ to cover up the image as thements move across the screen Chapter 207 - Dinnertime for Gawains Family Chapter 207: Dinnertime for Gawain¡¯s Family After returning to the real world, both Gawain and Amber looked rather grim. Sir Byron who had waited for a good while approached them at the first moment. ¡°Lord, are you alright?¡± ¡°I saw the uncanny workmanship of nature.¡± Gawain let out a breath, slowly getting rid of the difort in his heart from confronting the big void. At the same time, he shook his head helplessly. ¡°I hope that was the uncanny workmanship of nature.¡± Sir Byron wore a puzzled look; even with his experience as a wily old fox, he couldn¡¯t deduce what exactly Gawain had seen in the shadow realm. But he cleverly did not pursue further ¡ª¡ª since Gawain did not actively share about it, it meant that the information could not be made public at the current stage. There were also many ordinary soldiers present, so he decided not to inquire too much. After calming his emotions, Gawain looked towards Byron. ¡°Other than this new area, are there any more explorations to be reported?¡± ¡°Yes, our progress has been smooth-sailing recently. There were many discoveries.¡± Sir Byron nodded and immediately began to give a simple report of the information that he had umted at present. ¡°Where we are at should be the lowest level of the ruin. If no more ramps or staircases appear, then this hall should be the ¡®base¡¯ portion of the entire facility. At this point, the entire ruin can be roughly divided into three levels ¡ª top, middle, and bottom. The middle level is connected to the entrance hall that we found at the very start. Spacious rooms, structures of the corridors that are perfectly straight and symmetrical, this should be the main area of activity for the personnel back then. The upper level leads to the summit and front of the Dark Range. There are many hidden air vents and probably exits in emergency passageways. However, the majority of the exits have been blocked off due to weathering and copse of the mountain. They cannot be cleared up for now. Meanwhile, the bottom level is where we¡¯re currently at. It is the smallest of the three areas but has the mostplicated structure. There are lots of rooms piled with abandoned equipment and mezzanines with unknown uses, and also this hall that we found. These three areas depend on the ¡®big ramp¡¯ located in the center of the facility, as well as shafts and narrow stairs scattered at various spots, to be connected. In addition, there are also some uneven storeys within every area. I¡¯ve sketched out the structural n of the storeys in detail.¡± Sir Byron paused for a moment before going on, ¡°We n to explore the southern and eastern parts of the middle level next. We found extra connecting passageways in these two ces. There was junk piled up in them, but the passageways showed no signs of copse. When the manpower is in ce, we would be clearing up the obstacles and carrying out further exploration. I suspect that the undiscovered area in this ancient ruin is still very big.¡± Gawain frowned afterparatively outlining the diagram of this ruin and the overall shape of the Dark Range in his mind. He said slowly, ¡°Southern area¡­ If the entire middle level is a symmetrical structure, then the southern area might lead towards the southern foot of the Dark Range. You must be especially cautious in that exploration. Once you find that buildings have passed through the mountain, immediately seal up the passageway ande forth to report it. You must not casually enter the ck Forest at the southern side of the range. As for the east¡­¡± Amber utilized her limited knowledge of the continent¡¯s geography at the side and suddenly blurted out, ¡°It can¡¯t be leading towards the Typhon Empire?¡± Sir Byron was startled at once. ¡°Is that possible?¡± ¡°Nothing is impossible.¡± Gawain was rather indifferent about this. ¡°The region where we are located is in the southeastern corner of Anzu, and the Dark Range extends all the way into the Typhon borders. Supposing this ancient facility had really been built by digging out the mountain range¡­ then it is also possible that its tail end enters the Typhon borders. After all, during the Meteoric Era a thousand years ago¡­ there wasn¡¯t anything like the borders of Anzu and Typhon.¡± At this point, he looked at Sir Byron¡¯s eyes, his expression especially serious. ¡°If that really turns out to be the case, you¡¯ve got to be even more careful, understand?¡± Sir Byron was, to some extent, also a Knight ¡ª¡ª even if he¡¯d had a midlife career change, he also had some general knowledge about military affairs. He immediately realized what it meant if there was really a passageway in this ruin that could lead into Typhon. Thus, he stood up straight at once. ¡°Yes! I understand!¡± After he was done settling proper business, Gawain decided to return to the territory first. But before he left, he patted Sir Byron¡¯s shoulder and reminded, ¡°Your exploration work in the mountains is very important, but the vacation that you ought to have should still be taken. After wrapping up here this time, go home and get a few more days of rest.¡± Sir Byron chuckled. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m still alright. Back when I was a mercenary, I dug through all sorts of ruins all day long. Sometimes, when we got inside the crypt, spending half a month inside was also¡­¡± ¡°But you didn¡¯t have a daughter back when you were a mercenary.¡± Gawain nced at him. ¡°Pea really misses you.¡± Byron¡¯s chuckling expression instantly stiffened, taking its ce was some awkwardness. ¡°Oh¡­ oh¡­ then I¡¯ll go back and spend more time with her.¡± Gawain and Amber returned to the feudal lord residence. After being busy the whole day, the sun was already setting by the time they arrived home. It was close to dinnertime. At present, other than two temporarily recruited servants, Betty was the only maidservant at the feudal lord¡¯s residence. The youngdy was responsible for everyone¡¯s meals and the chores. Gawain¡¯s family, counting the freeloading Amber and newly moved-in sea demon Tiel, was only five people. Though Gawain was a man of simple style, with simple food every day, together with the servants¡¯ food and daily chores, this was no longer a small burden. Looking at the youngdy running around the dining room like a st of wind, setting out the tes, distributing the bread, Gawain could not help but go forward to help, with Amber in tow. He helped to set the tes while asking Betty, ¡°Can you manage the work every day?¡± ¡°I can!¡± The maidservant answered in a clear and sharp voice while carrying the big bottle containing wine. ¡°Ah, Lord, don¡¯t set the tes yourself!¡± ¡°I am idle anyway.¡± Gawain wasn¡¯t used to the kind of life where he would sit at the table, and a row of servants would stand and watch him from behind. In fact, even if there was one person specially waiting on him as he ate, he would have indigestion. Thus, he was always trying hard to change such a tone. Unfortunately, it seemedpletely ineffective at present. Seeing that he¡¯d snatched her job of setting the tes, the little maidservant looked so anxious that she was about to burst into tears. He could only put the tes in his hand down. ¡°Let me know if you can¡¯t cope. This house is much bigger than the tent in the past. You¡¯re bound to be short of hands taking care of it.¡± Gawain did not n on having a few dozen or even a few hundred servants in his residence like most aristocrats of this era, extravagantly having two servants at each post for even work like nting flowers or raising dogs. However, he also admitted that such a big residence required more manpower to take care of things; having necessary staff at the necessary posts was still required. Betty was a diligent young girl, but she didn¡¯t have the capabilities of three heads and six arms either. It wasn¡¯t right to have the heavy household duties all weigh down on her. Betty didn¡¯t think that much. She was originally only a low-ranked maidservant assisting in the kitchen; she¡¯d never thought about what to do if she was the only maidservant by the lord¡¯s side. When she heard Gawain now, she stood dazedly and nodded ¡ª¡ª shepletely had no idea what this nod meant. Some time passed again. Heidi, who was busy handling the matters for the transfer of personnel, and Reba, who was inextricably obsessed with runes, finally returned home too. And by the time they walked into the dining room, Amber was already 70% full from filling herself up with all kinds of appetizers and cheese. Gawain reckoned that if dinner was started anyter, Amber would have mixed the mustard on the table with butter and finished it up¡­ Did this half-elf die fromck of eating foods of sickeningly strong tastes in her previous life? After his family members had taken their seats, Gawain shared what he found with Amber in the shadow realm. ¡°You said you found a kind of ¡®enormous void¡¯ in the shadow realm?¡± Listening to Gawain¡¯s description, Heidi showed great surprise. ¡°And that big void doesn¡¯t correspond with the terrain of the Dark Range in the actual world?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. The scale of the void is such that I¡¯m afraid our entire town at present could fit into it. And it¡¯s very tall. The top has even breached the Dark Range¡¯s peak, such that a part of the sky could be seen. Light inside of the void is exceptionally dim. It¡¯s so dark that it makes one uneasy.¡± Gawain described the situation in the void. ¡°There is some kind of natural phenomenon inside the void. I saw huge boulders floating in the darkness like they¡¯d lost their gravity.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard descriptions from you and Amber that the shadow realm is a corresponding projection of the real world. And besides being ck and white and deserted, there are no distinct differences in physics¡­¡± Heidi frowned. ¡°Could that big void imply some ¡®shadow realm rule¡¯ that is unknown to us?¡± ¡°I¡¯m more worried that it is caused by some external forces. That some force that exceeds humankind¡¯s imagination had been active in the shadow realm and had ¡®dug¡¯ away a big piece of the shadow realm matter and even changed the physics of that area.¡± Gawain wasn¡¯t without worry. ¡°What is even more worrying is that¡­ the Gondor Master Mages a thousand years ago had clearly realized the existence of this big void. They installed a device that resembled a magic door at the bottom level of the ruin in the mountain. The other side of this magic door should be linked to the big void or some ce rted to the big void. Unfortunately, that magic door can no longer be enabled.¡± Heidi bowed her head in thought, and Reba fought the butter on her bread that couldn¡¯t be spread evenly no matter how she did while casuallymenting, ¡°Then will you still proceed with the n that you mentioned previously about moving part of the territory¡¯s facilities into the mountain?¡± Gawain watched Reba¡¯s act of wielding the butter knife slightly apprehensively ¡ª¡ª her imposing manner was as if that slice of bread had killed her whole family. ¡°Easy there, do you need such big movements to spread butter.¡± Then, he answered Iron-Headed Girl¡¯s question. ¡°The relocating work still has to continue. At the very least, the workshops manufacturing grenades and all sorts of explosives have to be shifted out of the territory. Then there¡¯s also the production lines in the military factories ¡ª¡ª it won¡¯t do for these things to remain right next to the residential areas. How is the training of the craftsmen team for theying of the Magic Web going?¡± ¡°They¡¯re all learning rather well. Once I said that the remuneration for Magic Web technicians was double that for average construction workers, they became very eager. Moreover, the literacy of all those craftsmen is pretty good. The most outstanding ones among them had even already mastered how to arrange the connection of Honeb Magic Web units by themselves ording to the target environment and blueprint manual. The sess rate is just like that of Grade 1 and 2 Runemasters. Now, they can independentlyplete the task without needing my guidance.¡± Gawain nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Very good, send the most outstanding team into the ruin in the mountains. Beginying the Honeb Magic Web with the entrance hall as the starting point, and restructure the magical power supply inside the facility as preparation for the subsequent admission of the machinery.¡± Heidi let out a heartfelt sigh after hearing that. ¡°To be honest, who would¡¯ve thought thatymen without spellcasting abilities or even the ability to sense magical power could actually use such means to control magical power¡­ Magic Webs, Magic Powered Engines, heat-ray guns, Reba Crystals ¡ª these things have arrived at the extent of being produced byymen craftsmen without any input from Mages or only require minor guidance from Mages¡­¡± ¡°Right now, they¡¯ve only stopped at the stage of following the blueprints to ensure that there are no errors. This is only ¡®imitation¡¯.¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°And when the Rune Research Center led by Jenni obtains their results for the first stage and the center¡¯s first batch of students in rune specialization graduates, you will see some trueymen¡¯s ¡®creations¡¯ in the magic domain¡­¡± Heidi could not imagine what kind of picture that would be. In fact, even Reba was unable to. But Gawain could vaguely see that new generation ¡ª¡ª it would be an era where even without spellcasters, even without magical talent,ymen could rely on their brains and calctions, rely on strict scientific analysis methods and mathematical tools to grasp magic, and even develop and create all sorts of magical techniques. At this point, Amber who¡¯d been engrossed in eating suddenly lifted her head and interrupted, ¡°But then again¡­ Where¡¯s that sea demon?¡± Chapter 208 - The Sea Demons Knowledge Chapter 208: The Sea Demons¡¯ Knowledge With Amber¡¯s reminder, Gawain also became curious. He looked towards Betty at the side. ¡°You didn¡¯t get Tiel toe for dinner?¡± Betty blinked. ¡°I did, but Miss Tiel said she wanted to sleep a while more¡­¡± ¡°Given her almost hibernation-like style of work and rest, if she sleeps a while longer, it might just be tomorrow¡¯s dinner time already.¡± The corner of Gawain¡¯s mouth twitched involuntarily. He¡¯d originally wanted to make use of this rare free time to look for this sea demon from the outside world to get an understanding of the ¡°outside world¡± but didn¡¯t expect her to be sleeping for the entire day up till now. ¡°Go get her again. If she still doesn¡¯te, I¡¯ll go personally ¡ª¡ªto prevent her from sleeping to death.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Betty stood up, preparing to go get Miss Sea Demon for dinner, but she heard that sea demon¡¯snguid voiceing from the entrance of the dining hall once she stood up. ¡°I¡¯m here, I¡¯m here¡­ Yawn¡­ I just slept a while longer. Would I really sleep to my death¡­?¡± ¡°Sleeping almost twenty hours a day, anyone would worry about you sleeping to death, alright? Is the work and style of you sea demons like this?¡± Gawain casually asked as he turned to look in the direction of the dining room¡¯s entrance. He happened to catch Miss Sea Demon unsteadily push open the door and ¡°walk¡± in. ¡ª¡ª He saw at one nce that Tiel¡¯s lower body wasn¡¯t in human form, but a long snake tail. Clearly, to this deep water creature, this snake-tail limb was much more useful than humankind¡¯s legs. But Gawain¡¯s expression became a startled and stiff one in the next moment: he saw Tiel use the snake tail to move her body into the dining room, but it wasn¡¯t slithering like a snake and entering gracefully. Instead, she entered in jerks, the middle of the tail lifting high up then jerking forward with force¡­ Although Tiel had already lived here for a few days, she rarely left her room. Secondly, she¡¯d either walked on legs or jumped on her fishtail the previous few times; this was Gawain¡¯s first time seeing her move as a sea snake. How should he put it¡­? It looked foolish to some extent¡­ ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Tiel noticed Gawain¡¯s expression and immediately stood with arms akimbo. ¡°Does my tail not look nice?¡± ¡°Turns out you sea demons¡­ move like this onnd?¡± Reba also let out a sound of surprise. It seemed that Gawain wasn¡¯t the only one who was startled. She even used her hands to imitate the motion of a snake slithering. ¡°Don¡¯t you walk like this?¡± Tiel turned and nced at her own tail, swaying the tip of it. ¡°Ah, all the other sea demons move like the way you said. But there happened to be a sea caterpir beside me the first time I conjured my tail when I was young. I learned the wrong thing then ¡ª¡ª and never rectified it throughout my life¡­¡± ¡°¡­You¡¯d better get used to walking with legs as much as possible. After all, everyone uses legs in humankind¡¯s world. You can¡¯t go out this way.¡± He was too embarrassed to voice his unspoken words: it was mainly because the sight of such a beautiful snake jerking forward was really too stupid, literally to the extent where they could lift and throw her into the temple to receive eternal worship. There were already enough ultimate disgraces of the various races and upations in the territory. With one more embarrassing article, he was very worried about the average level of reputation of the entire Cecil territory¡­ Meanwhile, Tiel couldn¡¯t think of such underlying factors. She felt that Gawain made a lot of sense, but she¡¯d thought of an even more brilliant solution. ¡°Tell you what, break my legs in public next time. Henceforth, when I leave the house, I¡¯ll have people carry me, or I¡¯ll simply not go out at all¡­¡± ¡°Do you need to go that far just to not walk uprightly!¡± Gawain stared agape at this sea demon. ¡°You sea demons are all like this?¡± ¡°We¡¯re not.¡± Tiel crawled to the table with great effort, pushed away the chair, then smoothly coiled her tail into a heap, and wrapped the tip of her tail around a fork to fiddle with the dish before her. ¡°It¡¯s just that I¡¯mzier than the others¡­ Oh, there¡¯s quite a wide variety of food onnd. It¡¯s another kind again?¡± ¡°I hope this food can suit your taste,¡± Heidi said with a smile ¡ª¡ª though her smile had been distorted by that little bit when she saw Tiel¡¯s use of her tail. ¡°Actually, our food here is already considered simple. This territory is in the midst of development. Many things¡­¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Tiel swayed her tail. ¡°I can¡¯t tell. Sea demons have essentially no sense of taste.¡± ¡°You people have no sense of taste?¡± Gawain asked in surprise. ¡°Then when you eat usually¡­ just directly swallowing the food would do?¡± To humankind, the absence of a sense of taste was clearly a great regret. This meant that one of the greatest enjoyments in life ¡ª delicious food ¡ª was henceforth kept away from their life. However, the sea demon Tiel was evidently unbothered by this. She used the fork to poke the braised potato before her and then stuffed it into her mouth to chew and swallow it. ¡°Although we have no sense of taste, we can feel textures that are rtively finer. Besides, sea demons in essence are closer to a kind of elemental being. We are the polymers of water elements. ¡®To feed¡¯ is not a necessary condition for survival, but more like a kind of¡­ recreational activity. In fact, many sea demons usually don¡¯t eat. At the most, they would take a few bites to test the hardness when they catch unknown fishes and prawns in the sea¡­¡± ¡°How interesting.¡± Gawain acted like he was extremely interested in the daily life of sea demons (in fact, he really was quite interested). ¡°Then how do your people usually live in the sea? Do you also build cities and need to go to work?¡± ¡°Cities? Our city can give yound people a great scare!¡± Tiel darted a look at Gawain, as if this was a really absurd question. ¡°Our city is even bigger than your biggest city, even more advanced and even sturdier. Our city could fly, back in those days!¡± ¡°A city that could fly?¡± Heidi¡¯s eyes were instantly wide. She asked with curiosity that was hard to hide. ¡°Is it like the elves¡¯ Sacred Stars Temple, a magic floating city? Ah hold on, do you know about the elves¡¯ Sacred Stars Temple?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never seen it before, but some of my sisters have. It floats above the straits on the southern side of this continent, the Sacred Stars Temple. It has a floating core that heaven knows which era it was passed down from and a broadcast system that cannot be switched off. Those long-eared creatures known as silver elves seem to be extremely proud of their floating city. Some sisters of mine had gone up to take a look out of curiosity before, wanting to learn their technique of breaking away from gravity, but ended up realizing that the bunch of long-ear creatures actually only knew how to use it. They had no idea how to build it or repair it. The so-called floating core was ten to one something that they stole from some unknown ce¡­ Tsk, tsk.¡± Tiel used a rather contemptuous tone to evaluate the floating city that the Silver Empire was proudest of. And these remarks that she casually made caused waves of emotions to surge in Gawain¡¯s heart. Tiel¡¯s tone didn¡¯t seem to be fake; the personality that she¡¯d revealed the past few days didn¡¯t seem like the kind to be very good at lying either (of course, Gawain couldn¡¯t be sure that he could see through a person within a few days, and it was even the moral character of another species. He could only form a judgment using the information that he¡¯d observed at present). Then, from her fewments, Gawain could conclude that the sea demons possessed extremely advanced technology ¡ª¡ª otherwise, it was impossible that they would have such opinions about the Silver Empire, the ce where magical technology was the most advanced in the whole continent! Now he could also confirm that a small number of sea demons had indeed visitednd before and even visited the elves¡¯ kingdom. They carried out observations and appraisals and gained further insight into the Sacred Stars Temple¡¯s technological prowess, and they did so¡­ originally to learn the elves¡¯ anti-gravity technology? Had a problem urred with the sea demons¡¯ own anti-gravity technology? Tiel seemed to have mentioned earlier that the sea demons¡¯ city could fly ¡°back in those days¡±. In other words, was it damaged now? It could no longer fly? A loss of technology had happened with them too? The sea demons¡¯ observation and assessment of the elves were to be disappointed in them. They realized that the elves¡¯ anti-gravity technology was even inferior to theirs. The current generation of silver elves was wholly incapable of recreating another Sacred Stars Temple¡­ Gawain still had some understanding of the silver elves. After all, the former Gawain Cecil was one of humankind¡¯s greatest pioneering heroes; he hadmunicated with every race and force on the continent. In his inherited memories, Gawain indeed knew that the silver elves referred to their Sacred Stars Temple as the ¡°lost ancestral property¡±. There were many technologies in their aerial sacrednd that even they themselves weren¡¯t too clear about¡­ A break in technology probably urred for the silver elves too. He feared that technological breaks existed for all the species in this world. Perhaps it was because of the Dark Wave¡­ At this thought, he decided to beat around the bush and inquire about the sea demons¡¯ understanding of the Dark Wave and technological break. ¡°By the way, do you know that a huge cmity happened onnd seven hundred years ago?¡± ¡°A cmity seven hundred years ago?¡± Tiel thought for a moment. ¡°Ah, I roughly know a little. I heard those sisters who love roaming about mention it before. Something here seemed to have exploded seven hundred years ago. Then the human society was turned upside down.¡± ¡°We refer to it as the ¡®Dark Wave¡¯,¡± Heidi nodded and said solemnly. ¡°That was a cmity on thisnd. Many people¡­¡± Tiel suddenly cut off Heidi. ¡°Wait a moment, what do you people call that?¡± ¡°Dark Wave, or magical tide.¡± Heidi was puzzled, but she still exined, ¡°It is where the magic in nature suddenly loses its order, and chaotic magic energy corrodes the real world on arge scale, forming all sorts of fatal environments and destroying the stable structure of the physical world, resulting in monsters and lethal environments spreading everywhere¡­¡± ¡°Na¡¯Salu¡¯F.¡± Tiel suddenly murmured a term. This term clearly wasn¡¯t in humannguage; it was emitted using a certain unique acoustic mechanism of sea demons. It carried an unusual seemingly resonant-like tone and pleasant rhythm. It even stirred some magical power resonance, causing an unreal sound of waves to briefly ring out in the dining hall. Amber batted her eyes in confusion. ¡°Ah? What does it mean?¡± ¡°Dark Wave, the ¡®Dark Wave¡¯ in ournguage.¡± Tiel shrugged. ¡°Your exnation of the ¡®Dark Wave¡¯ sounds quite like it. It seems that you people had indeed experienced some kind of simr phenomenon, but to be honest¡­ ording to our observations, what a minor Dark Wave that was! It can¡¯t even be considered a gentle breeze and ripple, alright?¡± Heidi, Reba and the others were all slightly stunned, as if not quite understanding what Tiel meant. Yet Gawain felt a loud click in his mind: all that he knew and was thinking about was much more than any person present. And Tiel¡¯s voice continued to sound pensively, ¡°The real Dark Wave¡­ is something that could remold the entire world.¡± Chapter 209 - What Did the Sea Demons Do Normally? Chapter 209: What Did the Sea Demons Do Normally? This was Gawain¡¯s first time seeing such a stern and grave expression on Tiel¡¯s face. He originally thought that such an expression would never appear on this deep-sea saltwater fish¡¯s face, which seemed like she could go into an eternal sleep anytime. However, the facts had proven that her indolence had a limit. Furthermore, since Tiel used this expression to speak, it was obvious that she wasn¡¯t joking. Heidi immediately followed up with a question: ¡°You mentioned about remodeling the world¡­ What does that mean?¡± ¡°The literal meaning.¡± Tiel shrugged her shoulders and her tail. ¡°All matter will experience a transformation in characteristics. Some would have subtle transformations, and it would hardly be detected by humans and would seemingly not affect the original characteristics. Some would have thorough transformations, like a rock turning into a magical mineral. There would be transformations to the magical environment in nature too. ces that are overflowing with magic might be magic exhausted. ces that have scarce elements might be a new elemental world. The living beings would go through arge-scale extinction or mutation. New species will be formed in a short period of time, and most of the civilizations would vanish in this overwhelming transformation.¡± ¡°¡­You are just trying to scare us, right?¡± Amber listened to the sea demon¡¯s exnation with a distracted look. She understood all the words that were said, but when all the words were put together, there was a hidden meaning that was unbelievable. She stared nkly for a moment before she shook her head and said, ¡°Your statement is the same as those heretics dering that the apocalypse is imminent.¡± Tiel moaned lightly and said, ¡°There is a difference. They only know that the apocalypse is arriving, but the sea demons know how the apocalypse is going to arrive.¡± Gawain looked at Tiel¡¯s eyes and said, ¡°Have you experienced a real Dark Wave?¡± ¡°All of you should know that the sea demons are an intelligent species that is far more ancient than thend races. Before your civilization even learned how to start a fire, we had been in this world for many years.¡± Tiel continued using her tail to wrap onto a fork to pick up the bread and potatoes in front of her. She used a very natural tone and said, ¡°It is obvious that we have seen things that you humans have never seen.¡± Gawain continued to ask, ¡°If the Dark Wave is truly as you describe, how did your race survive from the real Dark Wave?¡± Reba stopped massacring the bread and lifted her head to look at Gawain with surprise. ¡°Lord Ancestor, do you really believe her words?¡± Gawain shook his hand and said, ¡°It is just a casual chat. It is fine to discuss a little.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, it is just a casual chat.¡± Tiel smiled and said, ¡°The Dark Wave is indeed very frightening, and most of the mortal beings are unable to withstand it. But we sea demons are rather special. We are¡­ mm¡­ It should be rted to our innate elemental biology. The Dark Wave might have a great impact on magic and energy, but it doesn¡¯t have the ¡®ability¡¯ to change elements. The sea demons¡¯ biology is based on elements, and most of our magic is also driven by elements. As such, we continue to exist until today, and our civilizations are still intact. Of course, there is still an impact¡­¡± Tiel stopped here and didn¡¯t seem like she wanted to continue this topic. She merely muttered softly, ¡°Every time, it will have to restart again¡­¡± Heidi and Reba looked at each other with dismay. In their opinions, Tiel¡¯s narration was overly outrageous, and when a rumor was exaggerated to an extent, it wouldn¡¯t feel real anymore. However, Gawain still continued the topic with a serious manner, ¡°Does it mean that the ¡®Dark Wave¡¯ that happened on this continent seven hundred years ago was just a ¡®small wave¡¯?¡± Tiel replied casually, ¡°Probably. After all, I never witnessed it personally, and I am guessing ording to your descriptions.¡± ¡°Do your people know when the real Dark Wave will happen in the future? When is the next one?¡± ¡°I am unable to answer this question.¡± Tiel shook her head. ¡°We are certain that the Dark Wave will happen after a period of time, but this ¡®period¡¯ is very unstable. The deviation would be calcted in every thousand years. It also means that, even if today is the theoretical day for the Dark Wave to erupt, the actual eruption time might be within the next thousand years. It is very hard to say.¡± The atmosphere had already sunk down unconsciously. Gawain noticed that Heidi and Reba didn¡¯t touch their food for quite some time and immediately knew that the sea demon¡¯s unreserved words had given them pressure. As such, he smiled and shook his head. ¡°Since it is hard to say, then we don¡¯t need to worry. Don¡¯t forget why we decided to establish ourselves at a ce like the Dark Range.¡± ¡°Just treat it as if I am telling a story.¡± Tiel had also noticed that she had ruined the atmosphere; of course, it might also be because she was toozy to continue the topic. She shook her head and said, ¡°With you humans¡¯ average lifespan, there isn¡¯t a need to worry about such disasters that might happen many generationster. Cheer up and look on the bright side.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s talk about something more rxing.¡± Gawain took the opportunity to shift the topic. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about life in the deep sea. What do you normally do?¡± ¡°We sleep.¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­What about the normal sea demons apart from you¡­? Furthermore, you can¡¯t be sleeping all the time without doing anything else, right?¡± ¡°We do plenty of things normally. We repair our dwellings, raise jellyfish, conduct transformationpetitions.¡± Tiel used the spikes on her tail to count and suddenly got happy and said, ¡°However, the most interesting thing is still to dig for squid!¡± Gawain was dumbfounded in response. ¡°What is digging for squid?¡± ¡°Digging giant squid! It is a kind of¡­¡± Tiel frowned and was working hard to find a suitable term. ¡°Natural resource that can regenerate?¡± Subsequently, she moved her tail around and said, ¡°In short, it is something that looks very simr to a giant squid. It might be the remains of an ancient life form. It is very, very gigantic and covers an entire patch of the sea bed. Its tentacles could grow and regenerate. After it is dug out, it will regrow after a period of time. Furthermore, the giant squid¡¯s tentacles would greet or dance with the sea demons. It is especially interesting! Every few days, we will go and dig the squid. Ah right¡­ Previously, we fought with a group of deranged humans because they put down a foul altar on the sea bed where we dig the squid. That altar would constantly stir the sea bed and mess up our fields. We sent people to negotiate with them, but it was useless, resulting in the battle.¡± This time, even Amber and Reba were stunned. To be honest, for a regr human¡¯s world outlook, it was truly impossible to understand what this sea demon was trying to describe! ¡°A kind of giant living corpse? It is already dead but it will constantly regenerate?¡± Reba was distracted as she said, ¡°Then¡­ how many individuals can be fed by it?!¡± This youngdy might be an unconventional viscountess, but her train of thought was correct. In fact, when Gawain heard of this description, he immediately wondered if it was edible. However, his mind thought a little more thoroughly than Reba and immediately realized that a constantly regenerating flesh probably wasn¡¯t ¡®safe-to-eat food¡¯. Especially when that thing came from the strange and horrific deep sea. Who knew how much more peculiar and stranger things were down there? In fact, the sea demon race was already considered a ¡°peculiar and strange thing¡± in Gawain¡¯s eyes¡­ Even Amber couldn¡¯t help but feel interested in this daily activity as she asked, ¡°What do your people dig the squid for? Do you really eat it?¡± ¡°Mm, it is actually mainly used as a fuel for the magic reactor, but it can also be eaten¡­¡± Tiel had a rather embarrassed expression. ¡°Therge squid¡¯s flesh has very concentrated energy and a great texture too. We sea demons don¡¯t really have a great sense of taste, right? Therefore, if something is rich with energy and has great texture, it is a delicacy for us. But in normal situations, the giant squid has the priority to supply the reactor. We will normally just take a few quick bites¡­¡± Gawain continued to be dumbfounded: ¡°It can be used to burn as fuel and can also be eaten? What kind of sick thing is that?!¡± Furthermore, these deep-sea creatures would actually eat the fuel of their homes¡­ Wasn¡¯t it the same as those little brats that tried to sneak a sip of gasoline? Just as Gawain expected, the deep sea¡­ did have some strange things. Due to curiosity, Gawain followed up with more questions regarding the ¡°giant squid¡±, while the giant squid¡¯s various traits slowly pieced together in the minds of everyone. It was a massive ancient lifeform¡¯s remains. A single tentacle had a length of a few kilometers, and it was just like a small mountain. It was dead on the sea bed for countless years, but there were no signs of decay, and it would constantly regenerate. But every time it regenerated a little, the sea demons would dig it up and burn (or eat) it. The giant squid¡¯s tentacles would asionally grow smaller tentacles that would greet or dance with the sea demons. However, the sea demons¡¯ main evaluation of these tentacles were their chewiness. The giant squid was normally surrounded by deep-sea creatures that were rather aggressive, but they were also rather chewy. The giant squid would asionally attract some creatures from some remote area and make them die in the vicinity of the tentacles while making it as though the creatures went there to suicide. As for the creatures that came from the other sea regions, they didn¡¯t have as much chewiness. It was obvious that Tiel judged many of the things in the deep sea based on their ¡°chewiness¡±¡­ It was unknown if this was her personal habit, or were all the sea demons the same¡­? After listening to Tiel¡¯s descriptions, Gawain¡¯s mind had a sudden doubt: What exactly did this group of fish dig up from the sea? Didn¡¯t they dig out an ancient god?! Gawain¡¯s mind wasn¡¯t overly imaginative, but after hearing all the descriptions from Tiel, he couldn¡¯t help but associate it with the god¡¯s flesh that was found in the ancient fortress. The god might be dead, but the flesh wouldn¡¯t decay or disappear; furthermore, it would affect the minds of other lifeforms. This trait was simply too special and distinct, and it was hard not to recall about it. The deep-sea ¡°giant squid¡± would constantly regenerate, but the god¡¯s flesh that Gawain found wouldn¡¯t regenerate. Perhaps it was some kind of suppression effect from the crystal cube that the Gondor Empire¡¯s Master Mages had created. However, the giant squid could affect the minds of many lifeforms, but why wasn¡¯t it able to affect the sea demons? The sea demons didn¡¯t just treat the ¡°giant squid¡± as a fuel, they had also treated it as food¡­ What was this group of fish made of? Chapter 210 - The Way Out from the Dark Wave Chapter 210: The Way Out from the Dark Wave The sea demons were a race that was enigmatic. It wasn¡¯t merely because their habitats were in the deep sea far away fromnd ¡ª which developed a physical barrier between them and the living beings onnd ¡ª it was also due to their totally different world outlook and way of thinking. The things that they described would probably have a gargantuan difference with the way that humans understood things. Take, for example, the monsters that were differentiated by humans ording to their grade of magic and aggressiveness, but they were differentiated by the sea demons with their chewiness ranking. It was simply too ludicrous, and it was impossible to have a proper conversation. Therefore, Gawain didn¡¯t dare to determine what was the ¡°giant squid¡± that the sea demons dug in the deep sea. He could only make a bold assumption from the descriptions mentioned by Tiel and describe it as something rted to the gods. As for the exact thing¡­ he would only know after seeing it personally. It was a pity that there weren¡¯t any opportunities to venture to the deep sea now. After dinner, Tiel stretched herself. This deep-sea creature who was constantly preparing to hibernate seemingly didn¡¯t have any concept of a stroll after a meal. She was already yawning constantly when answering a bunch of questions from Gawain. The sea demondy opened up her tail that was bunched up before waving to everyone and saying that she was going back to rest. She then arched and arched as she crawled out of the dining hall. As expected, the crawling posture was still so awkward¡­ Betty stood up to pack up the tableware, while Reba carried arge stack of rune base tes and scrolls as she returned to her room to continue the calctions. Once Amber finished eating and drinking to her fill, she went into the shadows, and it was unknown what she went off to do. Soon enough, the dining hall was only left with Gawain and Heidi. Gawain could see that Heidi was thinking something and had asked first, ¡°What are you thinking of?¡± ¡°Ancestor, do you believe what the sea demon said?¡± Gawain asked in return, ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°In the legends, the deep-sea creatures were known for resorting to demagoguery and turning people hysterical. There were also rumors from sailors that once their ship leaves the coastal waters, they would be able to hear the songs of the sea demons in the windless night.¡± Heidi was speaking about the knowledge from the books. ¡°The songs will lure the ships into whirlpools and ces with submerged reefs. They would even be able to pull people into nightmares, leaving behind empty and dpidated ghost ships that drift on the sea.¡± ¡°It is obvious that you don¡¯t believe those legends.¡± Gawain smiled and looked at Heidi. ¡°Furthermore, those sailors¡¯ superstitions are ridiculous. For seven hundred years, how many ships were able to return alive from the remote sea? How can there be so many sailors with ¡®personal experiences¡¯?¡± Heidi shook her head lightly and said, ¡°The legends might be preposterous, but Tiel¡¯s narrations are also deliberate exaggerations to scare people and to waver the hearts.¡± ¡°You are referring to the ¡®true Dark Wave¡¯, right?¡± Gawain knew what Heidi meant and said, ¡°To be honest, I would rather believe that it is true.¡± Heidi frowned and asked, ¡°It is because of the recent discovery of those ores at the Dark Range?¡± ¡°The Holme Ore was formed during the Dark Wave, and we are unable to determine what kind of matter would vanish during the Dark Wave,¡± Gawain said softly. ¡°The transformations in the Dark Range have personally been seen by everyone. Back in the Gondor Wastnd¡­ we have also seen countless things that had transformations to their characteristics because of the Dark Range¡¯s influence. Arge quantity of new magic-conducting materials might be the same as striking gold, but if such a phenomenon appeared in the whole world, it would be a disaster for the mortal civilizations. Can you imagine what would happen if all the generalized magic-conducting materials had a sudden transformation in characteristics or even vanished?¡± ¡°Even the elves¡¯ Sacred Stars Temple would fall.¡± Heidiughed bitterly and shook her head before she said, ¡°But the Dark Range still has iron ores and construction materials. The giantwood is still giantwood, while the quartz sand is still quartz sand¡­¡± ¡°This should be considered as the world¡¯s final trace of kindness for the mortals. The transformation during the Dark Wave might not be 100%, but it seems like those fundamental matters and those with low magic sensitivity are the least affected by the Dark Wave. Even if magic-conducting materials were affected, the transformation wouldn¡¯t be 100% either. However, no one can be certain that it would still be the case during the eruption of a ¡®true Dark Wave¡¯. Even if the Dark Wave only affected 10% of the characteristics, it would be enough to destroy mortal civilization¡¯s foundations ¡ª the magic circles that are still operating, the magic wells in the various parts of the world, mage towers, the magic-conducting materials in the magical devices. If they were affected by the Dark Wave during operations¡­¡± Gawain didn¡¯t say thest statement, but Heidi and Gawain understood what kind of scene it would be ¡ª the mortal civilizations would instantly explode and spiral out of the sky¡­ There was a reason why the Gondor Empire that was unrivaled in power was only able to withstand the Dark Wave for one month before being annihted. It was a future that was filled with despair. If the Dark Wave¡¯s true might was as described by Tiel and imagined by Gawain, then the current mortal civilization wouldn¡¯t be able to save itself. Even with Gawain¡¯s two lifetimes of experiences and the millions of years as a satellite spirit, he would never be able to imagine how the current human civilization could contest with the Dark Wave. Who would have expected that the world could lose its foundations and that this world was actually so vulnerable to ¡®transformation¡¯? However¡­ were there really no other methods? It was unknown why Gawain would suddenly think of the statement he had read in theboratory in the ancient fortress. ¡°Humankind shallst forever¡­ Even if we defied the gods.¡± Could it be that the Gondor Empire¡¯s Master Mages weren¡¯t researching a method for eternal life, but attempting to study the god¡¯s power to search for a method to deal with the Dark Wave? During the Meteoric Era over one thousand years ago, the Gonder Empire¡¯s Master Mages already knew that the Dark Wave wasing? Therefore they were saying that ¡°Humankind shallst forever¡± instead of ¡°Humans shall live forever¡±. Thetter meant eternal life, while the former might mean the survival of the entire race and civilization! However, during the Dark Wave 700 years ago (the ¡°minor¡± Dark Wave mentioned by Tiel), the Gondor Empire was only able to withstand one month. Did their research during the Meteoric Era fail? Did they give up? Did they take the wrong path? Or¡­ perhaps the situation wasn¡¯t as Gawain had imagined, and the research project in the mountains was actually unrted to the Dark Wave? Gawain¡¯s mind revolved rapidly as he recalled about the ¡°giant squid¡± that was being dug by the sea demons at the sea bed. ording to the information revealed by Tiel, the giant squid was already dead at the sea bed before the sea-demon civilization even came. It also meant that the suspected remains of a god had already experienced multiple Dark Waves in the deep sea, but it was never affected¡­ Sea demons weren¡¯t affected by the Dark Wave either, or they were only affected to an extent. Although their civilization seemed to have taken a hit, they were still able to continue¡­ ¡°Ancestor?¡± Heidi noticed that Gawain didn¡¯t talk for a long time and had to break the silence. ¡°What are you thinking?¡± ¡°I am wondering if humans have any ways to survive the Dark Wave?¡± Gawain spoke slowly. ¡°There might not be clear evidence, but I believe a way to survive exists. It is either from the gods or from the elements.¡± ¡°Priests and Elemental Mages?¡± ¡°No, you are just talking about two kinds of spellcasting upations. I believe the way out is in the characteristics of those powers or¡­ the characteristics of this world itself.¡± As Heidi immersed herself in thoughts after this statement, Gawain couldn¡¯t help butugh and say, ¡°It is still too early to think about these things now. With our current capability and the entire mortal world¡¯s capability, we are still not qualified to consider such problems. Instead of considering this matter, it is better to return and rest before thinking about the best candidates for the organization.¡± Yes, it isn¡¯t the moment to consider this now. At least, it isn¡¯t the moment for Heidi. Gawain consoled Heidi and asked her to rest in her room. At the same time, his mind was still very concentrated as he called out to the observation satellite in space. A thermal image-like ¡°magic-thermal topographical map¡± appeared in Gawain¡¯s mind. Using his position as the center, everything within a few hundred kilometers had been formed into an image of a magic-distribution diagram and topographic map. Dense magic presence started to float and drift in the overlooking diagram. Immediately after, thetest satellite observation information appeared in his mind: energy level decreasing. Switching to low alert mode.¡± energy level is at a low level. Affirming that has entered a peace period. Alert dismissed.¡± ¡°All systems entering low power output self-observation mode.¡± At the very least, there were no signs of the next Dark Wave for now. ¡­¡­ At the same moment, in the Moss Woods located in between the borders of Duke Franklin¡¯s territory and the western borders of the rest of Anzu Kingdom¡­ Adjacent to the Anzu Kingdom was the Augari Tribal Country that was an alliance kingdom. Seven hundred years ago, the human pioneers entered the towering mountains and dense jungle from the west and decided to coexist peacefully with the native factions. With agreements and alliances, the western part of the continent had been established firmly. After 700 years of development, any of the races on thisnd had already formed a new faction. There were more than a dozen intelligent race leaders that were in this ce, and the elves, gray elves, fairies, beastmen, and humans were the strongest races and ones with the most authority to speak. These races¡¯ original habitats were in their various main cities, but with the governing structure of the ¡°Five Kings Council¡±, they were governing this spacious country together. Different from the Typhon Empire that was on bad terms with the Anzu Kingdom, the Augari Tribal Country had been maintaining a good rtionship with the Anzu Kingdom since 700 years ago. The Franklin n of the western Anzu Kingdom had contributions in the area that were significant. This n that was proficient with ns and businesses was always pleased to deal with the races in the mountains and jungles. They had a long-term business with the gray elves, allowing the Franklin n to establish arge trade town, and a few specialized assembly points in the ¡°Moss Woods¡±, that was the main residence of the gray elves, giving convenience to the traveling merchants. During the process, they might have used all sorts of methods to umte wealth and had even forced the merchants to exchange a third of their belongings into Franklin coins, putting down a ¡°decree¡± for them to use Franklin coins in transactions in order for the merchants to travel in the territory. However,pared to the plundering traders on the roads and those hired bandits robbing the nobles, the Franklin n could be considered wise people. Today, the wise Duke Franklin encountered something frustrating. The trade town at the border of Moss Woods, ¡°Golden Woods Town¡±. The zing mes illuminated the night asrge groups of soldiers sealed up the town¡¯s surrounding junctions. The town¡¯srgest trade house had been surrounded so tightly that nothing could enter or exit without anyone seeing. Chapter 211 - Heresys Undercurrent Chapter 211: Heresy¡¯s Undercurrent The soldiers sealed off all the main passages and had surrounded the trade house that was opened by the gray elves. However, this wasn¡¯t able to stop rumors and nders. Among those rumors were tiny bits of truth that were rapidly brewing in the mouths of these ordinary people. Soon enough, there were countless rumors about dark and bloody sacrificial rituals conducted by evil heretics that started spreading out in the town. The skeletons that were carried out from the trade house deep in the night had already proven everyone¡¯s conjectures. Under the protection of the soldiers, Duke of the West, Baldwin Franklin was escorted and arrived at the scene with a low-profile. He frowned as he felt extremely terrible as he looked at the trade house that was still constantly drifting out with the faint stench of blood, while he could also see those ignorant masses that were extending their heads and looking over. It wasn¡¯t necessary for a duke to personally visit and pay attention to the happenings of a small town. However, when the incident happened, Baldwin Franklin happened to be in the midst of a winter hunt in the vicinity of Golden Woods Town. Recently, the evil heretics had been wreaking havoc at the borders of the kingdom, and the King had also sent information to the duke to be careful of the heretics. The western borders did have plenty of disturbing and horrific incidents that had happened. Duke Baldwin Franklin was worried about this; therefore, he chose to conduct a winter hunt in this secluded ce to rx a little. However, it seemed like the evil cults were specially targeting him and had actually revealed themselves in front of him at this critical moment. ¡°Your Excellency.¡± A trusted aide leaned over and whispered, ¡°Do you wish to disperse these lowlymoners?¡± ¡°They are simply ignorant and don¡¯t know what horror is.¡± Baldwin was feeling unpleasant as he said, ¡°I asked the soldiers to seal the passages in order to protect these foolish people¡¯s lives. Since they are so foolish and cannot understand this point, just let them gather on another street, and don¡¯t let them affect this ce.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Excellency. Your benevolence is truly touching.¡± The trusted aide lowered his head again and asked, ¡°Are you going to enter personally¡­ and take a look?¡± ¡°I am here for this purpose.¡± Baldwin opened the doors of the trade house and was immediately weed with a rush of the concentrated stench of blood. There were dried up patches of dark red blood that could be seen everywhere in the trade house. It was on the floor, the walls, the roof, and every table and chair; every decoration and every window was sttered with blood. It was truly bone-chilling as it seemed just like a lunatic dipping his hand in blood before carefully smearing each surface. In between the solidified marks of blood, one would be able to see human-shaped impressions that were of a darker color, and it was extremely eerie. ¡°What are these impressions?¡± Baldwin Franklin was able to sense subtle magic waves from impressions. ¡°It is due to corruption, Your Excellency.¡± An individual in priest attire walked out from the group of people that were sorting out the scene. He bowed to the Duke of the West with the etiquette of a Holy Light follower and answered respectfully, ¡°ording to the marks at the scene, people who were influenced or the participants of the evil cult ritual first entered this hall and conducted a frenzied self-muttion, smearing their blood in every corner of the hall. They then gathered in these locations and started to boil and corrupt their remaining blood with the influence of the evil magic. The blood and flesh that flowed down from their bodies then formed these corrupted impressions. Therefore, when we entered this ce, we could only see skeletons.¡± The Duke of the West appeared to be angry as he said, ¡°I do not wish to know so many details, I just wish to know who did it.¡± ¡°This is the ssic sacrificial ritual of the Oblivion Association,¡± the Holy Light Priest replied. ¡°They advocate the muttion of living limbs and the embrace of death. ording to my judgment, the heretics that conducted this evil ritual are among the skeletons collected here. For such a scale of blood sacrifice, the heretics will choose to sacrifice themselves with the sacrificial goods to achieve their objective to the greatest extent.¡± The Duke of the West looked at the Priest¡¯s eyes and asked, ¡°Their objective? What is their objective?¡± ¡°They are probably nning to create a gue and to spread the gue to the western borders of the kingdom and inside the Moss Woods.¡± The Priest pointed at the nearby wall, and on those walls that were tainted with blood, one would be able to see a faint golden Holy Light rune that was flickering. Traces of ck aura were rapidly dispersing under the illumination of the Holy Light. ¡°When I rushed here, the entire building was already overflowing with the presence of gue, and it is fortunate that the Lord guided me to discover the heretics¡¯ schemes in advance. I was then able to immediately dispel the evil magic that was able to take form and also set up a cleansing boundary. Your Excellency, there is no need to worry about the gue now.¡± ¡°These degenerated and warped freaks! Their souls should truly be taken by the devil, never to escape from hell for eternity!¡± Baldwin Franklin was rarely so enraged, but he strived to maintain his image. He nodded to the Holy Light Priest and said, ¡°Father, you have rescued this small town and all the lives in the vicinity! You have to receive my thanks andpensation.¡± ¡°Cleansing evil is the path given to us by the Lord.¡± The priest spoke in a tone that was grieved at the fate of mankind. ¡°Aspared to individual gains, I am more worried that those demented heretics would attack ces that aren¡¯t able to receive the Lord¡¯s blessings.¡± ¡°The Church of the Blood God is just in the vicinity of this trade house, but those priests didn¡¯t feel the evil that happened right beside them.¡± The Duke of the West shook his head and said, ¡°The first to arrive was actually the Holy Light Clerics that you led¡­¡± ¡°You cannot me the envoys of the Blood God,¡± the Holy Light Priest responded immediately. ¡°It just so happens that their theurgy isn¡¯t suitable for this asion. The God of Holy Light¡¯s power is specialized in eliminating evil, and it happens to be within our duty.¡± The Duke of the West revealed a pensive expression. ¡°Eliminating evil¡­ The evil cult heretics are getting more rampant in the kingdom. This is the time when we need the power to fight against evil the most¡­¡± The priest lowered his head deeply and said, ¡°The servants of the God of Holy Light shall not shirk from our responsibilities.¡± ¡­ The heretics were causing trouble for the nobles in the entire Anzu Kingdom. However, the southern region that they had disturbed first was in a situation where the days were gradually bing serene. It seemed like after the Oblivion Association and the Eternal Sleepers had suffered consecutive setbacks, the dark cults felt that this piece ofnd ¡ª which was adjacent to the Gondor Wastnd and also deste and backward ¡ª was rather troublesome. There were plenty of ces to target in the kingdom, and they had temporarily given up their ns to continue causing trouble in this region. Gawain couldn¡¯t guess the ns of the heretics, but he was very willing to ept these rare moments of peace. He had ns to make use of this opportunity to continue upgrading the technology of the territory. The analysis of the basic rune arrangements that were done by Jenni and Reba were gradually being put to use. On the table in front of Gawain, there was a generalized vambrace that was already disassembled. This was the ¡°I-Type Scorching-Ray Gun¡± that was equipped by the territory¡¯s soldiers. Aspared to the crude experimental design in the beginning, the mass-produced vambraces¡¯ interiors were obviously more reasonably structured. Each of theponents had a specification and was easy to rece. After opening the outer shell and ayer of protection, one would be able to see the modr rune trigger, magic capacitor, magic-conducting stopper, and the Scorching Ray base te that was situated at the front of the vambrace. Apart from that, the magic-conducting stopper had two empty slots, and it was the design that Gawain instructed previously. It was used for future modifications and also the possibility of an upgrade. Jenni and Reba stood at the side of the table, while thetter took out a piece of rune base te and handed it over. ¡°This is for you.¡± Gawain received the hexagonal metallic te and could see on the side a row of inscribed words: ¡°Generalized I-Type Forcefield Shield module.¡± Gawain opened up the interior slot at the magic conductor and ced this new module inside. There was a slight clicking sound, while the several runes on the Forcefield Shield module lit up. The energy from the magic capacitor had sessfully activated this new module. Jenni stood by the side and exined, ¡°After activating the Forcefield Shield, the Scorching Ray¡¯s shot count will reduce by half. But the Forcefield Shield isn¡¯t a function that must be constantly active. We can add in a new rune trigger to control its activation and deactivation. As the defense coverage of the energy shield is limited. Soldiers are only able to activate the Forcefield Shield during closebat.¡± Reba quickly supplemented, ¡°Originally, we nned to use the Grade 3 Eggshell Shield, but we realized that the consumption rate was too high. The vambrace would only be able to maintain it for a few minutes. We didn¡¯t have a choice but to put in the Grade 2 Forcefield Shield instead.¡± Gawain looked up at the ignorant youngdy and said, ¡°What ¡®Eggshell Shield¡¯? That is the Mage Protective Shield! Don¡¯t just simply give it a name because it looks like an eggshell alright?¡± Reba scratched her head. ¡°Ehehe. As long as you know what I mean¡­¡± Gawain was at wits¡¯ end as he looked at this youngdy and asked, ¡°How many of the functions can be achieved for the next-generation armor?¡± ¡°Oh, oh. We have already sessfullybined the Combat Field Pack and the armor, and they can be dismantled. This way, the magic circle on the armor can be supplied by the Combat Field Pack. When necessary, the field pack can be unloaded to reduce weight or to be switched out. The breastte has also been fitted with a magic capacitor. Therefore, even if the armor is disconnected from the Combat Field Pack, it can still be maintained inbat for a period of time,¡± Reba exined with high spirits and brought out a blueprint that she had been designing for many nights and showed it to Gawain. ¡°Look, we ced a Grade 1 Wind Shield in the breastte first. It has the lowest level of consumption, and it might not provide any actual protection, but it can filter out poisonous aura or gue-type spells, allowing the soldiers to be safer in harsh environments. Afterward, using your instructions, we have also added Instion and Weight Reduction runes inside the armor. These are either trivial spells or Grade 1 spells. With the Combat Field Pack as an energy source, it could remain operating without deactivating¡­¡± As Reba described with excitement, Gawain nodded with satisfaction. Although the basic functions had been achieved, the use of the new magic circles to achieve effects that were simr to magic equipment seemed to be the correct direction. However, Reba stopped talking all of a sudden and had a depressed expression. ¡°Previously, you mentioned adding jets at the back of the armor, while soldiers would simply have to yell ¡®charge!¡¯ to rush forward while spraying fire. It is a function that I have no way to achieve. I thought about adding a Fireball magic circle at the back, but I realized that the surroundingrades would be sted off¡­¡± Gawain nearly choked on his water and said, ¡°Pfff¡­ Didn¡¯t I tell you that it was a joke?!¡± ¡°But it sounds super cool!¡± Reba¡¯s eyes sparkled as she looked at Gawain. ¡°Furthermore, we can also add a bunch of shiny streamers behind the armor, or when they jump up to three meters high, they can shoot out arcane missiles or something¡­¡± ¡°Forget all of those thingspletely!!¡± Chapter 212 - Alchemy Factory Chapter 212: Alchemy Factory As more fundamental rune arrays were analyzed and were simplified into generalized rune base tes, the Cecil soldiers¡¯ equipment naturally underwent an upgrade. In Gawain¡¯s vision, aplete version of the Cecil soldier equipment should consist of a set of systems. Energy system: The Combat Field Pack that was fitted with a high-efficiency honeb magic web and magic capacitor. It could recharge arge number of magic crystals and also have a surplus of magic to sustain all sorts of modules for the soldiers. Defense system: The steel armor pressed by machines would be used as a carrier. Inside the armor, it would be engraved with various defense magic circles and support magic circles. It would be able to achieve an overall defense against foreign magic, poison, and physical attacks. The traditional magic-imbued armors were extremely expensive, but using magic circles to achieve the magic-imbued effects could greatly reduce the cost. At the same time, the Forcefield Shield from the vambrace was also considered a part of the defense system. Weapons system: It was mainly the heat-ray gun installed in the vambrace and also the des in the soldiers¡¯ hands. The former had already achieved mass production, while thetter didn¡¯t have any ideas for improvement yet. In Gawain¡¯s vision, even if the ded weapons were reserved for the soldiers, the Cecil soldiers¡¯ des must also go through a modernized improvement too. Traditional steel weapons would obviously be powerless against the aberrations and Beyonders. Various types of magic-imbued effects were necessary. As for the exact details on improving the traditional des, there was a need to have a good brainstorm. Apart from those systems, Gawain hoped to achieve instantmunications on the battlefield. It was needless to talk about the importance ofmunication technology. Every soldier should be able to receivemands from theirmanding officers on the battlefield, and everymanding officer should be able to understand the changes in the battle situation promptly. An army that had modernizedmunication technology would havebat strength that was unimaginable to traditional armies. As such, the inclusion of amunication system was of the utmost priority for the ¡°Cecil Combat Suit¡±. However, it was regretful that there were no ideas on how to achieve it as of now. There weremunication spells, and the Mithril Vault was able to create amunication device like the Mithril Ring, but in Gawain¡¯s point of view, the specialized spell was like a kind of ¡°ck box technology¡±. Its magic principle had yet to be analyzed by anyone, and the rune structure in the magic circle also used an irregr array. Jenni¡¯s rune logic wasn¡¯tprehensive enough and wasn¡¯t able to simplify such magic with unknown principles. This meant that they couldn¡¯t reduce the cost of themunication magic tools, and there was no way to use them on the soldiers¡­ After adding the Forcefield Shield module into thebat vambrace, the appearance didn¡¯t look any different. Gawain then assembled the outer shell of the vambrace again. After hearing the distinct clunk sound, he looked at Reba and said, ¡°The vambrace can still integrate more modules. Also, add in moreponents that can be reced. Right now, it has offense and defense capabilities. You can consider adding in a support capability, like a Grade 1 ¡®secondary rity spell¡¯ or a trivial spell like ¡®magic light¡¯ to be used for illumination. These are low consumption spells but can have great use¡­¡± It was unknown when Reba and Jenni had taken out a notebook as they listened and wrote on it. Halfway through, Jenni couldn¡¯t help but lift her head to ask, ¡°But Your Excellency¡­ If we add in so many functions, will this vambrace still be a ¡®heat-ray gun¡¯?¡± ¡°That is why I mentioned it in the beginning. The vambrace is just a carrier, and the heat-ray gun is just a part of the vambrace and not its entirety.¡± Gawain smiled and gave a clear exnation of his initial concept to these two girls. Only now did theypletely understand the meaning of the so-called modrity. ¡°We should give this vambrace an individual name¡­ I shall name it as ¡®Magic Transmission Terminal¡¯. ording to the different modules fitted in the terminal, it can be a heat-ray gun, an energy shield, amunication tool, or medical equipment. It can even be a lightning transmitter or a Fireballuncher. Different soldiers can use different functions of it. In fact¡­ we can even develop a civilian version.¡± Reba finally reacted. ¡°It turns out that¡­ this is the real idea you had since the beginning?¡± Gawain nodded andughed helplessly. ¡°If I were to tell this to everyone back then, most of the people probably wouldn¡¯t have understood or even been able to imagine it.¡± Jenni looked at Gawain while feeling amazed. She suddenly developed a strange feeling. This person standing in front of her didn¡¯t seem like an ancient hero that was from 700 years ago, nor was he the Cecil n¡¯s feudal lord that lived in the current era. This duke¡¯s wisdom didn¡¯t belong to this society, and he didn¡¯t have a presence that belonged to this world. He was using an observer¡¯s perspective to monitor the development of thisnd and was conducting a project on that foundation. This project was so grand that it was beyond the cognition of the people in the present age. Even if he was to casually mention a single step of this n, no one would have been able to understand what he wanted to achieve¡­ However, the sensation onlysted for a fleeting moment because Gawain suddenly raised his hand to knock on Amber¡¯s head as she was sneaking in from the side of the table. That amiable and approachable feudal lord who had a peculiar sense of humor had returned. ¡°Why are you sneaking around?¡± Gawain red at Amber who suddenly emerged from the side of the table. Thetter was obviously nning to scare Gawain, but she never expected for her stealth effects to suddenly deactivate due to the stimtion from Gawain¡¯s protective aura. After getting hit on the head, the half-elf youngdy covered it and felt wronged. ¡°I am here to report something. Did you have to hit me¡­?¡± ¡°Stop ying around. Would someone enter with Shadow Walk to report something?¡± ¡°Tsk.¡± Amber¡¯s mouth twitched as she asked, ¡°How long do you need to stay here? Pittman asked me to inform you that the Alchemy Factory¡¯s first reaction vessel is ready. They are waiting for you to inspect it.¡± ¡°Ah, I had forgotten about it!¡± Gawain pped his head. He knew that the Alchemy Factory was going toplete the first reaction vessel today, but when Reba and Jenni delivered the first batch of rune base te and designs for the magic-conducting armor, he had totally forgotten about it. Now that Amber reminded him, he immediately stood up and ced the vambrace down. ¡°Jenni, Reba, I will go over to the Alchemy Factory first. As for the design work on the generalized base tes, you can arrange it when you return. The current progress is rather good. I am very satisfied.¡± Jenni obediently tidied up the blueprints, base tes, and vambrace on the table, but it was obvious that Reba wasn¡¯t going to obediently return to the research center. She went over and grabbed Gawain¡¯s arm and swung it forcefully. ¡°I want to go too! I want to go too! I want to go to the Alchemy Factory too! I have yet to see what it looks like over there¡­¡± Gawain looked at the foolish girl and asked, ¡°Why do you want to go there? It is just apletion of the reaction vessel. It isn¡¯t a celebration ceremony for thepletion of the factory. Furthermore, you don¡¯t know anything about alchemy.¡± ¡°I can go over and release two Fireballs to liven things up! Shouldn¡¯t there be fireworks for something that is worth celebrating¡­?¡± Gawain immediately red at her and said, ¡°If you dare to release a Fireball at the Alchemy Factory, I will throw you out like a Fireball!¡± ¡°I mean to throw it into the sky¡­¡± ¡°Not even into the sky!¡± Reba stuck her tongue out and obediently raised one hand. ¡°Then I swear on the name of the Cecil n¡¯s ancestors, I will obediently¡ª¡± Gawain wanted to nod at first, but he suddenly came back to his senses. ¡°I am your ancestor!¡± Reba: ¡°¡­¡± Amber sneaked beside Jenni and whispered to her, ¡°Don¡¯t you feel that when these two are conversing, their brains seem to have pits?¡± Jenni had already adapted to the atmosphere of the Cecil territory, but she wasn¡¯t adapted to Amber¡¯s mouth. She didn¡¯t know how to continue this topic. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know what to say¡­¡± ¡°Tsk. Boring.¡± Amber looked with contempt at the Runemaster who couldn¡¯t even be a supporting character before she turned to look at Gawain. ¡°Old dumpling, are you not going to leave yet? It is interesting to bicker with your granddaughter¡­¡± Amber¡¯s words had sessfully diverted Gawain and Reba¡¯s attention, while thetter stopped protesting¡­ In the end, after Reba¡¯s constant pestering, Gawain still brought this overly curious and foolish girl with him. Along with Reba, the trio headed to the Alchemy Factory that was located at the borders of the town. Even with the ¡°ck technology¡±-ss construction techniques, the Alchemy Factory was far frompletion. Right now, there was only the No. 1 Workshop and its rted warehouse. Inside the No. 1 Workshop, there was only one reaction-vessel set that waspletely assembled. In Gawain¡¯s conception, this ce would need at least three workshops and twelve reaction vessels to fulfill the production of basic medicine alchemy ¡ª like catalyzers for nts to be used in agriculture, soil improvement serums, weed control serums, druidic medicine for human use, inferior magic medicine, and various types of medication for illnesses. There were over a dozen types of fundamental medicines. For traditional alchemists, these medicinal potions were all refined in small alchemybs and were done with a small alchemy table and a few reaction control bottles. However, such an operation obviously wasn¡¯t suited for the factory. The reaction vessels in the factory would be operated continuously; be it the addition of materials or of finished-product output, they would be constantly produced in batches. Apart from a few rare situations, each medicinal potion would have a specialized reaction vessel. As such, by referring to the properties of the fundamental medicinal fluids, Pittman had sorted them into 12 ¡°production lines¡± and three different workshops. The different workshops isted and formed different sections to ensure that the produced medicinal fluids wouldn¡¯t be mixed together and cause idents. In fact, if it was ording to Gawain¡¯s request, the medicine for ordinary people, medicine for Beyonders, and medicine for agriculture wouldn¡¯t have been produced in the same factory. However, due to the restricted conditions of the territory, the costs to open three Alchemy Factories at the same time would be terrifyingly expensive. Furthermore, the Druid medicines had different characteristicspared to the ¡°agricultural chemicals¡± that Gawain knew of. The fundamental medicinal fluids that were scheduled for production didn¡¯t have too much of a contamination risk; therefore, Pittman was permitted to put the three workshops in the same factory. However, he had also made a special request to Pittman. In the future, if they had to produce a higher grade of medicinal fluid that had a better effect and fewer harmful side effects, they would do apletely isted production process. There must not be any possibility of cross-contamination from the raw material to the half-finished product to the finished product. The tall and big reaction vessel stood in the middle of the spacious production workshop. Pittman and the apprentices that he had trained, along with the ordinary workers, were busy working on the brand new instation. This was an apparatus that was unprecedented, and it was unlike any alchemy setup in this world. It was also unlike any of the magic-conducting machinery that had been developed in the territory. Of course, it was also unlike any chemical industry equipment in Gawain¡¯s otherworld memories. At the center was a two-meter tall vertical metal vessel, and there were several bending pipes that connected the metal vessel together with a few smaller reaction vessels, forming a star-shaped atomic structure. The pipes weren¡¯t just for the distribution of materials and gases, they were also a part of the magic circle. At the connecting parts between the ¡°piping magic circle¡± and the reaction vessels, there were glittering Druid theurgy runes and all sorts of magic runes reflecting off each other. On a portion of the reaction vessel¡¯s surface, there were magic circles of various sizes that were glowing faintly. On the ¡°foundation¡± of the entire equipment, there was a cement tform that was a few centimeters higher than the surface of the ground. On the surface of it was a crucial detail: the Inversion Circle. It was able to extract the magic from the underground magic web and transmute it into a ¡°natural divine energy¡± that could be used by the Druid¡¯s theurgy circles. Through this miraculous transmutation process, the humans had control of the power that once belonged to gods. Chapter 213 - What Can the Cecil Territory Sell Chapter 213: What Can the Cecil Territory Sell The workers and alchemy apprentices were doing the final inspection and test on the reaction vessels. They checked the sealing of every section of connecting pipes and tested the operation of every set of runes; this was to ensure that no fatal idents would ur after this set of reaction vessels of a scalerger than any conventional alchemy tform went into official operation. And its most important part ¡ª the central reactor ¡ª was personally inspected by Pittman. As the part in the entire system that had to bear the greatest pressure, this ugly metal vessel could be said to be the fruit of the current Cecil territory¡¯s state-of-the-art technology. It was personally molded into form by Nichs Egg; its interior carved with elemental runes for resistance against corrosion, high temperatures, and high pressures. At the same time, under Gawain¡¯s guidance, Nichs Egg even designed the world¡¯s first pressure gauge that was based on mechanical structure ¡ª¡ª it used a section of stic metal pipe as the sensing element and relied on gears and connecting rods to drive the indicator to disy the measurement. Although its uracy wasn¡¯t high, it was eptable. In Gawain¡¯s opinion, the theory of the pressure gauge wasn¡¯tplicated. It couldpletely be achieved given the current mechanical operation technology of the Cecil territory. The difficulty was with the standardization of the pressure scale. Fortunately, this world with intriguing physics at least had a reasonable ¡°atmospheric pressure¡±. Gawain and the metal-ball alien spent a long time on it before they managed to get a standard value of the local atmosphere and worked out a series of barometric pressure and pressure standards using that as the benchmark. Then, they carved the rtive barometric pressure scale on the dial of the pressure gauge. ¡ª¡ªIn the situation where all kinds of standards did not exist in this world, Gawainfortably became the regtor of a series of parameters and nned to apply these parameters that he¡¯d drafted in every field that they developed into henceforth. And other than an advanced measuring unit, precise connection of pipes, as well as strong tanks, this set of equipment was also unique in that it no longer used an open me to be the source of heat to heat up liquid medicine. Instead, the fire elemental rune carved at the bottom of the reaction vessels was used for direct heating ¡ª¡ª the majority of Druid potions did not require temperatures as high as that for forging metals. The fire elemental rune couldpletely fulfill the role of heating up the vessels, andpared to the open me units on the alchemy tform, the heat of these elemental runes was even stabler and easier to control. Atst, the final checks werepleted. Pittman left the inspection area of the reaction vessels, while an alchemy and herbology apprentice who looked to be only 20 years old went forward ¡ª¡ª selected by Pittman, he was the person-in-charge of the alchemy factory. It could be seen that this young man was a little nervous, but he still activated the various parts of the reaction vessels ording to the most proper procedures. As the materials prepared in advance were added into the feeding hole, the magical runes everywhere on this set of rge-scale alchemical equipment¡± began to gradually get charged. Gawain could sense the flow of magical power. Under the effect of the inversion circle, primitive magical power of nature activated those ancient theurgy runes. Everything automatically started operating just like that. Unlike the start of the first Magic Powered Engine, the reaction vessel before their eyes wouldn¡¯t create too much noise even in its full power condition. Despite having operating machinery such as agitators and pumps around it, the primary Magic Powered Engine was no longer so rmingly loud after multiple optimizations. The mechanisms used in this set of reaction vessels were also ¡°small machinery¡± with less noise. It could be said to be rather ¡°quiet¡± when it was working. As for therge container right in the middle, it was even quieter: there were no machinery parts in it. Reba looked at the group of metallurgists and workers busying themselves amongst those containers; there were even looks of nervousness and excitement on each of their faces. She was slightly disappointed. ¡°Ah¡­ I¡¯d thought the stir during the activation of the new machine would be greater¡­¡± ¡°If this thing was loud, it wouldn¡¯t be far from an explosion too.¡± Gawain nced at Iron-Headed Girl and then looked towards Pittman, nodding lightly. ¡°Congrattions, your inversion circle and theurgy circle operated perfectly.¡± The wrinkles on Pittman¡¯s face were like blooming flowers. This little old man, who sold ointments and did fortune-telling as his avocations when he was idle, now wore a sincere smile. ¡°Yes, yes¡­ the route was correct, the route was correct¡­¡± Amber looked at the heap ofplex metal pipes and reaction vessels in surprise. She could not help but ask, ¡°Such a huge set of things¡­ How many potions would be produced every day? Speak, old man, what is this set of vessels used to manufacture?¡± Pittman was clearly in a great mood right now; he even didn¡¯t pursue the problem of Amber directly addressing him as ¡°old man¡±. He stroked his beard with pride shown all over his face. ¡°Number One reaction vessel is producing the Druids¡¯ signature ¡®rejuvenation potion¡¯, which is a healing agent. Since farm work is suspended in winter, there¡¯s no need for any agricultural potions for the time being. But there are many construction projects in winter, so there is a considerable number of injuries every day. These potions can be put to use just in time. As for the output¡­ with the supply of raw materials from the Kant territory, in the situation where there is nock of raw materials, the number of potions that this thing produces every day is enough for the territory¡¯s consumption for a week. This is still a conservative estimate¡­¡± Amber¡¯s eyes were wide. ¡°Producing a week¡¯s usage per day?! Then, won¡¯t you be filling up all of the territory¡¯s warehouses before long?! What¡¯s the use of such a big output?¡± Gawain nced at this half-elf with a smile. ¡°To sell.¡± ¡°Sell¡­¡± This evidently hadn¡¯t crossed Amber¡¯s mind earlier ¡ª¡ª not that her thinking was limited, but because the Cecil territory had always been in a state of pioneering and construction. Basically, any resource wascking here; there were always only purchases, and this was an unprecedented first that there was a surplus of output that would be sold outside. Her brain felt a little numb, even her questioning was instinctive. ¡°Sell to who?¡± ¡°The first market that¡¯s been decided at present is the Kant territory,¡± Gawain casually replied. Amber had just nodded when it promptly struck her. ¡°Wait a minute! Aren¡¯t the raw materials for these potions purchased from the Kant territory?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then you *chomp*chomp* chop and mix them up, then throw them into the container to cook for a bit, and sell it back to the Kant territory ording to the price of alchemy potions?¡± ¡°¡­That is the procedure indeed.¡± ¡°Damn! That could actually be done?!¡± Amber was stunned, and as a bandit with strange and crooked values, even she felt immense difort at this moment. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you were going to manage and build up the Kant territory like your own territory and even treat the Kant people like the people of Cecil territory¡­ Say it, are you regretting leaving the inheritance that Viscount Kant left to you back then in the castle there? Even so, you don¡¯t have to use such a mean trick. ¡ª¡ªLeave it to me. I just have to go marketing twice at that side, and I¡¯ll have everything transported back here for you¡­¡± ¡°This is much meaner than what I¡¯m doing, alright?!¡± Gawain red at Amber and then exined with a shake of his head. ¡°I do not intend on defrauding my future people ¡ª¡ª transporting the potions to the Kant territory is because that is the biggest medicinal materials distribution center in the southern borders. Other than medicinal herbs, there have always been alchemical potion businesses there. Mr. Patrick, who is in charge of running the Kant territory¡¯s general affairs, was the consultant for Viscount Kant in the past and also the contact for the chamber ofmerce. He has channels and is able to help us sell our surplus of potions. I n on getting him to be the ¡®agent¡¯ for the Cecil alchemical potions and sell potions on split dividends with me. This way, the Cecil territory stands to earn significantly, and the Kant territory gets a share of profit too. It¡¯s a win-win situation.¡± ¡°¡­It¡¯s actually the kind of thing where everyone stands to benefit again.¡± Amber batted her eyes. ¡°But¡­ this is a huge gain. Would there be nobody¡­ losing out?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°Of course, someone would lose out ¡ª¡ª all the third-party potion merchants, Apothecaries, Druids, and Alchemists on the Kant territory¡¯s trade route. They will certainly be impacted.¡± Amber¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Then¡­¡± ¡°I will put out recruitment information at an appropriate time. ¡ª¡ª Then the problem ofck of alchemy talents at the territory can be resolved. With some training, those people would be a great help in the alchemy factory.¡± This time, Amber was only left with a helpless stare and no more words to say ¡ª¡ª she was more or less able to keep up with Gawain¡¯s steps for the first few maniptions, but for thisst one, she could only stare, at a loss of what to say. After a good while, she then realized one thing from the bottom of her heart: When a cunning ancient esteemed spirit resurrected and intended to cause some trouble, those so-called conspiracies and plots that those haughty hoodlums usually bragged about would be absolutely unworthy of mentioning. ¡°With such arge amount of alchemy potions entering the markets, even if they¡¯re the most-ordinary rejuvenation potion, it would be enough to cause a massive impact on the market.¡± Pittman stroked his beard with a subtle smile. ¡°Even if it was merely this one set of reaction vessels, its output from producing round the clock would be enough to overtake the total output of all alchemists from the Cecil, Kant, and Leslie territories, and even the Carol territory further north. Lord, I think I finally understand what you meant when you said that ¡®mass production would be the first step to destroying the old order¡¯ back then. But have you thought about it? Once such arge number of potions with the Cecilbel enters the market, we certainly will incur the curiosity and attention from all parties¡­¡± ¡°Yes, they will be curious and attentive, but that requires reaction time. Besides, for a mere alchemy potion, the attention it attracts would be rather limited. This bit of curiosity and attention is nothing to me. Perhaps there would instead be an advantage.¡± Gawain said with a smile. ¡°Compared to alchemy potions, I¡¯m afraid what I willunch next will incur a much greater shock¡­¡± Amber looked at Gawain curiously. ¡°What else do you n on selling?¡± Gawain patted Amber¡¯s head. ¡°I n on selling some things to Tanzan Town, but the concrete details have yet to be fixed. You will know when the timees.¡± Amber blinked. But this time, even when Reba and she went forward together and pursued the subject, Gawain would not give any more details. Hence, the two girls could only shut their mouths with their bellies full of curiosity. Gawain stood under Number One reaction vessel and lifted his head to gaze at this ¡°chemical nt¡± that was a blend of all kinds of state-of-the-art technology in the current Cecil territory. He looked at those magical runes that quietly lit up and extinguished and listened to noises of various kinds of supporting machinery or magic circles that inserted liquid into the containers, provided sources of heat, or released theurgies. A smile slowly appeared on his face. If the route was correct, then everything would be much easier to handle. Chapter 214 - Extreme North and Extreme South Chapter 214: Extreme North and Extreme South In the northern region of the Anzu Kingdom, frost and snow had already covered the ground. This mountainous region was the Anzu Kingdom¡¯s coldest ce. The northerners with rugged folk customs took root amongst the lofty mountains and high ranges, guarding the northern gates of the kingdom, and, in seven hundred years, worked hard to maintain a delicate bnce with those difficult neighbors even further north. Whether it was the Violet Kingdom in the northwest direction or the Sacred Dragon Kingdom in the northeast direction, they were never countries that were easy to deal with. But in this disconcerting winter, new shadows surfaced from the frost. In the eyes of Duchess Victoria Wilder, these new threats were even more worrying than those unpredictable northern neighbors ¡ª¡ªbecause this threat had emerged within the kingdom. ¡°Ice Duchess¡± Victoria Wilder stood on the tall balcony of the Bitter Winter Castle, looking down at the city beneath. The snow that had begun falling before winter set in only stoppedst night; the city was a sea of silvery-white everywhere. The north¡¯s typical spire buildings could effectively reduce the umtion of snow cover; those ck spires pierced through the snowy white clothing in the winter sun, standing on the in below the castle, like ck pines on a vast snownd. At one nce, they towered in great numbers. In most ces within the kingdom, the arrival of the winter sun signified the halt of production; people hid in their houses, shivering as they waited for the days to pass. However, in this northern region that was the coldest, the situation differed instead. The people here had already adapted to the cold, and for the sake of survival, they had to get used to the lengthy frigid winter that took up half a year. Even on this day where the heavy snow had just stopped, countless moving crowds could be seen in the city ¡ª¡ª they had to, as far as possible, clear up the umted snow before the next round of snowfall destroyed the city¡¯s buildings, open up paths, and while at it, drag the bodies of the homeless who¡¯d frozen to death in the drains outside the city. And that central square that was directly facing the castle had the most crowds gathered¡ª¡ª The umted snow on the square had been cleared away. The people that gathered there had done so to watch the burning of the heretic cult believers. Those figures cloaked in ck robes were tied onto the tall wooden posts one after another. Heavy ck steel chains and rune shackles bound their bodies and magical power at the same time, but their appearances that were distorted and terrifying due to the practice of sorcery still sent chills down spines. The watching crowd had already closed in on the square. Soldiers separated these people and the heretic cult believers, gleaming swords stopping these overly agitated residents from further approaching those dangerous sphemers. And during this process, firewood was piled on, and melted animal fat had also been sshed on. ¡°Burn them to death!¡± There was someone amongst the watching residents who finally couldn¡¯t hold back and hollered loudly. This single roar garnered a hundred responses. ¡°Burn them to death!¡± ¡°They killed my child!¡± ¡°Burn these heretics to death!¡± A high priest from the Church of Holy Light walked towards the fire execution tform. He took the holy emblem from a believer at the same time and turned around to face the enraged people. ¡°The God of Holy Light exposed the conspiracies of these heretic cult believers. Before more people were harmed, The Lord guided us to destroy their of these heretic ouws!¡± The high priest raised the holy emblem up high. He turned around and used the emblem to spark a powerful radiance, igniting the mmable oil and firewood, while shouting loudly, ¡°Praise the Holy Light! Praise our Lord!!¡± Under the effect of the Holy Light and oil, the execution tform was instantly enveloped in golden-white raging mes. The heretic cult believers tied to the posts twisted around like wax in the mes, letting out all sorts of indescribable howls. A sound resembling the calls of the mountains and snarls of the seas rang out in the square. ¡°Praise the Holy Light!¡± ¡°Praise the God of Holy Light!¡± zing mes charged towards the sky, and the howls of those heretic cult believers amidst the fire did not cease for a long time: even until the mes had engulfed their bodies, their growls continued toe from it. The surrounding people finally realized that something wasn¡¯t right. They watched that abnormal fire with fear and listened to the abnormal roars, and those cries finally became anguage that humans could understand. The remaining spiritual power of a dozen heretic cult believers pulsed in the air, letting out a terrifying shriek. ¡°Laugh to your heart¡¯s content! Cry to your heart¡¯s content! Everyone will die! All of you will die like livestock, will die like insects! ! When they return, they will eat your flesh clean and drain your blood! !¡± The mes abruptly became a ck color at this moment; the mes of a dozen fires merged together in the air. A ball of indescribable dark purple rose from the mes, expanding as if it wanted to devour every person present. Even the priest who was just loudly praising the Holy Light in front of the execution stage earlier had been stunned. But just as this terrifying anomaly was about to befall them, a piercing ray of white light shot onto the square from the balcony of the Bitter Winter Castle. Under the impact of the ¡°Bitter Winter Whip¡±, that ball of ineffable dark purple was frozen instantly. Then, it shattered with a bang due to theck of support of a subsequent energy. Large pieces of ice-crystal dust fell from the sky, as if another blizzard had fallen and recovered a good half of the public square again. Both the agitated crowd and the Holy Light priest who had been hailing loudly a moment earlier wentpletely quiet. And in the silent air of the public square, the cold voice of Duchess Victoria Wilder sounded, ¡°Clean things up ¡ª¡ªthen praise Anzu and our founding king.¡± The powerful magic gradually dissipated in the balcony. Victoria waved her hand, getting the magic book that floated midair to return to her side, then turned, and left the balcony. The balcony doors mounted with man-made crystals automatically closed behind her, blocking out the soundsing from the public square. This duchess returned to the warm lounge hall, a rare hint of exhaustion showing on her face. A ck-haired maidservant walked forward. She dismissed the other servants with a wave of her hand, then ced her hands near Victoria¡¯s temples, and massaged lightly. ¡°You rarely show such an expression ¡ª¡ª thest time was after you saw Duke Gawain Cecil return.¡± ¡°It¡¯s still rted to him this time. If it wasn¡¯t for the warning that the pioneering hero sent from the extreme southern borders, we might have only realized the extent of the corrosion after those heretic cult believers caused even greater damage.¡± Victoria sighed. ¡°This is already the fourth heretic hide-out that was destroyed ever since winter set in ¡ª¡ª the previous three were the Oblivion Association. This time it¡¯s the Eternal Sleepers. Even if the Sons of the Storm counter-attacked from the sea and made aeback, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised.¡± ¡°It is said that there are, instead, very few heretic forces in the southern borders. They only made an appearance for a total of two times but were discovered and snuffed out by that Duke both times¡­¡± Victoria waved her hand lightly, and the ck-haired maidservant, Maggie, immediately stopped what her hands were doing. ¡°We¡¯ve beenfortable for too long. The entire kingdom has beenfortable for too long.¡± Victoria stood up from the sofa and quietly gazed at the portraits of the pioneer heroes hung on the wall across. Gawain Cecil¡¯s portrait had been taken down, but she still watched that nk space beside the founding king, Charlie. ¡°From the king to the local aristocrats, everyone severelycks vignce, but the Duke Cecil from seven hundred years had lived through the kingdom¡¯s most precarious era. He is more vignt than all of us. ¡ª¡ª What¡¯sughable is that the bunch of ipetents in the capital had, at the start, treated all warnings about the heretic cult believers that the pioneer Duke sent as oversensitivity ¡ª as the fuss of an ancient person in modern society¡­ Hmph, now they¡¯re flustered.¡± The ck-haired maidservant stood quietly behind Victoria and did not express any opinion; the Duchess was clearly used to this. She paused for a moment and asked, ¡°Is there progress with what I told you to investigate?¡± The ck-haired maidservant bowed her head. ¡°Yes, the priests of the Church of Holy Light have been active more often than usual recently. And new missionary teams have appeared everywhere, but all their movements are very reasonable ¡ª¡ª they are resisting heretic cult believers, searching for and eliminating the hideouts of heretics. The missionaries are also publicizing in all ces how to identify heretic cult believers and ways to protect oneself from sorcery. The power of the Holy Light indeed has a natural advantage in this aspect. Other than these, there is nothing more that they are doing, no conflicts with other sects or vying for religious resources. The more, there isn¡¯t friction created with the feudal lords of the various territories.¡± Victoria frowned. ¡°Is that so¡­?¡± The ck-haired maidservant asked curiously. ¡°Duchess, are you suspecting that there is something wrong with those priests of the Holy Light?¡± ¡°No¡­ I¡¯m just a little bothered by their recent movements. They became active all of a sudden.¡± Victoria shook her head. ¡°But it¡¯s probably my misconception. After all, the heretic cult believers are suddenly causing a disturbance everywhere, and only the Sect of the God of War and the Church of Holy Light can directly destroy those heretics. Between the two, using the theurgy of the Holy Light to counter sorcery has the best effect,¡± Victoria said indifferently. ¡°We have no reason to interfere in their activities within legal scope. ¡ª¡ª Continue to pay more attention. If they really have any inordinate ambitions, they are bound to let the cat out of the bag.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡­¡­ After winter set in, the cirction of information also became difficult and slow, following the reduction of traveling merchants. In this era where cutting-edge technology was rare and the general society still maintained a primitive and backward lifestyle, the passing of information was an awkward and inefficient matter. Although there were magic spells and devices, such as themunication spell and the Mithril Ring, as the people who held thesemunication technologies were very few and did not have an effective avenue for sharing information, these technologies could not allow people to timely andprehensively understand what was happening in a distant ce. To the majority of residents and even aristocrats, the main way of passing on information was still through the traveling merchants, as well asmissioners who delivered letters. And to the new Cecil territory that was remote and not attractive to traveling merchants, the situation of slow delivery of information was an even more apparent problem. Within the territory, Gawain built a simple messenger team. In addition, the main poption gathering areas were only the city, the logging vige in the west, the mine vige in the east (it was soon developing into a small town). Hence, the internal delivery of information still wasn¡¯t a problem, but if they wanted to connect with the outside world, there was no way of building their own channel, given the territory¡¯s current manpower and resources. They could only rely on the extremely limited traveling merchants, whoe over from Tanzan Town to purchase grains, cloth, or ves, and the expatriates specially sent to the Kant territory and Leslie territory to gather information. Therefore, by the time Gawain had learned that traces of the heretic cult believers¡¯ movements were found in various areas within the kingdom, it¡¯d been a month after he sent a warning to the capital. This was still the oue with the help of Andrew Leslie¡¯s information channel ¡ª¡ª if not for the speedy gryphon messengers, it would have taken more than a month for a peddler to walk to and from the capital and the southern borders to deliver news. Looking at the intelligence before him, Gawain¡¯s brows knitted tightly. But Amber was unaware of what was written in this letter that hade from Tanzan Town in the early morning. She idly carved a block of wood with a dagger at the side. Lifting her head and seeing Gawain¡¯s expression, she casually asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? The price of rice went up?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s the heretic cult believers.¡± Amber instantly leaped up from her chair. ¡°We¡¯re fighting heretic cult believers again?! Ah, is it toote to say that my stomach hurts now?¡± ¡°Not our ce here.¡± Gawain nced at Amber. ¡°It¡¯s that, outside of the southern borders, heretic cult believers have appeared all over in the kingdom.¡± Amber was assured upon hearing this. She sat back with her head bowed and continued carving her wood. ¡°Oh, so long as it doesn¡¯t get in our way.¡± Gawain looked resignedly at this disgrace of the elves but was unable to be as rxed as she was in his heart. The situation was really just as he¡¯d expected in the first ce ¡ª¡ª the heretic cult believers had infiltrated into all aspects of the kingdom. Not only did the border feudal lords find traces of their activities in their territories, there were also signs of them causing trouble near the capital or in the ins of the Holy Spirits. Large numbers of heretic hideouts had been found and uprooted, but for most of them, clues were lost promptly after some traces had been found. Either that, or it was already toote when they were found. The heretic cult believers had longpleted their heretic sacrifice; what the local aristocrats found were merely the bloody scenes after the ceremony. Other than these disconcerting intelligence, another matter simrly had Gawain feeling urgent and¡­ constrained. All the intelligence was severelyte. The news from the capital was from a month ago, and there was still no way of getting started with the situation in the northern region even now. He needed to build an information channel of his own, to be grasped in his own hand, and it had to be more efficient and rational than the various information channels of this era. There was no spell mold that could analyze themunication spell for now; the attempt at electromaicmunications had also failed. Technologically, it was impossible to achieve the ¡°modernmunicationwork¡± that Gawain envisaged anytime soon. But even without avenues of cheap and immediatemunications, he could firste up with a framework for it. Those potions in the alchemy factory allowed him toe up with a way. Chapter 215 - Industrial Products Chapter 215: Industrial Products Under the support of ample manpower and resources, the alchemy factory located at the edge of the city was finallypleted. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Gawain even agreed to allow Reba to throw severalrge fireballs towards the sky from a safe distance to liven things up. The magic mes that exploded high in the air were both for the purpose of celebrating and also conveying information to the residents. Soon, the people on thisnd would know that their survival had been further guaranteed ¡ª¡ª there was nock of food, nock of clothing, nock of firewood for warmth, and now, they would have nock of medicine too. The majority could notprehend the theory behind the innovation of the ¡°Alchemy Factory¡±, nor would they understand what those metal pipes and containers transported into the factory had to do with alchemy. However, the notices at the town¡¯s central public square could tell them tly that with this new facility, there would no longer be a shortage for all the healing medication or Druid potions required for agriculture. The newly opened alchemy store on Trade Street would be selling all kinds of medication, and the prices would be so low that even the poorest person would be able to afford them. This was undoubtedly exceptionally exhrating news for everyone. And in the workshop of the alchemy factory, Gawain was inspecting the first batch of rejuvenation potions produced. These potions were packaged in man-made crystal bottles about the size of a finger, neatly ced in rows in a wooden box with many cells, and softwood fillings were put in around the bottles so as to prevent collision and damage during transportation. And following Gawain¡¯s requests, apart from being neatly packaged, these alchemy potions also had the relevant bels¡± stuck on them ¡ª¡ª every crystal bottle wasbeled with a small note. The potion¡¯s name, effect, production date, and expiry date were written on it, and it was stamped with the Cecil territory¡¯s emblem. Such uniformly madebels were truly novel to many people, especially the ¡°period of validity¡± stated on it. This was because traditional alchemy potions rarely took into ount the problems of ¡°expiration¡± ¡ª¡ª alchemy potions were handmade and concocted by Beyonders, so the output was extremely limited and forever in the state of supply falling short of demand. Their users were usually big and small aristocrat ns or Beyonders who needed to go onto the battlefield. The former naturally had attendants or magic consultants responsible for managing the potions in their vault (the aristocrats, therefore, did not need to worry about the problem of expiration), while the potions in thetter¡¯s hands often did notst till the expiry date arrived. Hence, those traditional alchemists would, at the most,bel their name on the bottle after producing the potions, and the period of validity¡­ would be left to the ¡°consumers¡± to be concerned with. However, the products manufactured from a factory certainly couldn¡¯t have the same standard of care¡­ orck of it. Gawain had to instill standardized thoughts for the people in the territory from the very beginning. Right now, everything was in the foundational stage; the contents on thisbel were naturally very simple. But despite so, the neat and uniformbeling of the mass-produced potions and the pleasant packaging method still left a deep impression on the people present. Reba looked at the potions ced orderly on the table with wide eyes. She couldn¡¯t help but scratch her hair. ¡°How odd¡­ Looking at these bottles being arranged neatly together makes me feel some kind of pleasure¡­¡± ¡°That is your obsessivepulsive disorder being satisfied,¡± Amber, who stood at the side, exined, looking like she was really knowledgeable. Then she quickly pointed to Gawain. ¡°I didn¡¯t say you¡¯re ill. Those words were said by your ancestor.¡± ¡°This is my first time seeing precious alchemy potions being ced together inrge numbers¡­ using such a method,¡± Heidi also sighed rather emotionally. ¡°It suddenly feels as if they¡¯re worthless now.¡± ¡°In actuality,pared to ordinary alchemy potions, they are indeed ¡®worthless¡¯ now, Madam,¡± Pittman stood beside the table and said with a proud look. ¡°Originally, the greatest cost for alchemy potions was the spellcaster, but now, the reaction vessels and its set of magical equipment have reced the spellcaster. Moreover, the amount of potion that this big fellow can produce when operating just once is something that several sks and test tubes on a small alchemy tform cannotpare to. In fact, the part that is worth the most in these potions before you isn¡¯t the liquid inside at all but something that I don¡¯t think you can ever guess.¡± ¡°The part that is worth the most?¡± Reba batted her eyes. ¡°If the potion itself is ¡®worthless¡¯, then what is considered costly?¡± ¡°The bottle.¡± Pittman spread his hands. ¡°The cost price of these crystal bottles are even higher than the liquid in it. If a bottle of potion is sold for 30 copper coins, at least 15 copper coins are for buying the bottle.¡± Amber was taken aback. ¡°The bottles are so expensive?!¡± ¡°The bottles did not be expensive. Only the production cost of the potions became too low.¡± Reba had alreadye to a realization. She looked towards Gawain thoughtfully. ¡°Lord Ancestor, I remember you mentioning previously that a type of man-made crystal called ¡®ss¡¯ would be cheaper than all present man-made crystals¡­¡± Gawain coughed awkwardly. ¡°Cough, cough. ss¡­ Don¡¯t think about it for the time being. I have not found a substitute raw material for its production.¡± It was said that the three treasures of transmigrators were papermaking, ss, and ck powder (gunpowder). But Gawain didn¡¯t produce any of these three at all ¡ª¡ª papermaking technology already existed in this world. Although there was a definite room for improvement, it was already a mature technique; there was no way for him to ¡°invent¡± it again. Whereas, ck powder was a project that failed during the early stages of the territory¡¯s construction. As for ss¡­ The unique technology of ¡°man-made crystals¡± existed in this world. ording to Gawain¡¯s assessment, the most ordinary ¡°white crystal¡± amongst the man-made crystals was actually the ¡°ss¡± that could be made in this world. The main materials of such man-made crystals were quartz sand and colorless crystal rock, and these two¡­ were both magical materials. Quartz sand was still alright; it was considered one of the cheapest magical materials. But colorless crystal rock¡­ Although it couldn¡¯t be said to be expensive, it was definitely more valuable than sand. Before a substitute could be found, crystal rock would be the highest cost in producing man-made crystals. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s not that bad. The smaller the size of the man-made crystal containers, the easier they are to manufacture. Moreover, the alchemy potion bottles used are the cheapest crystal bottles. It is already very cheap,¡± Pittman exined. ¡°We already have an inconceivable advantage on the cost of alchemy potions. The bottles being slightly more expensive¡­ doesn¡¯t affect that much.¡± Heidi nodded. ¡°That makes sense too. But I¡¯m a little worried. These alchemy potions made using these metal containers and magic circles¡­ Can their effect really be as good as potions personally concocted by Druids, Alchemists, or Mages?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about this at all.¡± Pittman immediately smiled proudly upon hearing her. ¡°In fact, in my opinion, the potions produced in the alchemy factory would, instead, be even more reliable than those made on traditional alchemy tforms ¡ª¡ª these reaction vessels and magic circles have all been adjusted with great uracy. So long as there is no problem with the initial equipment and raw materials and the reaction vessels do not malfunction, whether they are producing one bottle or ten thousand bottles of potions, it can be guaranteed that there wouldn¡¯t be the slightest difference between each bottle of potion. However, there is the distinction of varying skill standards for traditional alchemists. Even the most brilliant alchemist would screw up sometimes. This is actually how many of the so-called poisonous side effects of alchemy potions came about. ¡ª¡ª I would not rule out the possibility that outstanding alchemists could concoct potions that had better effects than the factory-made ones with optimal conditions. But can you imagine, while they¡¯ve produced one bottle of good potion, how many defective ones had flown out of their workshop? And in the meanwhile, how many up-to-standard potions would our factory have produced?¡± Pittman¡¯s face was glowing after his speech; even his beard had been blown till it curled up. Amber instantly couldn¡¯t hold back her murmurs when she saw this. ¡°That smug manner¡­ The old pervert is sounding increasingly like Old Dumpling in his speech these days¡­¡± Instantly, everyone at the scene who wasn¡¯t deaf looked towards her. Several voices questioned unanimously. ¡°What are you saying?¡± Amber¡¯s pointy ears jolted and went tense as she leaped two to three meters out. ¡°Are you people elves, or am I the elf? Why are all your ears so sharp?!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll focus on watching this mouth of yours. Whenever you open your mouth, I will give you forcedbor immediately.¡± Gawain Cecil red at this half-elf who was full of nonsense and then looked at Heidi. ¡°We will prioritize supplying these potions within the territory. In addition, on the military side, distribute the potions to every soldier, and ensure that every soldier, in any situation, has reserves of three rejuvenation potions and three healing mixtures. Do the calctions. After fulfilling these demands, keep another fifty percent of the medicines in storage and package the rest. They would be the Cecil territory¡¯s first signature product.¡± Heidi sighed from the bottom of her heart. ¡°Solely based on this, I think the Cecil territory¡¯s Combat Corps is already the most extravagant military in this world.¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°They already were ever since we distributed enchanted equipment to every one of them.¡± Just then, the door of the workshop was suddenly opened. An apprentice strode in quickly. He stood before Gawain andpany, bowed, and reported, ¡°Lords, the carriage from the Kant territory has already crossed the bridge.¡± ¡°It seems like Mr. Patrick has arrived.¡± Gawain turned around and tapped the packing case of the alchemy potions. ¡°Package this batch of samples up first, and send it to the feudal lord residence. I want to personally have a nice chat with this mister who Sir Philip spoke so highly of.¡± ¡­¡­ And during the moment the Cecil territory¡¯s alchemy-potions trade route was kickstarted on this historic day, within the Typhon Empire¡¯s borders, in an obscure concealed temple, a special assembly was being held. The hidden temple was shrouded in an imposing atmosphere. A circle of chairs had been set up in the center of the circr hall. Those chairs were carved with patterns representing dreams and shut eyes. Part of the chairs squirmed slightly in the darkness like living creatures, whilerge numbers of nerve cords extended from the ground and holes in the walls, connecting with the living part of those chairs. A dozen people dressed in either white or ck robes stood around the chairs. They wore strange smooth masks on their faces that made it impossible for any person¡¯s identity to be perceived from their appearances; neither could any changes in expression be seen. One of the figures in a white robe stepped forward. After examining her surroundings, a low voice of indiscernible gender came from under the mask. ¡°Very good, everyone is here. Then, 22, you shall preside over the ritual this time.¡± The people in white and ck robes each took their ces before their chairs, and one of the people in ck robes lifted his hand. ¡°Then, we¡¯ll begin the 17th ¡®deep diving test¡¯, attempting to crack the memory fragments that dissipated from Gawain Cecil. Nightmare Bishops, send a signal to your ¡®subordinate node cluster¡¯. One minuteter, the connection will begin. ¡°Everyone, safety first.¡± Chapter 216 - Business Plans Chapter 216: Business ns The plump Patrick Pom sat rather awkwardly and restlessly in the parlor of the Cecil feudal lord¡¯s ¡°castle¡±. He adjusted his tie for the third time. He wasn¡¯t someone who was green and inexperienced, but it would be difficult ¡ª even for people who¡¯d had the most experiences in this world ¡ª to get the opportunity for a private talk with a pioneering hero. He knew that the situation this time waspletely different from that talk in the Kant territory previously. Thest time, he¡¯d epted Duke Cecil¡¯s appointment as a representative of the Kant territory, and this time, Duke Cecil had gotten him toe over from the Kant territory for a private, face-to-face conversation. The pressure resulting from these two kinds of talks was entirely different. And at the same time, Patrick was also curiously surveying this ce that was iparably novel in his eyes. This residence was Duke Cecil¡¯s ¡°castle¡±, but its style and profile werepletely different from the aristocratic forts in the masses¡¯ impression. Instead of calling it a castle, it was closer to the construction style of ¡°vacation manors¡± that had recently sprung up amongst some aristocrats in the central region. It probably wasn¡¯t as sturdy as a castle, but the environment inside was surprisinglyfortable: broad casement windows, a bright parlor, and warm corridors and rooms. Moreover, the humid and rotten smell often present in castles couldn¡¯t be detected in the air at all. This was something truly astonishing. The majority of the walls here had been painted a spotless white with bright magic crystalmps illuminating every corner of this building like they were free ¡ª¡ª in fact, it wasn¡¯t solely inside this castle; ever since entering the Cecil territory, the number of magic crystalmps that Patrick had seen had even exceeded the total number of magic crystalmps he had ever seen in the earlier half of his life. The heavens would know how this pioneer territory that was just constructed managed to achieve this ¡ª¡ª in just a few months, orderly rows of brick houses had been erected; broad and straight streets were built; piers, sawmills, and logging sheds were all avable. And amongst all of these, the most striking thing was the magic crystalmps that were lit up once it was almost dusk. They¡¯d actually been installed in rows by the two sides of the roads and in front of the doors of the residential houses ¡ª not used to illuminate the feudal lord¡¯s residence, but illuminated ces where themon people resided. Originally, Patrick had felt that the Kant territory allowing half of its residents to light up oilmps at nightfall was already a remarkable, magnificent feat, but after seeing the Cecil territory that was brightly lit in the night, he actually felt the town he was familiar with instantly be gloomy and dim inparison. How wealthy was the Cecil territory? Had they employed tens to hundreds of official Mages to specially charge themps in front of themon people¡¯s doors? Besides, what was with this unbelievable construction speed of theirs? What was with the construction projects that still did not stop in winter? And what was up with those residents who moved freely in the territory, chatted loudly, and did not tremble in fear when they saw soldiers on patrol? What were those huge buildings called factories that emitted loud noises? It was as if countless mysteries cloaked this territory, but Patrick did not dare to pursue further. He knew the owner of thisnd, knew the background of that Duke Gawain Cecil ¡ª¡ª a legend who went through the Gondor period and the Second Settlement. It was said that he¡¯d also established an agreement with the four elemental lords; he had close rtionships with the royals of the elves and the dwarfs. Such a person was almost ¡°non-human¡± in Patrick¡¯s eyes. Even if he¡¯d borrowed the powers of the elemental lords to build this territory, Patrick found it absolutely unproblematic ¡ª¡ªbut if he were to have a loose tongue in this aspect as a nobody, the problem would be big. When Patrick adjusted his tie for the fourth time. That little maidservant who appeared to be muddle-headed walked forward again and filled up the teacup on the round table for the umpteenth time. ¡°Sir, please have tea.¡± ¡°Oh, oh. Thank you.¡± Patrick let out a burp with the sound of water. But he¡¯d learned this time. He only picked up the teacup and took a small sip. ¡ª¡ª He already realized that this youngdy before him wasn¡¯t intentionally making things difficult for him, nor had she been instructed by the Duke to sound him out. On the contrary, she probably really hadn¡¯t learned from high-ranked maidservants or maidservant supervisors on how to receive guests. She only recklessly filled up the guest¡¯s teacup again and again and then watched the guest drink the tea. However, if the guest was too honest or thought too much ¡ª¡ª for example, himself half an hour ago ¡ª¡ª there was an extremely high chance of being chugged to death by her through tea. ¡°May I ask¡­? Does the Duke know that I¡¯m here?¡± After putting the teacup down, Patrick gingerly looked at Betty and asked. She was only a mere maidservant. In terms of status, she could neverpare to himself, who was a feudal lord advisor (ex). But only a fool would use such a simple way ofparison ¡ª¡ª it was true that this youngdy was a maidservant, but she was the Duke¡¯s maidservant! Then this ¡°Duke¡¯s maidservant¡± fell into a daze for a few seconds with her finger propping up a chin. After thinking hard for a while, Betty shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± Patrick sighed and gave up trying to inquire anything from Betty. And just then, the doors of the parlor were finally pushed open. A tall and big figure stood there and made Patrick, who¡¯d just finished sighing, leap to his feet on reflex. ¡°Sorry to have kept you waiting,¡± Gawain walked into the room while speaking with a smile. ¡°I was inspecting the alchemy factory, and sorting out the samples took up some time. ¡ª¡ªBetty, have you served the guest tea?¡± Betty lifted the big teapot in her hands. ¡°I have!¡± Patrick instinctively burped upon hearing the sound of water in that big teapot¡­ Gawain was dumbfounded. Why was there an echo with this plump mister¡¯s burp? But he did not delve into this matter. Instead, he was very gratified by the growth of his little maidservant. After giving the youngdy a smile of approval, he looked towards Mr. Patrick who was a little nervous and burped with an echo. ¡°Sir Philip was full of praises for you. When he came back the previous time to report on the situation, he mentioned that you had the finances of the Kant territory well-organized. Not only were the supply of resources for winter guaranteed, you even steadied the merchants who traded with the Kant territory in the situation where the feudal lord had passed away and got them to still do business with the Kant territory in theing year?¡± ¡°I only did my duty.¡± Patrick nodded reservedly. ¡°I was always in charge ofmunicating with the chamber ofmerce in the territory and giving advice to the feudal lord in this aspect. I¡¯m ashamed to say, although I am skilled in knowledge regarding heraldry, grammar, and etiquette, I invested more effort in money. This¡­ is probably quite disgraceful.¡± ¡°It is truly disgraceful only when you¡¯re skilled in dealing with money but don¡¯t dare to admit it.¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°I got you here today to talk about money matters. I think you already know about this?¡± ¡°Ah, yes. I saw your letter. Your territory has entered the stage of having surplus production. Therefore, you wanted to reach trade routes through us?¡± Patrick nodded. ¡°It is alchemy potions, am I right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, alchemy potions. But I¡¯ve got to state in advance, the alchemy potions produced and sold by the Cecil territory are probably quite different from what you imagine them to be. I have a brand new trade model, and I need you to help me organize and realize it.¡± ¡°¡®Brand new trade model¡¯?¡± Patrick frowned, he didn¡¯t know what Gawain meant. ¡°Are you referring to yourmission as a feudal lord?¡± ¡°It¡¯s too troublesome to talk about it. It would be better if you read the materials directly,¡± Gawain said while gesturing for Heidi who followed beside him to hand a fairly thick booklet to Patrick. ¡°This will tell you what the ¡®new trade model¡¯ is.¡± Patrick took the booklet. However, although he was rather in awe of Gawain, he was quite conceited when it was regarding the field that he was skilled in. He reflected that having dealt with merchants for half his lifetime, he was extremely familiar with the skillset ofying trade routes, transactions, marketing, and storage. Even the most novel trade model wouldn¡¯t be tooplicated in his eyes; specially using a booklet to exin it was really making a mountain out of a molehill ¡ª¡ª yet he didn¡¯t dare to proim it and could only bow respectfully. ¡°Alright, I will read it now, Lord Duke. You can fully rest assured. I am still quite confident in the business aspects,¡± he said while catching sight of some keywords on the booklet: chain operations, regional agent, distributionwork, split model, and market expansion¡­ Gawain did not utter a sound; he only quietly watched as Patrick swiftly finished reading that booklet that wasn¡¯t very thick. Patrick used a few minutes to hastily skim through the first time and then used three times longer to read it the second time. As he prepared to read the third time, Gawain interrupted him. ¡°Mr. Patrick, what thoughts do you have?¡± Patrick rubbed his eyes and looked nkly at Gawain, as if he¡¯d forgotten for a moment that he was in the parlor of the Duke¡¯s residence. His whole mind was filled with those inconceivable terms and specific operational ns. When he realized that it was Duke Gawain calling out to him, he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. ¡°Yes¡­ yes, Duke! I¡¯ve finished reading, I¡¯ve finished reading!¡± ¡°I know you¡¯ve finished reading. I want to know your thoughts.¡± ¡°Um¡­ This¡­¡± Patrick bowed his head and nced at the booklet in his hands but suddenly found that he had lost all usable vocabry. ¡°These ideas are indeed things that I¡¯ve never thought of. They appear to be strange and entric¡­ yet also seem feasible? But¡­¡± Mr. Plump repeated his ¡°but¡± for a long while before he finally inhaled a deep breath. ¡°Alright, I admit it has no problem logically. If it is achieved, then it would swiftly grow to be the business monster of the southern borders ¡ª¡ª no independent itinerant merchants, tradesmen, or even district chamber ofmerce would be able to counter such a group of merchants that are tightly organized, circte effectively, move together, and even have a big aristocrat backing them up. But I also want to give an honestment. These concepts are almost impossible to realize. You demand that everyone under this sale system be under a unified management. The shops at the lowest rungs will be directed by the regional agents, and the regional agents will be directed by the general manager that you appoint. However, there have never been any merchants who¡¯d epted such constraints. ¡ª¡ª Of course, we can rely on mary interests and contracts to narrowly achieve this, but you also ask that the stores at the lowest rungs get business from civilians, this¡­¡± Patrick spread his hands open. ¡°Alchemy potions aren¡¯t stinky ointments that some vige herbalists concocted. Even mercenaries who are slightly poorer may not be able to afford them. How could civilians afford to use them? Even if we were to sell them to civilians, none of them would buy them!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about this. Since I¡¯ve said that the new alchemy potions can be sold to civilians, I have naturally taken the price into consideration. I can guarantee that they¡¯ll be so cheap that the average civilian will be able to afford them with a grit of their teeth. The local aristocrats can also get such potions for their armies.¡± Gawain did not want to exaggerate. He did not promise ¡°alchemy potions that even serfs could afford¡± ¡ª¡ª because this was unrealistic. Not every territory was like the Cecil territory. In most ces in this world, the personal assets of serfs were almost zero. Regardless of how cheap Gawain made the alchemy potions, the serfs still wouldn¡¯t be able to afford even a bottle cap. In this aspect, Gawain was currently still powerless. That he could allow middle-ie civilians (or residents) in the other territories to be able to afford alchemy potions was already his biggest goal at present. With regard to Gawain¡¯s words, Patrick¡¯s first reaction was still to view this n as impossible. However, when he saw the unwavering expression on the other party¡¯s face, he sensibly kept the thought to himself. Instead, he purely assessed the trade model in the booklet. ¡°Alright, then I want to say, the contents in this are filled with intelligence. ¡ª¡ª If what you were selling wasn¡¯t alchemy potions, but grains and cloth, my assessment of it would have been higher. But I have one final question¡­ Do you have this many alchemy potions?¡± This ¡°business schr¡± spread his hands. ¡°To feed such a sale system, the amount of alchemy potions needed isn¡¯t a small number.¡± Gawain smiled and waved a hand at the two servants that¡¯d followed. ¡°Go move those few boxes of samples in here.¡± ¡°Few¡­ few boxes?¡± Chapter 217 - The Establishment of the Cecil Chamber of Commerce Chapter 217: The Establishment of the Cecil Chamber of Commerce Before today, Patrick had never thought that the packing unit of alchemy potions could be ¡°boxes¡±. How were alchemy potions packaged and sold? The average small merchants wouldn¡¯t even think about this because all alchemy goods were products of Beyonder powers. The so-called magic articles that peddlers at the bottom rungs had in their carts were at the very most, a few pieces of iron sheets and dried sheepskin marked with runes ¡ª¡ª the main function of such items was psychologicalfort, and the slogan for them was ¡°my grandmother said this was useful¡±. True alchemy potions were business that only middle- and upper-ranked merchants could afford to do. And even for these middle- and upper-ranked businesses, the most they would be able to get for one deal or one stock up were a dozen bottles of alchemy potions. ¡ª¡ª They would be bottled in exquisite crystal bottles with velvet and top-grade silk wadding padded around them before being packed one by one in an borate wooden box. One was about the same price as the most expensive red wine. It was said there was once a mercenary expert known to all who was instructed to go exterminate a mutated beast that was endangering the borders. This mercenary expert relied on his brilliant skills and a dozen bottles of alchemy potions to forcefully torture an enemy three times stronger than him to death. In the end, when he turned back to nce at the potion bottles that he¡¯d thrown on the ground after his victory, he died a sudden death then and there¡­ This story was naturally exaggerated in some parts; merchants used overly mboyant packaging to hold the alchemy potions also for the sake of raising the prices of the potions to aristocrats who didn¡¯t know the market and rookie mercenaries, but the value of alchemy potions was still evident. However, Gawain now got men to carry several big boxes in ¡ª¡ª when the boxes were open, they were full of alchemy potions inside. Wood filings used to prevent breakage were stuffed around the neat small crystal bottles. ¡°Threeyers per box, 233 bottles peryer. In this box are inferior potions to restore one¡¯s magic power. In this box are healing mixtures, and the remaining few boxes contain rejuvenation potions.¡± Gawain pointed to those big boxes and presented them to Patrick. Then, he took out a sheet of paper. ¡°Here are the specific prices andmission divisions. Have a look. The prices that I have tentatively fixed for the rejuvenation potions is 60 Cecil copper coins, or one Anzu silver coin, while it¡¯s two silver coins for the magic potions. The price for the healing mixture is the same as that of the rejuvenation potions.¡± Patrick took the price list a little confusedly. He blinked after hearing the numbers that Gawain stated, as if he hadn¡¯t figured out, even after quite a while, what these prices had to do with the potions in front of him. Until half a minuteter, he then asked hesitantly, ¡°Duke¡­ You¡­ Are all these potions real?¡± ¡°Do you think I would be someone who sells fake medicine?¡± Gawain raised a brow. ¡°Of course, these are real! It¡¯s just that I have a special method to be able to produce potions at a very low cost-price.¡± ¡°Lord, of course, I¡¯m not doubting your character!¡± Patrick immediately rified nervously. Massive uncertainty had emerged in his heart. In all fairness, no one could remain calm in front of such low prices and the fact that Gawain could casually pull out a big heap of alchemy potions. This signified an unbelievable great wealth behind it. However, Patrick was a clever man; despite being very bold money-wise, he was very cautious when it involved his life. Thus, he did not inquire about any deeper secrets but analyzed these potions that Gawain brought out as an established fact. ¡°Since you are really able to supply such arge number of potions¡­ I actually have some ideas.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°Go ahead. You are experienced in terms of business.¡± Patrick said bluntly, ¡°Lord, I hope you can add water to these rejuvenation potions.¡± Once thisment was made, not just Gawain was stunned, even Amber beside him, who¡¯d sneaked in to serve as the background, faltered. A momentter, this Miss Half-Elf examined Patrick with a look of admiration. ¡°This¡­ Sir, you are a talent¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t add to the mess.¡± Gawain red at Amber and then stared at Patrick¡¯s eyes. ¡°You should know that this suggestion isn¡¯t how an honest merchant should act. You probably still have more to say.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord. Add water to the rejuvenation potions and rename them to ¡®secondary remedy potions¡¯ or ¡®inferior remedy medicine¡¯. The same can be done to the healing mixture. Rename it to ¡®secondary healing potion¡¯ or the like. If you feel that this does not conform with a Knight¡¯s chivalry, it¡¯s no big deal to make the prices cheaper. Lower the prices, and dere that the effects of these potions cannotpare to true alchemy potions. This won¡¯t be lying then. To the injuries and illnesses that the majority of civilians encounter daily, even such inferior remedy medicines would be enough to save their lives. Even the most-watered alchemy potions would be better than the stinky ointments made using mud and rotten grass roots that they¡¯ve bought from the vige herbalists.¡± Patrick carefully observed the change in Gawain¡¯s expression, while thetter only nodded. ¡°Keep going. I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°Recklessly selling alchemy potions like rejuvenation potions at an extremely low price would certainly impact the current market and the groups who profit from them. ¡ª¡ª Of course, the ¡®new chamber ofmerce¡¯ supported by you, the Duke, can make nothing of those small merchants and alchemists, but rats in the sewer can be disgusting even if they do not kill. Besides, to the civilians, it might not be a good thing to be able to get alchemy potions at a cheap price. At least, it wouldn¡¯t be a good thing at the very beginning. Those people affected by the new chamber ofmerce might not be able to do anything to you, but they can turn their hate to those ¡®encroaching¡¯ poor people. They can threaten those who want to buy the medicines, attack those who have bought, even sneak poison into the market, and then spread rumors. ¡ª¡ªTo the majority of the ignorant masses, they would not be able to distinguish who it was that had harmed them at all.¡± At this point, Patrick lowered his head slightly and carefully added, ¡°Lord, you are very powerful, but a courageous lion has to beware of poisonous insects too.¡± Gawain had little change in his expression, but his gaze that looked towards Patrick was already slightly surprised. A few secondster, he then nodded lightly. ¡°You are right. In order to avoid such situations, we have to do some ¡®disguising¡¯.¡± ¡°Yes, a disguise that isn¡¯t very clever. So long as you dere that all of them are of poor quality, or even byproducts of failed alchemy potions, the eyes watching them would be reduced by a good half. You can also sell actual rejuvenation potions and healing mixtures at the same time, but the prices would have to go higher ¡ª¡ª they can still be cheaper than the prices of potions in the market, but don¡¯t go to the extent of lowering them to tens of coins. This way, traditional merchants would be temporarily numbed. They would think that you¡¯re only here to vie for some market share using low prices for the time being or that you¡¯ve found a cheap producing area for medicinal herbs. And by the time they finally realize¡­ they would already be powerless.¡± ¡°In this case, you¡¯ve sessfully built a trade route and also avoided attracting the gazes of those with bad intentions too early. And even for those civilians who¡¯d bought watered-down potions, they would have also gotten effective potions at prices that they were able to handle. That is already much better than their usual mud and rotten grass roots. They will be deeply grateful for your kindness.¡± Yet Gawain did not respond. Instead, he murmured spontaneously to himself, ¡°For the poor, is even buying a bottle of good medication a sin¡­¡± He recalled the eastern region famine in Year 476 of the Anzu calendar that he¡¯d seen previously when he went through the history books; he recalled that cmity where bodies of the starved were everywhere. That year, a severe insect gue that affected numerous count territories resulted in a widespread food shortage. Severalpassionate aristocrat organizations released rations for disaster relief. However, a good half of these grains went into the stomachs of Knights who supervised the matter, treasurers, vige tyrants, and bandits. Even victims who had received food were almost unable to keep the life-saving food in their own hands. ¡ª¡ªFinally, the one who solved this problem was a grain merchant who came forward. His solution was beyond everyone¡¯s imagination: Mix sand, wood filings, and even maggots into the grains. Such grains could finally be safely distributed into the hands of the victims, and it was such grains that saved tens of thousands of people. That grain merchant was known as ¡°the benevolent miser.¡± In Year 477 of the Anzu calendar, he was hanged to death on the tallest tower of the Count Tamas territory in the eastern region. The charges were for ¡°embezzlement of rations, poisoning residents¡±. ¡°I ept your suggestion.¡± After taking a deep breath, Gawain looked at Patrick¡¯s eyes and said slowly, ¡°But I hope you understand that this is temporary. If someone were to take this n as his means of getting rich, then the Cecil territory¡¯sws will strike them down.¡± Patrick stood up, ced a hand on his chest, and bowed forward to Gawain. ¡°Just as I will faithfully handle every copper coin that Viscount Kant left behind, I will loyally carry out every one of your orders.¡± Gawain smiled. ¡°I also have one more thing to remind you about in advance. This new business organization that I established isn¡¯t only for selling medicines. Although alchemy potions will be its main product in the beginning phase, the Cecil territory will have new products in the future. There are way more things that I want to sell.¡± Patrick nodded. ¡°That goes without saying. A chamber ofmerce that a Duke personally set up is impossible to have only one kind of product.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve probably understood the organization structure regarding this new business organization. I hope that you can first select sincere and astute people from the merchants who you are familiar with to be the agents at the primary level. They can build district sales locations by themselves. But the changes, prices, and procedures of shipping goods in and out have to follow my rules. People who cannot ept this should withdraw as early as possible. And at the higher level of regional agent and general manager¡­ you will make preparations as the general manager, but I will also dispatch my clerks and liaisons for supervision and help at every management level. I hope you can understand.¡± ¡°Naturally ¡ª¡ª you¡¯ve provided all the funds and supply of goods. This organization naturally has to be within your control.¡± Gawain stood up with a smile, holding the teacup in his hands. ¡°Then let us toast to the establishment of the ¡®Cecil Chamber of Commerce¡¯. ¡ª¡ªMr. Patrick, do you mind recing wine with tea?¡± Patrick also stood up and picked up his teacup. He actually wanted to say that he didn¡¯t care for recing wine with tea at all. ¡ª¡ªRight now, he minded anything that needed to be drunk into his stomach. But he still toughened his scalp and epted the Duke¡¯s invitation. He held up his teacup and said, ¡°I¡­ Burp¡­¡± After the meeting ended, Patrick headed straight for the bathroom, while Gawain returned to his own room. A blueprint was quietly spread out on his study desk. There was a machine with a symmetrical structure that gave one a sense of the future. It had a rotating structure with de tes as well as the circr magical equipment located around the de tes. At the side of the blueprint, there was also an unfolded rune formation diagram with a note on top: Revered feudal lord, I¡¯vepleted the rune-formation design of the rotor-type Magic Powered Engine and found that its speed could be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the number of rune groups that are activated at the same time or by slightly changing the area of contact of the rune trigger. Please see back for rted data. ¡ª¡ª Jenni Perot Chapter 218 - Self-Awareness That Transmigrators Should Have Chapter 218: Self-Awareness That Transmigrators Should Have The rotor-type Magic Powered Engine was one of the initial ideas when Gawain thought of the path toward ¡°magic industrialization¡±. However, it had yet to be achieved because the system¡¯s difficulty andplexity were far beyond any of the magical equipment that was designed up until this point. The rotor-type Magic Powered Engine required eight sets, ten sets, or up to dozens of uniformly arranged Repulsion magic circles that would be operated at the same time in order for it to work. When so many Repulsion magic circles were connected together, all the magic interference produced would be disastrous. Even using the calctions of rune logic to eliminate the interference problem, it was still abnormally difficult. However, Jenni was still able to solve this difficult problem; at least, she had an optimization n and the initial design of the rotor-type engine. Gawain looked at the blueprint and the information beside the blueprint for a long time, and his expression must have been excessively stern, so much so that Amber who was here to enjoy a show had been shocked. She looked at Gawain with dazed eyes and asked, ¡°Why? Is there something wrong with this blueprint? Did Jenni make a wrong calction?¡± Gawain lifted his head and said something that wasn¡¯t rted at all, ¡°I am not a genius.¡± ¡°Ha?¡± Amber was startled by this muddleheaded statement, and she instantly thought that Gawain was teasing her. ¡°Are you intentionally looking down on others? If a monster-ss person like you isn¡¯t a genius, then how are ordinary people supposed to continue living? Of course, I am not included in the ¡®ordinary people¡¯. I¡¯m a genius too. Don¡¯t you know that I was chosen by the Goddess of the Night¡­?¡± ¡°I am just speaking what I feel.¡± Gawain didn¡¯t bother about Amber¡¯s remaining rambling. He gave off a smile that didn¡¯t feel true as he responded before he turned around to look outside the window. He was looking at the nightmps that were gradually lighting up the territory. He wasn¡¯t a genius. He wasn¡¯t at the center of this world either. He wasn¡¯t able to create a magic industrialization out of nothing, and he wasn¡¯t able to rely on himself to pull this world in the direction of the universe. Gawain was aware of this since the beginning, and today, he had a deeper understanding of this point. He knew that he was considered a special entity aspared to ordinary people. He could also admit that he wanted to do something significant and had the ambition to influence this era, but he knew that even if the era was changed, it was impossible for him to do it alone. After carefully thinking of everything that happened along the way, Gawain was able to clearly determine his position and clearly realized the talent and wisdom that the natives of this world possessed. The magic web originated from an unconventional rogue mage who was filled with talent. The Reba Crystals and rune trigger originated from a noble youngdy who had wonderful ideas. The rune logic originated from a third-generation researcher who spent dozens of years to conclude an important rule. The first Magic Powered Engine was built by the territory¡¯s craftsmen and technicians by their hammers. While the final assembly designs of the alchemy mass-production technology and the construction of the factory¡­ were the result of months of hard work from Pittman and his apprentices, along with hundreds of workers, technicians, and craftsmen in the territory. Just a moment ago, Patrick Pom from the Kant territory used just one hour to understand the concepts of regional agents, supply chain, and market feedback. He was then able to use this era¡¯s practical situation to propose the sale of different ssifications of goods. And now, Jenni Perot hadpleted the final calctions for the rotor-type Magic Powered Engine, and before Gawain could even think of it, she had given this engine design an effective speed-adjustment proposal. Gawain lowered his head and looked at the Cecil territory which was still lively and bustling with activities, even at night. This was an era after a ¡°dark period¡±, but it didn¡¯t mean that a transmigrator would be at the center of this world. In this era and world, there were intelligent people hidden everywhere. Even those nobles who seemed to be ignorant and backward were also using their wisdom and power to maintain their ruling positions. Gawain felt that if he wanted to aplish great things in this world, he would first have to remember to revere this world. He had to value this world¡¯s system and to recognize the intelligence of its natives. With this as a prerequisite, he would be able to plunder a reasonable amount of benefits that he deserved. And this should be the path of survival and development. Gawain had a smile on his face as he looked at Amber who was curiously studying the blueprint on the table, although it didn¡¯t seem like she could understand anything. ¡°Say, if thisnd is filled with talents, what am I doing here?¡± ¡°What is wrong with you? Why are you saying such strange things?¡± Amber blinked her eyes and said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you talking nonsense? You are the feudal lord, and if you aren¡¯t here, why are we all gathered here for?! We would have already packed our luggage and left¡­ You wouldn¡¯t possibly be nning to announce the disbandment of the gang right¡­?¡± Gawain red at the half-elf and said, ¡°Can you not blindly use the words I teach you? It is called team, not gang!¡± ¡°¡­It has simr meanings. Aren¡¯t they both four-letter words¡­?¡± Gawain looked at this half-elf youngdy helplessly, but he still had a smile. It was true. The magic web was invented by the rogue mage; the alchemy reaction vessel was invented by the Pittman; the Reba Crystals and rune triggers were invented by Reba¡­ There were plenty of things on the territory that weren¡¯t invented by Gawain ¡ª at least, they weren¡¯t created by him alone. However, his greatest value here wasn¡¯t to personally invent these things; it was to lead the talented individuals and to allow them to exhibit the talent and wisdom that they originally possessed. He didn¡¯t have wisdom that was superior to the natives, but he had foresight and ideas that were superior. He had the knowledge from his previous life, from ¡°Gawain Cecil¡±, and also the resolution and experiences as an ancient observer. He wasn¡¯t able to create anything, but he knew what thisnd required. He knew where the path would lead to, and this was the reason he was here and his function. In a grand scope, he could n the territory¡¯s future social order and its societal structure. On a smaller scale, he could describe a specific machine required on a technological route and let the technical personnel on the territory think of ways to achieve it. Gawain suddenlyughed heartily. He felt that it didn¡¯t matter what kind of cheat he possessed, he was certain about one point: He was this world¡¯s cheat¡­ or, at least, Cecil territory¡¯s cheat. Oh, there was also that Mister Nichs Egg who had just recovered from his cold. During the past two days, he had been thinking of a method to create the next-generation press machine in the mechanical research station. Gawain¡¯s sudden changes of emotions weren¡¯t able to convey the proper message to Amber¡¯s quick-witted but nonsense-filled brain. This half-elf youngdy could only see Gawain in silence one moment before he suddenly startedughing. She felt all her hair standing on end and was nning to rush out to inform Heidi and Reba that their great-grandfather¡¯s living dead period wasing to an end. As soon as she had this intention, the old dumpling in front of her had nodded to her and said, ¡°Amber, tomorrow, you will act as my envoy and make a trip to Tanzan Town. Bring my handwritten letter and hand it to Viscount Andrew.¡± ¡°Why are you asking me to travel so far during winter¡­?¡± Amber pouted her lips and asked, ¡°What for?¡± ¡°I wish to invite the Viscount to the territory as a guest. I want that mine owner to observe Cecil territory¡¯s method of mining.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ What?!¡± Amber was nodding before suddenly reacting in shock. She looked at Gawain with eyes as though she was looking at a spy in their internal department. ¡°You wish to invite Viscount Andrew to visit the mines? Do you still remember what is over there?!¡± ¡°Of course, I remember. The Magic Powered Engines, the drainage pump, the ore-cart machine, and the newly installed crusher and filter machines.¡± ¡°You remember, and you will still allow an outsider to see them?!¡± Amber widened her eyes and said, ¡°Those are the lifelines of the Cecil territory! Our territory was able to develop into this state in such a short period of time, all because of those machines. Aren¡¯t you afraid that when Viscount Andrew sees them, he would be¡­¡± ¡°I hope that he will be tempted after seeing them, greatly tempted.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°Because I n to sell the entire set of mining equipment to him.¡± Amber: ¡°?!¡± ¡°Our second-generation Magic Powered Engine is ready, and I wish to sell the first-generation engine.¡± Gawain knew what Amber was thinking, but he enjoyed teasing her. This headache-inducing half-elf would only look cuter during such dazed moments. ¡°Furthermore, you said something wrong earlier. That the territory was able to develop to such a state in such a short period of time was partially due to the machines. But we have never relied on them entirely.¡± He shook his head and said, ¡°The Cecil territory¡¯s true talent is something that outsiders will not be able to take away.¡± Amber¡¯s concern was obviously still around. ¡°No matter what, if you sell something like the Magic Powered Engine to others¡­ Are you not afraid that your neighbors will be stronger?¡± ¡°They will definitely be stronger as the Tanzan Mine¡¯s excavation rate will be greatly increased.¡± Gawain nodded and said, ¡°This will ensure that the Cecil territory will obtain more magic-conducting materials, and at a cheaper cost.¡± Amber scratched her head. ¡°Just like that? You have other reasons right?¡± ¡°Of course¡­ Only by having a stronger partner would we have better benefits. I am never worried that others will be stronger. I simply have to make sure that my development speed is the fastest.¡± Gawain let out a light sigh before speaking, ¡°Most of the rulers in this world are walking on another path. They will do their best to make sure that everyone within their vision isn¡¯t making progress. They don¡¯t mind remaining in the same position for a long period of time as long as others aren¡¯t making progress or constantly regressing. But there is a fatal problem with this¡­ they are also able to suppress the people outside of their vision. Everything they do will only lead to a regional regress. Do you know the fact that a bad consequence has already appeared?¡± ¡°What bad consequence would that be?¡± ¡°Anzu Kingdom¡¯s neighbor, the Typhon Empire has been constantly making military revolutions and societal advancements for the past few decades. They have built an army of military Beyonders and an assembly production of standardized military goods. While the nobles in Anzu Kingdom are in the process of regression, in the ce where they cannot influence and cannot observe, there is a powerful and fearsome enemy that has already stood up¡­¡± Amber gulped down her saliva. She was also an Anzu citizen, and she naturally knew about the increasing threat from the neighboring nation, the Typhon Empire. As amoner, this was the first time she had heard such a direct observation and analysis. However, she still had a final doubt about Gawain¡¯s decision. ¡°Even if you sell the machines powered by the Magic Powered Engine to Viscount Andrew, he wouldn¡¯t be able to use them either, right? Those machines would have to be driven by the magic web¡ª¡± Gawain wasughing even happier than before. ¡°That is why I am also going to sell him the blueprints of the magic web to him too. If possible, I will dispatch a batch of technical personnel at a low cost to guide the Leslie n toplete the basic construction of the magic web.¡± ¡°You are also going to give him the magic web?!¡± Amber nearly jumped up as she eximed, ¡°Do you know what he could do with the magic web?¡± ¡°Mining,¡± Gawain said indifferently. ¡°Mining for the Cecil territory.¡± Chapter 219 - New Business Chapter 219: New Business On thisnd that was governed by the Cecil n, Amber was probably one of the rare few individuals who dared to question Gawain¡¯s decision. Even when this half-elf was bold enough to raise questions, it was mostly because her mouth couldn¡¯t remain shut. However, Gawain was still happy to see that not everyone would follow hismands blindly as it would mean that he was the only person that was thinking¡­ Alright, Amber might not be thinking for herself either as she merely had an uncontrolled mouth. It was very difficult for Gawain to exin all of his thoughts to Amber within a short period of time. He could only roughly tell her about the industrial structure¡¯s formation and also the concept of having a difference in technology level. As for the deeper economical and political benefits and the long-distance control of Leslie n, he didn¡¯t talk about them. No matter what, Amber still carried out Gawain¡¯smand. She departed on the next day and used the status as the Cecil territory¡¯s special envoy to deliver the personal letter from Duke Gawain Cecil to Viscount Andrew in the castle. Viscount Andrew¡¯s response was much faster than Gawain expected. He immediately epted the invitation dly, and on the third day after Amber returned to the territory, the Viscount had already arrived at the Cecil territory¡¯s dock on a fast ship. Thest time they saw the Viscount, he was still weak after getting corrupted by the sorcery. After a period of rest and recuperation, Andrew Leslie had recovered his health. He was wearing a dark red outer coat that was thick and warm; his hair wasbed back wlessly, and the newly recruited butler was following him. He had also brought along a protection team formed by 10 soldiers, along with the territory¡¯s business advisor. The business advisor was naturally here because Gawain mentioned ¡°business¡± in the personal letter, while the soldier team was an ostentation that was required as a noble. Andrew Leslie saw the new Cecil territory that was entirely different from his imagination. Be it the brand new and orderly houses or themoners that walked the streets, all of them gave him a deep impression. He was especially curious about something¡­ If these houses belonged to themoners, what kind of ce were the territory¡¯s serfs and lower-ss people staying in? Aspared to Patrick who wasn¡¯t a noble, this viscount was ultimately much calmer andposed. As he was guided from the dock to the feudal lord residence, he maintained a calm and graceful demeanor. Even after he sat down in Gawain Cecil¡¯s guest hall, he didn¡¯t reveal any excessive curiosity and didn¡¯t make a big fuss like an unsophisticated person. Subsequently, Betty had already poured enough water for one entire pot of tea. In the kingdom¡¯s southern region, everyone was mostly honest, but more importantly, people there tended to have the problem of overthinking things. Viscount Andrew was just like Patrick back then. After drinking half a pot of water, he was wondering why Gawain would arrange a maid to constantly pour water for the guest¡­ Betty who was carrying arge jug of water was staring nkly in the guest hall and didn¡¯t know that she had been given the characteristic of being enigmatic. She was staring straight at the decorative de on the wall, while her mind was silently recalling the words and grammar that she had recently learned. At the same time, she spared some attention to make sure to fill up the guest¡¯s cup whenever it was empty. When she was going through the newly learned words for the second time, Gawain had appeared. ¡°Viscount Andrew, I am very happy to see that you have recovered.¡± Gawain entered and immediately greeted in a cordial manner. ¡°I heard that Tanzan Town has regained its order. It is truly good news.¡± ¡°It is all because of your help. Without yourrge orders of ores, I am afraid that I would not have been able to afford to repair the big hole in my castle during this winter.¡± Viscount Andrew opened up his hands whileughing in a rather exaggerated manner and said, ¡°Therefore, when I heard that you wanted to personally discuss a new business with me, I came immediately.¡± ¡°It is indeed a new business, but it might not be appropriate to discuss it here. If you don¡¯t mind, are you willing to visit the Cecil territory¡¯s mine?¡± ¡°The mine?¡± Viscount Andrew frowned. ¡°In your letter, you mentioned something about the sale of new mining equipment. But the Leslie n has been mining for generations. I am already familiar with all kinds of mining tools¡­ Hup¡­ Ah, apologies, I amcking in manners.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, don¡¯t worry.¡± Gawain quickly shook his hand and was feeling strange as to why this Viscount Andrew¡¯s hup had started to echo. Gawain then smiled and exined, ¡°It is necessary to see it in person. Because the thing that I am selling is probably something you have never seen before.¡± Since Gawain had already said it like this, Viscount Andrew naturally couldn¡¯t continue to act uninterested. As such, he dly agreed to visit the mine. He had also asked where the bathroom was. The Cecil mine was located in the east of the territory. At the beginning, this ce was just a small excavation point, but as the territory rapidly developed, the requirement for ore was constantly increased. The mine had turned into a core area that was only inferior to ¡°Cecil City¡± and served as a supply point for construction materials. Arge number of people and advanced machines were transported to this ce. It gradually transformed from an excavation point that had a few tents into a vige that had over a dozen of houses. It then further developed from a vige to a hamlet. Right now, this ce already had newly constructed brick houses, and they had even used the mining gs and cement toy down an even path. A spacious main passage connected this mining hamlet with Cecil City to ensure the smooth transport of personnel and materials. Due to the convenience of transportation, Gawain and the guest carriage took less than two hours to arrive at the mining hamlet. Viscount Andrew had been able to maintain his calm and graceful style until the final stop of the journey. Even when he saw the magic crystalmps that could be seen throughout the territory, the straight and even paths, the ¡°factories¡± at the border of the city that were emitting strange sounds, or the residents who were still busy working even in winter, he had tried his best to not be overly surprised. These things might have exceeded his expectations, but they didn¡¯t exceed his imagination. He was surprised the fallen Cecil n that had to survive by selling their noble status back then was actually able to create such a territory in such a short period of time. However, he was still able to give himself a logical exnation for everything he had seen. He had associated everything with ¡°Gawain Cecil digging up the wealth that he had buried back then and using the money to push the development of this ce¡±. By doing so, everything was understandable. Until he saw something he couldn¡¯t understand, couldn¡¯t exin, and could never have imagined. ¡°What¡­ what is that thing?!¡± In front of Viscount Andrew, there was a giant machine that was using an astounding power to turn the capstan and haul out several heavy carts of ores that would probably have needed dozens of ve workers to push out from the depths of the mine. That machine was emitting a deep sound that was like the roar from a giant, and the massive disk structure was constantly being turned in an unprecedented manner. Eachponent was seemingly forged with steel, but these lifeless things were constantly moving emotionlessly, tirelessly, and with inexhaustible power while revealing an indescribable dignity that could onlye from steel-made products. After staring nkly for a few seconds, Viscount Andrew finally saw a sparkling magic radiance at the core of the machine. His ability to speak had finally recovered a little. ¡°Is this¡­ magical equipment? Thebination of some magical mechanism and machinery?¡± ¡°It can be understood like that.¡± Gawain smiled and said, ¡°This is the thing that I want to sell you, but it is only one of the things. Continue further inside, and you will see even more machines. In Cecil territory, half of the mine¡¯s heavybor waspleted by these machines.¡± Viscount Andrew was even more astonished as he continued to see more. He understood mining and was familiar with their tools. However, he never expected that the ¡°mining equipment¡± mentioned by Gawain would actually be these¡­ giant creatures of steel. As he looked at these massive machines, he quickly noticed that these seemingly crude machines actually had unbelievable intricacy. Theponents were all connected seamlessly; the connecting parts were assembled with precision, and there were those rapidly switching magic circles that were unmanned¡­ How were these monsters created?! ¡°This is¡­ the ancient Gondor Empire¡¯s magic technology?!¡± Finally, Viscount Andrew believed he had found a logical exnation before he slowly turned his head to ask Gawain. ¡°This is technology that was designed together by me and the technical specialists in my territory. Of course, if you feel that because I am a surviving member of the ancient Gondor Empire, then the technology I possess could be considered Gondor technology¡­ It is also fine to think of it that way.¡± Gawain used a vague exnation intentionally to barely get by. After seeing Viscount Andrew¡¯s reaction, he asked, ¡°How about it? Are you interested in this ¡®magical mining equipment¡¯?¡± ¡°As long as you are willing to sell them!¡± Viscount Andrew widened his eyes. ¡°I believe you can also see that the details and difficulty of producing these machines are frightening. It isn¡¯t cheap to produce a machine. Therefore, the selling price is naturally going to be expensive. Depending on the scale and manufacturing difficulty, the cost should be between a few hundred to a few thousand Cecil coins. Furthermore, the manufacturing of these machines obviously requires the participation of Beyonders. The worker cost¡­ Well, you can imagine,¡± Gawain spoke unhurriedly, but Viscount Andrew¡¯s smile gradually disappeared. Gawain then suddenly changed his tone. ¡°Of course, I will set the price like this when selling to others. But if I am selling it to my neighbor, I will only need the material cost. If you have difficulties, I can even ept ores as payment.¡± Viscount Andrew felt extremely moved. These machines weren¡¯t cheap, and he knew it clearly. However, he also knew that these machines would be equivalent to the energy from numerous people! A single hauling machine would be equivalent to dozens or a hundred ve workers. Half a day¡¯s work from a single crusher machine would be enough to leave all the ve workers jobless! It would be natural to spend a huge sum of money to purchase these machines, but he would be able to get back the costs of the machines very quickly. Furthermore, after recovering the costs, Tanzan Town or even the entire Leslie territory would wee the unprecedentedly high revenue! Furthermore, the magic portions of these machines didn¡¯t seem tooplicated. After getting back the costs, he might be able to recruit a group of rune craftsmen and magic circle experts to research how these machines worked¡­ Right at this moment, Gawain¡¯s voice interrupted his thoughts. ¡°That¡¯s right. Viscount Andrew, I have something else to bring to your notice. You should have realized that these machines are operating by themselves. There isn¡¯t any Mage to provide energy to these machines¡­¡± ¡°Mm¡­ I am indeed curious about this matter.¡± Viscount Andrew rubbed his chin and said, ¡°I don¡¯t see any Mage controlling the machines, nor do I see anyone supplying energy to them¡­ Could there berge-capacity magic-storage crystals inside?¡± ¡°They still require theplementing ¡®magic web¡¯ technology. Regarding this technology, I need to have a good discussion with you¡­¡± Chapter 220 - The One Who Truly Profits Chapter 220: The One Who Truly Profits The magic web was the cornerstone of the magic industrialization, the foundation that allowed magic to be guided into every household. That Cecil territory was able to make such rapid developments was mainly due to the magic web. Gawain didn¡¯t mind imparting this technology to others; in fact, if it was possible, he hoped that the magic could be quicklyid down in the entire southern region or even the entire Anzu Kingdom. He knew very clearly that the magic web was a cornerstone of the magic industrialization, but it wasn¡¯t the entirety. In order to build up this massive system, an advanced mindset was required. It required the coordination from a research and development setup as in-depth and borated research was needed to understand the basic theory. Only after having such things would the new magic equipment be relevant. Without those things, then the magic web would only be a shell of what it could be. Viscount Andrew saw the newlyid-down honeb magic web on the northern side of the mining hamlet. There were rune arrays that were in a neat and orderly hexagonal shape, and they were drawn on the brick foundation. After they were done with the setup, it would be covered with ayer of protective te, and finally, cement would be used to seal up the entire instation. This wonderful and orderly rune array was different from any magic circle that Viscount Andrew knew of. He naturally treated this as another miraculous ¡°ancient Gondor magic technology¡±. ¡°I can send out craftsmen to help Tanzan Towny down the basic magic web and also teach your people how to extend them.¡± Gawain looked at the tempted Viscount Andrew and smiled. ¡°I will also give you a technical handbook. Magic is a rather severe thing, and it must be installed ording to the instructions on the technical handbook in order for the magic web to exhibit its effects and would then be able to link with the Magic Powered Engine.¡± Viscount Andrew didn¡¯t believe that such a blessing would fall out of nowhere. ¡°These will¡­ probably cost more right?¡± The ¡°technology¡± of this magic was priceless, and it was even more so for ancient magic technology. The northern Violet Kingdom¡¯s mages viewed their puppet-spell and magic-circle technologies as treasures. Every single piece of magic equipment sold to the Anzu Kingdom would be for an expensive price, and they were installed withplicated self-destructing mechanisms. It was to prevent knowledge from leaking out, and in Viscount Andrew¡¯s opinion, these ancient Gondor technologies were just as precious. ¡°The price is less than you think. Apart from thebor fee and the cost to install the magic web, I only hope to have a tighter coboration with Tanzan Town. Tanzan Town possesses one of the White River¡¯srger trading ports, and it is the gathering ce for adventurers and mercenaries in the southern region. I hope to obtain some freedom to use the trading port and the opportunity to set up a merchant association in Tanzan Town. The Cecil n is establishing our own business, and we found a trade route to the north. As for the west¡­¡± ¡°The Leslie n is willing to coborate.¡± Viscount Andrew understood Gawain¡¯s intention and immediately nodded with a smile. ¡°But the details will still have to be discussed with my business advisor as I am not an expert in this aspect.¡± The business negotiation between the two sides was very jovial. Viscount Andrew didn¡¯t stop for long. He might be very curious about this amazing ce, but he was looking forward to seeing his own mine use those miraculous machines. In order to quicklyplete the trade, he had returned to his territory on the same afternoon to prepare the funds and to wee the ¡°magic-web technical-guidance team¡±. When Viscount Andrew left, Gawain didn¡¯t return to his feudal lord residence; instead, he headed to the Mechanical Manufacturing Facility together with Heidi and Amber to inspect the new rotor-type Magic Powered Engine¡¯s prototype assembly. ¡°Is it really fine to sell the magic web technology and the Magic Powered Engine to the Leslie n?¡± Just like Amber, Heidi was also doubtful of Gawain¡¯s decision. She didn¡¯t reveal it earlier as she could vaguely see some of Gawain¡¯s ideas; therefore, she only raised her question now. Gawain took a nce at Heidi, Reba, and also Amber who was following beside him. He smiled and said, ¡°It seems like there is more than one doubtful individual.¡± ¡°Yesterday, you exined plenty of things to me, but I feel that you still have more to say!¡± Amber red and said, ¡°I went back and pondered carefully yesterday night and felt that you have some very deep scheme!¡± ¡°Tell me, after our neighbor obtains the Magic Powered Engine and the magic web, will they be able to reverse-analyze the rune logic and magic industrialization theories?¡± ¡°Absolutely impossible.¡± Heidi shook her head immediately. ¡°It is impossible for them to seed in reverse-analyzing it. It would be like looking at a piece of paper and being able to find out the name of the worker who produced that piece of paper. However, I am worried that Viscount Andrew would make copies of them. He shouldn¡¯t be able to produce the Magic Powered Engine and their machineryponents as he doesn¡¯t have the required factories and machining technology, but he could make the magic web. Especially when you are selling the magic-web technology information to him. The magic web¡¯s material and craftsmanship isn¡¯tplicated. With the blueprint and some guidance, he would be able toy down the magic web in any ce he wanted. He could even privately sell the magic web to others¡­¡± ¡°If that is truly the case, then I will be waking up from my dreams with a smile,¡± Gawain replied happily, and his smile was so dazzling that it nearly blinded Amber¡¯s eyes. ¡°I hope he will go andy down some magic webs and convince everyone in the world to also do so.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Reba blinked her eyes and couldn¡¯t understand what was going on. Gawainughed and asked them in return, ¡°With the Cecil territory¡¯s current capability, how long would we need to be able toy the magic web throughout the entire kingdom?¡± ¡°Throughout the entire kingdom?!¡± Reba got a shock and said, ¡°It isn¡¯t possible in this generation! Putting aside the normal ces, what about the marsnds, forests, rivers, andkes¡­¡± ¡°Erm¡­ I didn¡¯t mean toy them everywhere¡­¡± Gawain¡¯s attempt to act cool had been interrupted by the foolish girl¡¯s blunt speech. However, he was already used to such incidents, and the topic just carried on. ¡°It is obvious that the Cecil territory wouldn¡¯t be able toplete such arge project alone. It would require the hard work of countless people.¡± ¡°Our magic-industrialization technology is established on the magic web. With the magic web, our machines and equipment would be able to operate endlessly. Our soldiers will also be able to obtain energy replenishment at the fastest speed. We are the ones who are researching magic machineries. Therefore, the ¡®usable value¡¯ of the magic web is something that no one will be able topare with us. Even if they develop faster with the assistance of the magic web, the amount of usage for our products will always be greater than theirs.¡± ¡°When the magic web is in the hands of Viscount Andrew and others, it will only be a magic web. The magi-technological details contained within it is too little as all the research and principles are hidden in the invisible ck box. Furthermore, with the limitations of the traditional mages¡¯ research methods, they will only be able to copy and extend the magic web. During this process, they will only make use of the magic web¡¯s most superficial functions, like supplying energy for their mage towers or magic crystalmps, or conducting some magic research within the range of the magic web. ¡ªBut we are able to do much more.¡± ¡°I did give Viscount Andrew some set technological information, but it is also a set of rigid criteria. These criteria will be the basic instructions for anyone toy down the magic web. In other words, all of the magic-web technology that is disseminated will be exactly the same. Be it the Leslie territory, the Kant territory, or any other noble n territory in the southern region, the magic web that theyy down will be fullypatible with our industrial or military equipment¡­ There are things that I don¡¯t have to say too clearly. You should already understand them yourself.¡± Reba pondered for a moment before raising her hand. ¡°But I don¡¯t understand!¡± ¡°I understand now.¡± Heidi had already realized it, and her eyes didn¡¯t have any more doubts as they were reced with astonishment and hints of reverence. ¡°Ancestor, did¡­ did you¡­?¡± ¡°The magic web¡¯s simplicity and advantages are obvious, and it will soon be circted andid down in the entire south region or even the entire kingdom. There will be a day when every territory will have the energy source ready for Cecil industrial and military equipment. It doesn¡¯t matter if it is our friends or our enemies whoid them down. They will be helping us do everything. Furthermore, I am looking forward to thepletion of the magic web and the moment when it will connect with the Cecil territory.¡± Gawain smiled and looked at the rotor-type Magic Powered Engine that was having its final adjustments being made. ¡°However, that is in the future. At the current juncture, we only need help from Viscount Andrew to sell mining equipment to each of the mining territories in the southern region. Cecil territory¡¯s development requires more resources, and these territories¡¯ current mining speed is simply too slow.¡± Amber finally understood everything that was happening and had associated it with everything that Gawain had done. This was the first time she was able to see all of the gains and losses that Viscount Andrew went through in the process. When she got to the conclusion, she was extremely shocked. ¡°Wait a moment. I just realized that therge sum of money you spent to purchase three years¡¯ worth of magic-conducting materials from Tanzan Town has all been returned through the Viscount purchasing your mining equipment. Furthermore, they are purchasing the phased-out first-generation machines¡­¡± ¡°The magic mechanisms in the machines are also made from the ores purchased from Tanzan Town,¡± Gawain supplemented. ¡°From now on, there will be more ces learning the technology toy down the magic web and purchasing your machines. They will help you to mine, to farm, and toy down the magic webs for you. During this process, they will be paying in other ways!¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°In order for my conscience to be at ease, I will give them a 20% discount.¡± Amber: ¡°¡­¡± In the center of the assembly workshop, the final inspection worker had already left the massive and advanced Magic Powered Engine. It had a beautiful gray outer shell, looking like a steel lion crouching there silently. Its swelled up ¡°abdominal cavity¡± was forged with exquisite steel and a series of curved force tes that were installed on the central axis of the rotor structure with great precision. A total of 18 repulsion devices were installed symmetrically on the inner walls of the outer shell of the rotor. A stable and firm rod was installed for the rune triggers to control all of the repulsion devices, along with a speed adjuster. A silver metallic ball floated away from the group of workers. He stopped at the control tform of the new rotor engine and turned around to face Gawain while slightly hovering up and down. In such a stern atmosphere, even thatical individual seemed¡­ Alright, he was still ratherical. Thatical egg pulled the first set of control levers seriously. A low buzzing sound was heard, and the runes started to work. The rotor in the middle of that engine started to spin. Chapter 221 - When the Positions of the Stars Are Realigned Chapter 221: When the Positions of the Stars Are Realigned Astrology was an extremely important subject on the Loren Continent. Even though Gawain couldn¡¯t understand the connection between the remote celestial bodies in the sky and the small underneath his feet (if it was a), the power of astrology existed. An outstanding astrologist would be able to detect the flow of magic in the atmosphere by observing the positioning of the stars. In fact, they would be able to use the guidance from the stars¡¯ radiance to discover a new umtion point of magic that was a thousand miles away. The uracy of this was so high that it was beyond the concept of the ¡°religious tricksters¡± and could be treated as a ¡°ck-box science¡±. Of course, astrology was something that was hard to understand, and there were plenty of tricksters in this field too. However, the tricksters in this field had a trait that was actually very easy to recognize. They would use the observation of the natural world in astrology and extend them to the so-called ¡°irvoyance¡±. They would say that they could use the positions of the stars to find your lost treasures, missing keys, or wives that ran off with others. However, the Loren Continent¡¯s astrology didn¡¯t have powers like this. Astrology¡¯s main function was to make an advanced observation by using the changes of magic in the natural environment. Using this basis, astrology would at most be able to detect an early warning of arge-scale natural disaster that followed a pattern. If one was trying to search for one¡¯s dog or cat, it would be much more effective to shout for the pet instead of relying on those unreliable ¡°astrologists¡±. Gawain was suddenly thinking of astrology because he was standing on the balcony of the feudal lord residence and was studying the stars in the sky with his eldest granddaughter. Alright, it was mainly because he was watching Heidi studying the stars in the sky. From today onward, for the next three consecutive days, it would be the winter¡¯s most ideal ¡°Days of Stars¡±. On these special days, the Loren Continent¡¯s northern region would be able to observe the clearest starry sky with the most stars visible in the entire year. Because of the fact that this didn¡¯t have arge satellite like a moon, the nights were naturallycking light. Without the interference of moonlight, this world¡¯s night sky had stars that were shockingly resplendent. The countless stars would stretch across the horizon like a belt of light that was suspected to be clouds of light in space, and it would always make a deep impression in Gawain¡¯s mind. For a professional Mage like Heidi, the stars had a totally different significance. Mages were able to observe the stars and experience the changes in magic. They could then use the realization to blend it in with their spellcasting skill. It was a slow but effective method of improving. Heidi had never missed out on any suitable stargazing night as she hoped to see more stars to enhance her spellcasting ability and to, one day, be able to hit the target with her Arcane Missiles and Ice Arrows¡­ She observed the stars using a tool that looked like some odd ¡°silver te¡±. The silver te would be ced horizontally on the support, and the surface of the surrounding metallic tform would be engraved with all sorts of celestial patterns and magic symbols. The center of the silver te would reflect the image of the stars, and by using a special spellcasting technique, the image in the silver te can be erged and made clearer for convenience of observation. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that you Ancestor would actually be interested in astrology too.¡± While Heidi was recording the changes in the stars, she smiled and took a nce at Gawain. ¡°This is uninteresting knowledge.¡± ¡°I have said since a long time ago that I was very interested in stars.¡± Gawain watched as Heidi adjusted the silver te, and he couldn¡¯t help but feel amazed by this world¡¯s original magic technology. This tool might not be convenient to use, and there wasn¡¯t much room for improvement, but it was indeed able to function as an observation tool for the starry sky. ¡°Did Reba learn about astrology? Today is the very important ¡®Days of Stars¡¯ for Mages right? She is still a Mage after all¡­¡± Only he and Heidi were on the balcony, while Reba who was one of the territory¡¯s Mages with the highest grade actually wasn¡¯t here. ¡°When she was young, I forced her to learn astrology, but every time, she would want to throw a Large Fireball into the sky to try to knock those stars down. Afterward, I didn¡¯t allow her to continue causing trouble.¡± Heidi¡¯s tone was filled with helplessness. ¡°To be honest, astrology has nearly zero effect on her improvement. Her magic talent is all on Fireballs, and she has already done it to the extremity. Even if she observed the stars for ten years, it would still be impossible for her to produce an Arcane Missile. She isn¡¯t even able to use the star observation te and can only stare at the sky with her eyes¡­ It is no wonder she would feel bored enough to wish she could throw Fireballs into the sky.¡± The star observation te¡¯s greatest limitation was still the method of usage¡­ Gawain looked at the magic tool in Heidi¡¯s hands with pensive eyes and thought about a certain item that he had asked the craftsmen to manufacture some time earlier. If the manufacturing of the item could be done as nned, it might bepleted before the ¡°Days of Stars¡± were over. ¡°I am preparing a kind of present for Reba. If everything goes smoothly, she might be able to view the stars together with us.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Heidi looked at Gawain with much surprise. She wasn¡¯t able to imagine what kind of present this ancestor would prepare that could bring Reba to the star observation tform. Firstly, it must be able to allow Reba to control the star observation device as she was only able to use the Fireball spells. Secondly, he must also be able to make that foolish child who was only interested in throwing Large Fireballs calm down and be interested in such a boring subject. Heidi felt that it was rather unbelievable. However, she quickly recalled that her ancestor was a reserve of all sorts of mysterious knowledge and wonderful ideas. She carefully controlled her curiosity and didn¡¯t continue asking. She then revealed a smile. ¡°You are really fond of that child.¡± ¡°Are you not curious about the present I prepared?¡± ¡°I am, but I wish to maintain this curiosity.¡± Heidi blinked her eyes and said, ¡°You always bring us surprises, and this time, it won¡¯t be an exception either, right?¡± Gawain smiled and nodded. ¡°Of course.¡± At this moment, it wasn¡¯t just Gawain and Heidi who were observing the stars. ¡­¡­ At the eastern Endless Sea, it was already midnight, and the stars were still hanging high up in the horizon. The glittering stars felt as though they yearned for this sky as the first rays of morning sun had already appeared in the east, but a third of the stars were still clearly visible. A nameless ind was sitting alone on the surface of the sea. This massive ind was one of the rare ces with life in the Endless Sea. The Sons of the Storm used centuries to construct and develop aprehensive stronghold. They built farms, hamlets, forges, and a fort that was located at the cliffs of the coast. The entire ind¡¯s most important building was the ¡°Stargazing Tower¡± located at the top of the fort. At the peak of the Stargazing Tower, there was a Storm Deacon who wore ck robes and was cing the star observation te horizontally. As he poured in his magic, the star light that had been dim on the te turned bright and clear again. He was fully focussed as he observed the positions of the stars. Everything unrted had been tossed outside of his mind: be it the developed ind at the east which was destroyed by the sea demons a few months ago, or the Eternal Sleeper who recklessly made contact with Gawain Cecil and transmitted a strange and uneasy warning, or the Oblivion Association¡¯s progression of the war on the continent. Nothing was as important as the star observation te right now. Or perhaps, nothing was as important as the image disyed on the te. The positions of the stars were gradually aligning, and the surge of magic had started subsequently. This time, the special magic surge wasn¡¯t very intense, and most of the Mages and Priests wouldn¡¯t even notice it. Only the Sons of the Storm would clearly know the significance of the influence of the magic acting on the stars. ¡°Deacon, No.2 and No.3 inds have delivered information through the gryphons. They have observed the same star signs. After eliminating the magic interference above the Endless Sea, the conclusion is already set.¡± A Storm lesiastic walked up the tower and spoke respectfully behind the deacon. ¡°The stars are returning to their positions.¡± ¡°I have also observed the same scene here.¡± The Storm Deacon nodded and cut off the control on the star observation te. ¡°We can draft the letter for the Pope. We shall know if Judgment Day will arrive within these three days.¡± The Storm lesiastic had a very serious expression as he took a look at therge silver te behind the deacon and slightly gasped for air. The rather young lesiastic finally couldn¡¯t help but to ask, ¡°Will ¡®it¡¯ return?¡± ¡°When the positions of the stars are corrected, the god¡¯s blood and flesh shall awaken from the long slumber. This is the revtion we obtained after leaving the continent.¡± The Storm Deacon normally wouldn¡¯t answer such an unnecessary and immature question. However, at this special moment, he hoped for someone to converse with him; therefore, he spoke indifferently, ¡°There is nothing absolute in this world as ancient records show that the positions of the stars have been realigned more than once. However, the world still exists, meaning that nothing is certain.¡± The Storm lesiastic nodded silently. In his vision, the sea wave from far away was gradually rising up. The sea had lost its peace once again. ¡­¡­ In the depths of this not-peaceful Endless Sea, a third group was also noticing the changes in the stars. In the abyss at the bottom of the sea, there was a man-made source of light that illuminated the entire seabed. There were spheres of light that were drifting in the sea and were swaying gently. Within the range of the illumination, there were countless graceful and seductive figures gathering here from all directions. A sea demonmander swung its long snake tail and arrived at the front of the assembly point. There was a temporary information outpost station secured on the seabed, and there were two deep water technicians who were controlling the information outpost with their full concentration. A deep water technician turned around and bent her tail at themander. ¡°Sir, the unmanned machine sent over thetest observation report. The celestial body is currently entering the specified position. The reading on the ¡®mysterious energy¡¯ already shows a 3% increase.¡± The sea demonmander nodded and asked, ¡°What about the situation at the ¡®excavation site¡¯?¡± ¡°The giant squid¡¯s tissue activity is currently increasing, and the ¡®rapid regeneration¡¯ is going to begin soon.¡± The sea demonmander left the information outpost and swam in front of herrades who were all gathered here. Each sea demon was pulling a long face, and they were wielding their own weapons. Each snake tail, fishtail, and tentacle was grabbing onto the seabed tightly. They were all fully focussed and waiting for this moment; none of the sea demons were cking in this entire process. They had to face what was going to happen with a serious attitude as they knew clearly what would happen when the positions of the stars were realigned. In their history records, such an asion had already happened 16 times, and on each asion, all of the sea demons would be involved. The sea demonmander swam to an appropriate position and raised her right hand which was holding a trident. All of the sea demons gathered their attention on her, and under countless pairs of eyes, themander shook the seawater with a voice that echoed throughout the entire ce. ¡°Sisters! The stars are entering their correct positions. ¡°We have been preparing for this day for many years! ¡°Sisters, please remember¡­ ¡°¡­to pay attention to the meal order!!!¡± The sea demonmander brandished her trident with strength and shouted with a voice that echoed throughout the entire seabed: ¡°The opportunity to eat to our fill will be within these two days!!¡± Chapter 222 - On This Special Day Chapter 222: On This Special Day When the positions of the stars were corrected, this world that was enveloped by magic and the power of the gods would undergo a series of hidden changes. However, only the minority would be able to detect such changes and be able to observe the knowledge and truth hidden in the depths of this world during normal times. At Anzu Kingdom¡¯s St. Soniel, in the high-ranked prayer room of the Church of Holy Light. The ¡°Saint Princess¡± Veronica was quietly kneeling down in front of the statue of the God of Holy Light. Both her hands were ced on her breast, while her eyes were closed and still. The hazy holy light shrouded her body and illuminated the entire room with warm but bright light. Anyone who saw this scene would feel unbelievable sincerity, purity, and holiness from her. However, Veronica didn¡¯t pray for long. She slowly opened her eyes and unhurriedly stood up before turning towards the direction of the door. After quietly waiting for two seconds, the door of the prayer room was silently opened. A high-ranking priestess who had short hair and ordinary looks had walked in. Her body was emitting a serene and gentle light that was simr to Veronica¡¯s sincere and holy aura. After seeing the lingering Holy Light in the prayer room, the priestess nodded and said, ¡°The Pope is looking for you.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± Veronica replied softly. Before leaving the prayer room, she couldn¡¯t help but stop to take a deep look at her good friend whom she had known for many years. Sandy stood there quietly and was still so quiet and gentle. This kind girl who had grown up together with Veronica was now also an outstanding and highly ranked priestess, but the rtionship between the two of them would never be the same as before. In the eyes of Veronica, Sandy was being wrapped by a bundle of radiance, and the radiance seemingly permeated through her skin and bones, allowing her entire body to present a translucent and golden metallic feeling. Veronica looked at Sandy¡¯s body, at that golden metallic body. The ce that was supposed to be the heart was now beating with a crystal-like illumination. Just by looking at the illumination attentively, Veronica felt the Holy Light in her body surging slightly. ¡°Are there any other questions?¡± Sandy noticed Veronica¡¯s pause and turned her head slightly to ask. Veronica shook her head. ¡°Nothing, praise the Holy Light.¡± From the prayer room to the Sage Hall, there was an outdoor garden and two long hallways in between. The Church of Holy Light¡¯s highest-ranked priests were walking along the holy stone paths, and these pious and holy people would emit a resonance of Holy Light. Even if this sanctum was in the night, it would be enveloped in a bright radiance. Veronica used her hands to gather the priestess robes¡¯ sleeves and lowered her head slightly as she walked quietly on the path. She didn¡¯t speak with anyone, nor did she look around. She was just like any of the devout priests who were entirely immersed in the Holy Light¡¯s appreciation. She saw high-ranking priests walking past her one after the other. Their luxurious priest robes were wrapped in hazy radiance, but the radiance was only floating on the surface of their flesh and skin. Some of them had already reced the innate nature of a ¡°human¡± ¡ª the golden radiance on the body was proof of being devout, and it was also the strongest energy protection from the Church of Holy Light. Veronica walked through the hallway while the attendants opened the door of the Sage Hall for her. She saw the human representative of the God of Holy Light, the supreme ruler of the Church of Holy Light, the most prestigious religious leader in Loren Continent, Saint Ivan III, quietly seated on the golden seat in the Sage Hall. This old man who had lived for 150 years had a wizened body, with white hair and a white beard. The uncovered skin revealed old-age spots and wrinkles that were umted over time. He seemed to only have a breath of life left; he was old and weak, and it felt as though he might be summoned by The Lord at any moment. However, Veronica knew clearly that this was only his appearance as the boundless Holy Light had bestowed him with true power. As long as this old man¡¯s mind was still operating and his brain wasn¡¯t dead, he would be able to make use of the surging power of the Holy Light to destroy all of the church¡¯s enemy or to protect all the devout believers. In the eyes of Veronica, Saint Ivan III didn¡¯t possess the form of a human anymore; he was just a torch that was burning with Holy Light. He was seated upright in that luxurious golden seat, and in the hazy and illusory shadows of the Holy Light torch, she could see a trace of the God of Holy Light and vestiges of the god¡¯s realm. ¡°Veronica, My Lord¡¯s devout child, you are here,¡± Saint Ivan III spoke. In his deep and slow voice, it contained gentleness and trust. ¡°The Lord is summoning you.¡± ¡°I have obtained revtion during my prayers.¡± Veronica lowered her head and spoke respectfully, ¡°The stars are reaching their correct positions. The power of resonance between the celestial bodies will open a path of truth. The moment to receive inspiration has arrived.¡± ¡°Come then, the woman of spirituality who possesses the most talents in thest seven centuries. You have already received the highest inheritance from the Church of Holy Light and have also received my personal guidance. You have contacted the most mysterious knowledge and the purest power. You have done ample preparations for this day¡­¡± Saint Ivan III¡¯s old voice echoed in the Sage Hall. As he spoke, a tinum scepter gradually appeared in the air and floated in front of Veronica. ¡°My child, hold this scepter and face the enlightenment given to you by The Lord. This is your destiny.¡± Veronica looked at the tinum scepter quietly. Her face didn¡¯t have any expression and didn¡¯t make any movements either. Saint Ivan III¡¯s voice felt as though it drifted over from a remote ce. ¡°My child? What are you waiting for?¡± The power of light in the Sage Hall was starting to surge while Veronica reached out and grabbed the scepter slowly but resolutely. ¡°I am ready to converse with The Lord.¡± A majestic and vast pir of light rose from the Sage Hall. The pir of light had prated the thick dome roof of the Sage Hall and pierced through the thick clouds while shooting straight for the ultimate star of mystery in the remote outer space, ¡°Ao¡±. At this moment, solemn holy music appeared out of nowhere as all the bells in the churches resounded at the same time. The priests in their churches and the believers in the city had stopped whatever they were doing as they listened to every note of the music. Their faces involuntarily appeared with a calm and indifferent smile while they drew the symbol of the God of Holy Light on their chest and started to pray sincerely. Veronica felt that her spirit was transcending from her body, and she could ¡°see¡± her vision rapidly rising above. Soon enough, she had already passed through the Sage Hall¡¯s dome roof, and the entire St. Soniel City was alreadypressed into a small dot. She passed through the clouds, through the dark starry sky, through countless unknown, strange shadows and phenomena¡­ Finally, her insane journey had stopped in a ce that was filled with boundless radiance. She stood in an extremely spacious ce: city walls, towers, and holy crests that were forged with light were erected at the end of her vision. There were stars that were falling, making it look like a river that stretched across the horizon as it poured into thend at a nted angle. In front of her vision was ¡°The Lord¡±. The Lord was a giant crystal object that was filled with light. The Lord was hovering at the center of this powerful light with the crystal substance forming The Lord¡¯s body. The crystal didn¡¯t have a fixed form as it was just like a crystal core floating in the sky that had many forms, variations, angles, and faces. Even though The Lord wasn¡¯t speaking, Veronica could still hear a voice echoing in her mind. ¡°Step forward. Touch and listen to The Lord¡­¡± ¡°The Lord is your protector and also the haven that your souls yearn for¡­¡± ¡°You will only be safe with the protection of The Lord¡­¡± Veronica watched that ever-changing and ever-transforming crystal core attentively. Her legs were already starting to tremble, while her body felt as though it wasn¡¯t controlled by her mind as she walked forward. The massive power was also tearing apart her consciousness, allowing her to transform from interior to exterior, being an extension of that ever-changing crystal¡­ Inexhaustible power, knowledge, mysteries, authority, wealth, and even the eternal life of the gods were now easily obtainable. Veronica took a deep breath and smiled. ¡°We have waited for this day for too long¡­¡± ¡­¡­ On the second day of the ¡°Days of Stars¡±, the southern region still had a clear night sky: it was another great day to observe the stars. After dinner, Heidi immediately returned to her room to retrieve the star observation te that was made of silver while Reba stood at the window and stared nkly at the night sky. She watched those flickering stars and suddenly wrinkled her nose while revealing an angry expression. But no one noticed the behavior of this viscountess. She merely stared nkly for a moment before she returned to her room. The ¡°Days of Stars¡± might be a very important asion for the Mages, but it was unrted to her. She wasn¡¯t able to control the star observation te and naturally wasn¡¯t able toprehend the changes in astrology or the mysteries rted to magic. When she was young, she would always follow Aunt Heidi and her masters to stand on the balcony and stare at the night sky, but¡­ It was truly a super-boring thing. She didn¡¯t like the stars at all. When Reba was on her way back to her room, she was striving to fill her mind with runes and magic circles so that she wouldn¡¯t think of anything else. All of a sudden, a tall andrge figure stood in the hallway, and she didn¡¯t have a choice but to stop. ¡°Lord Ancestor?¡± She looked at Gawain with surprise and asked, ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Today is the day with the brightest stars. Aren¡¯t you going to the balcony to observe the stars with Heidi?¡± ¡°Not going.¡± Reba shook her head forcefully and revealed an unperturbed expression. ¡°I don¡¯t understand it anyway. Every time I look at the stars, I feel like sleeping¡­¡± While looking at this youngdy who wasn¡¯t adept at pretending, Gawain couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°I have a present for you.¡± ¡°Present?¡± Reba¡¯s eyes lit up slightly. ¡°What present?!¡± Gawain took out the sessfullypleted item that he had painstakingly troubled the craftsmen to produce. ¡°It is a great item that can allow you to see many stars without the need of the star observation te.¡± Reba looked at that item with curiosity. It was a long tube made of metal, and it had an uneven thickness. The two ends were seemingly fitted with crystal lenses, and there was an adjustment knob in the middle of the tube. There was also a locking device that could be connected with a frame. Its style was truly entric, and it was different from the machine blueprints that the old ancestor had drawn previously. However, it was unknown why Reba was instantly and deeply attracted to it when she first saw the item. ¡°What is this?¡± she asked curiously. ¡°A telescope.¡± Gawain smiled and said, ¡°Like an Eagle Vision spell that doesn¡¯t need magic.¡± Chapter 223 - The Night That Was Filled With Stars Chapter 223: The Night That Was Filled With Stars Reba might have the worst talent for magic, the worst noble etiquette training, and a headache-inducing character, but from a young age, she was always the most pampered in the n. After all, the Cecil n had already declinedpletely at her generation, and the seniors of the n didn¡¯t have anyone else to nurture or care for. As such, Reba had received plenty of presents from a young age, so many that she couldn¡¯t even count them properly. However, those presents seldom left a deep impression on her. Be it beautiful clothes, new magic books, or history books, Reba didn¡¯t feel they were interesting. She wasn¡¯t like a normal young nobledy who liked flowers and new clothes, nor was she interested in history or etiquette. However, when her old ancestor lifted his coffin, she finally found someone who recognized her and was always able to bring her a refreshing feeling. As an ancestor from 700 years ago, Reba originally thought that Gawain would be the most inflexible and stern senior of the n. She never expected this Lord Ancestor to be so interesting, and the wonderful ideas in his mind weren¡¯t inferior to hers at all. Even the presents that he gave to her were very intriguing. However, when she was holding onto this thing called the ¡°telescope¡±, Reba was rather confused or still peeved with herself. ¡°I don¡¯t like to watch the stars! I haven¡¯t liked them since I was young. What¡¯s so interesting about them?!¡± Gawain merely smiled and dragged this foolish youngdy to the balcony of the feudal lord residence. In front of the surprised Heidi, he helped Reba to fix up the telescope on the frame and adjusted the focal distance on the lenses. He then pressed that stubborn girl¡¯s head and ced her eye on the lens. Half a minuteter¡­ ¡°It is truly interesting to watch the stars!!¡± Reba let out a voice that was void of all moral backbone. ¡°Ancestor, this is¡­ Reba¡¯s present you mentioned?¡± Heidi was also drawn to themotion over here and couldn¡¯t help but put down the star observation te in her hands ande over. ¡°There aren¡¯t any magic waves¡­ What is this?¡± ¡°You can try it.¡± Gawain smiled and said, ¡°Mm¡­ It might not have the star as, and it might not be as professional as the star observation te, but if it is only used to observe things far away, it might be easier to use than your magic tool.¡± Heidi used a great deal of effort before she could squeeze Reba¡¯s head to the side. She then took a nce into the lens and instantly revealed a surprised expression. In this world, the Eagle Vision spell and the ¡°star observation te¡± that was developed with the Eagle Vision spell as a basis had been used mainly to view things remotely and to observe the stars. Even though they were restricted to being used by the spellcasters, these two spells had held back the people from the research of optics. The basic physics of optics in this world wasn¡¯t any different from Gawain¡¯s otherworldly knowledge. However, with the ability to view things remotely with a single spell, who would think of putting a concave and convex lens in abination to create a telescope? After all, the ¡°technology¡± route for spells and optics was simply too different. Reba was at aplete loss as she looked at this amazing metallic device. She walked around it for a few rounds and couldn¡¯t see a single rune or magic material. She couldn¡¯t help but scratch her hair in a bewildered expression and asked, ¡°But why is it like this?¡± Heidi had also lifted her head and asked curiously, ¡°Yes, why?¡± After hearing their question, Gawain¡¯s mouth made a smirk. They finally learned how to take the initiative and ask why. They were seeking the principles instead of being satisfied with it being functional. This was the ideology he had been striving to impart to the technical personnel on the territory. All the hard work had finally paid off and could be seen from his two descendants. ¡°We will need to talk about the physics of light.¡± Gawain pondered for a moment before deciding to exin in a simple manner. ¡°You should at least know about the magnifying ss, right?¡± Gawain exined about the effects of a concave lens and a convex lens, and also the principle of the telescope. However, he didn¡¯t provide an overly in-depth or overly certain exnation. He tried his best to use conjectural answers to describe the effects of the telescope, and this was a necessary caution¡­ This strange world¡¯sws of physics were very odd; who could be certain that just because the telescope was working that, therefore, the physics of optics here were the same as Earth¡¯s? Perhaps, in thisrge world, thews of light and refraction were only performing in a way that he was familiar with? However, if one day they were to research the very details of this subject, what should Gawain do if they discovered that this world¡¯s ¡°light¡± was actually fundamentally different? He knew about the significant influence that he had on Heidi and Reba. Even if they had the suspicious nature that made them qualified to be researchers, the words that he said would always leave a deep impression in their hearts. As such, he had avoided speaking about the principle of magic with an excessively firm tone in front of the duo. Unless the knowledge had already obtained practical and adequate proof. This was to avoid himself from influencing their research minds in the future. Reba was at a loss as she listened. She knew about the theory of magic, mathematics, machinery, and even some theoretical knowledge on alchemy, but she had never imagined the physics of this world could be exined from such a perspective. This gave her a great and fresh sensation: ¡°It turns out that the light that is everywhere¡­ can actually be so interesting?¡± While speaking, she ced her eye onto the telescope and watched the stars in the sky in high spirits. She imagined those remote stars going through a long journey and passing through the atmosphere that was overflowing with magic before finally entering a set of lenses. Through the lenses, the stars became clearer andrger images. She was able to see more and brighter stars that she had never seen when she was young. She was also able to see the indistinct celestial structures that were originally hidden within the stars. Due to the limited craftsmanship of the first telescope, the magnification rate wasn¡¯t very high, and it wasn¡¯t possible for her to see the secrets within the stars. Despite the case, the stars that were much more dazzling than she imagined were enough for her to be amazed. ¡°In the past, I had always wanted to throw Large Fireballs into the sky to st those stars down.¡± Reba lifted her head and blinked her eyes while saying, ¡°But they are so far away¡­¡± ¡°Do you know that all the stars in the sky are also burning fireballs,¡± Gawain smiled and said. But he quickly supplemented, ¡°Of course, this is just my conjecture.¡± ¡°The stars are also burning fireballs?¡± Reba looked at Gawain with shock and asked, ¡°Then what are they using as fuel? How can they burn for so many years?¡± Back on Earth, it was called hydrogen, but only heaven knew what the stars were burning on here¡­ Gawain didn¡¯t reply immediately and could onlyugh awkwardly. ¡°I don¡¯t know either.¡± ¡°Lord Ancestor, you aren¡¯t bluffing me, right?¡± Reba looked at Gawain with suspicious eyes and said, ¡°How can the stars in the sky berge fireballs?!¡± ¡°You cannot speak like that to our Ancestor!¡± Heidi red at Reba sternly in response. Just as Gawain was feeling touched, Heidi spoke the second half of her statement, ¡°Ancestor was suspended in the sky back then. He must have personally seen how those stars were burning¡­ Right, Ancestor?¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­Mm¡­ Right, right¡­¡± ¡°Ohh? That¡¯s incredible!¡± Reba let out an exaggerated response before quickly touching her chin and going into contemtion. ¡°What if I am able to umte an extremelyrge Fireball and then throw it very, very far away. Will it be a star?¡± ¡°¡­That is probably impossible.¡± Gawain didn¡¯t know tough or cry as he shook his hand and said, ¡°Real stars are much bigger than you can imagine. Of course, this is also my conjecture.¡± Heidi revealed a pensive expression and asked, ¡°Ancestor, do you think ¡®Ao¡¯ is also a burning fireball?¡± ¡°Ao¡­? Probably.¡± Gawain wrapped his arms around his chest and lifted his head to look at the brightest star in the sky. He naturally knew what it was, or more likely, he could guess what it was. That was this sr system¡¯s ¡°sun¡± that this was revolving around. This that he was standing on (assuming it was a) wasn¡¯t a standard. It was highly possible that it was just a satellite revolving around a gas giant, and this gas giant would be what the people normally addressed as the ¡°sun¡±. However, this gas giant should also be revolving around another celestial body, and ording to the information Gawain had now, the celestial body was probably ¡°Ao¡±. It was the brightest star in the night sky and also the mysterious lone star that could asionally be seen during the day. It was also the ¡°ultimate star of mystery¡± that had a special status in the hearts of mages and astrologists. The Beyonders had all sorts of exnations for Ao, but no matter who it was, they had unanimously determined that it had a special impact in the study of some mysteries. Ao was the base point of all astrology observations, and it was frequently used as the ¡°spiritual focal point¡± when mages were meditating. In fact, some of the religions said that Ao and the gods¡¯ residence were rted and that it was a lighthouse that guided the way to the god realm. Reba looked at the sky and had a sudden discovery. ¡°Say¡­ Today¡¯s Ao seems to be much brighter than usual.¡± ¡°During winter, Ao¡¯s brightness would increase, don¡¯t you know? This is themon sense of astrology study!¡± Heidi looked at Reba helplessly and said, ¡°I really don¡¯t know what happened to all the things you learned when you were young.¡± Reba touched her neck and said, ¡°I know that! But Ao during this year¡¯s Days of Stars seems to be brighter than the previous years!¡± ¡°Is that so¡­?¡± Heidi looked at the sky suspiciously. She wasn¡¯t able to detect the changes with the naked eye, but she knew that Reba was shockingly sensitive to such inexplicable details. As such, she said skeptically, ¡°Perhaps there is something different¡­ I remember reading from some of the neglected magic books that when the positions of the stars are ¡®corrected¡¯, the ultimate star of mystery, Ao, will have a strong connection with the world. The doors between the god realm and the human world would be loosened, and the predicted year seems to be within these few years.¡± After hearing the strange and mysterious words from Heidi, Gawain felt a trace of an indescribable feeling. When the positions of the stars are corrected¡­ Why does it sound so inauspicious? Just as he was pondering about if the statement ¡°when the positions of the stars are corrected¡± was some kind of magic phenomenon or just a rumor, the doors of the balcony were suddenly opened. The sea-demondy eximed while she wasing out, ¡°Aiya, it is done for, it is done for, it is done for!!¡± ¡°What is done for?!¡± Gawain had never seen Tiel acting so frantically and making such a ruckus. This seafood that was frequently in a winter hibernation would always do thingszily, but she was rather spooked right now. ¡°Does someone wish to stew you?¡± ¡°The positions of the stars! The positions of the stars!¡± Tiel used her tail to hop towards Gawain before gesturing. ¡°Today is the day the stars will return to their positions! Once the stars reach their corrected positions, the giant squid in the deep sea¡­ the giant squid¡­¡± Gawain was just thinking about the connection between the stars and the evil god in the deep sea. When he heard Tiel mention the thing that was a suspected ancient god with such a panicked tone, cold sweat instantly oozed out from Gawain. ¡°Speak clearly! What will happen to the ¡®giant squid¡¯ when the positions of the stars are corrected?¡± ¡°The giant squid will regenerate without limits.¡± Tiel was so anxious that tears were about to flow down. ¡°I have missed out on the ultimate mealtime!¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­Ha?!¡± Chapter 224 - All Sorts of Strange Coincidences Chapter 224: All Sorts of Strange Coincidences As it turned out, it was really hard to exin to the sea demons using normal logic. Every interaction with them brought a whole new experience on the worldview level. ¡ª¡ªTake Tiel for example; Gawain felt that at least one out of every three sentences from her came with a san check[1] during his conversation with this salted fish¡­ ¡°Say it more clearly!¡± Gawain looked at this ¡°mermaid¡± that was bouncing before him with ring eyes. ¡°Our worldview is different, I¡¯m telling you. We really cannot understand things that you just blurt out without a head or a tail!¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that when the stars are right, the big squid in the deep sea will see a ¡®surge¡¯.¡± Tiel struck the ground of the balcony hard with force. ¡°Although we couldn¡¯t figure out the reason, it seems that the big squid will absorb energy during certain celestial movements. Then, the flesh on the squid corpse will grow rapidly. Within a few days¡¯ time, we¡¯d be able to dig up fuel that was equivalent to the output of several decades. And more importantly, we could open up our bellies and eat. ¡ª¡ª And regardless of how much we ate, the big squid would swiftly regrow¡­ Slurp¡­¡± Tiel couldn¡¯t help slurping a mouthful of saliva as she exined, a longing and happy expression showing on her face. ¡°Ah, that is truly a gift from nature¡­¡± However, Gawain became increasingly horrified as he listened at the side. It wasn¡¯t difficult toprehend the bizarre judgments that the sea demons made since there were pits in their brains. However, he¡¯d vaguely realized what that so-called ¡°surge in the big squid¡± was from Tiel¡¯s description¡­ Damn. The ¡°divine remains¡± in the deep sea would rapidly regenerate when the stars were right¡­ This wasn¡¯t an attempt at resurrection, was it? However, just from how this bunch of salted fish were still alive and kicking and the world hadn¡¯t been destroyed, clearly, a certain heretic god in the deep sea had not seeded in resurrecting even till now. Heidi who was beside her also developed an interest in this topic. Although she had no idea about ¡°the gods being dead¡± like Gawain and her associative ability wasn¡¯t as good as that of her imaginative ancestor and Reba, she still detected some strange, terrifying horror from Tiel¡¯s description. Hence, she could not help but ask, ¡°From your tone, a simr incident has happened many times?¡± ¡°Let me think¡­¡± Tiel pinched her chin and thought hard for a while. ¡°Ah, it has happened about sixteen times¡­ Other than the first time when we didn¡¯t figure out the situation and ended up in a mess, unable to eat to our heart¡¯s content, we have been able to open up our bellies and feast for several days each time thereafter¡­¡± Gawain broke out in a cold sweat. He was bing increasingly convinced that his assessment had been right. ¡ª¡ª Damn it, the positions of the stars had been realigned sixteen damned times! Sixteen times! A certain ancient god (in Gawain¡¯s opinion it was more likely a heretic god) in the deep sea had shown signs of reviving sixteen times! In the end, it was eaten and made dead again by a bunch of deep-sea salted fish with superb appetites¡­ eaten and made dead again¡­ So, what exactly the hell were this gang of sea demons? What material were they made of?! In this struggle that went into the depths of one¡¯s soul, an idea suddenly shed across like lightning in Gawain¡¯s mind: he recalled a certain ¡°collectible¡± of his. He looked at the salted-fish demon before him curiously. ¡°Tiel, if you were to be given a piece of something with simr qualities to the big squid, would you be able to differentiate it?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Tiel batted her eyes. ¡°Do you sell fake meat too?¡± Gawain choked for a moment. ¡°¡­It¡¯s a little troublesome to exin. Tell you what, early in the morning tomorrow¡ª Forget it, it¡¯s indefinite what time you¡¯ll wake up next. Make a trip with me now. I have something suspected to be ¡®squid flesh¡¯ here to show you.¡± ¡­¡­ At the same time, in the Endless Sea far fromnd, the Sons of the Storm were monitoring the movements of the stars, monitoring the condition of ¡®Ao¡¯, and also monitoring the changes in the energy fluctuationsing from the deep sea. The positions of the stars were already right, and concurrently, today was also the day in a year where ¡°Ao¡¯s¡± energy reaction would be the strongest. The powers of that ultimately mysterious star would stack up with the energy produced by many of the celestial bodies in the night sky. The unique energy that they released together would be a key to awakening the God of Storms. The lesiastics of the Sons of the Storm lined up neatly on the tform, while their deacon stood on the edge of the tform closest to the sea cliff. This deacon draped in ck robes gazed at the sea that was getting more and more violent, as if he was gazing at a boundless abyss that was about to devour the entire world. Would ¡°The Lord¡± return? The storm deacon didn¡¯t know what he was truly thinking. He didn¡¯t know whether he was looking forward to the return of The Lord or fearing that The Lord would truly return. But he knew very well that such a conflicted mentality wasn¡¯t exclusive to himself. Judgment Day would ultimatelye, and mortals would find their rightful positions when it arrived ¡ª¡ª but what were the rightful positions of the Sons of the Storm? How about the Eternal Sleepers? Or the Oblivion Association? They embraced the day of destruction because every dark sect believed that they¡¯d found the path that allowed themselves to exist forever when doomsday arrived. They believed that they¡¯d even found the path to advancing and bing something simr to the gods that were imperishable for eternity on the day the gods devoured the world. But they were ultimately mortals. They couldn¡¯t be sure that their paths were the correct ones. However, it was precisely under the torture of such fear and worry that they, instead, shifted to fanaticism and confidence. ¡ª¡ªOnly on the arrival of this fateful day would this small group of people be jolted to their senses and abruptly begin to doubt the path they¡¯d been on the entire time. If the gods were to return, would mortals really be able to survive? The Sons of the Storm began the ritual on the tform, summoning the powers of the sea to protect themselves. When the Pope¡¯s orders were given, they would be immortal together with the sea. ¡­¡­ Within the Typhon borders, in the Eternal Sleepers¡¯ concealed temple, the nightmare bishops were also gathered. The failure of the 17th ¡°deep diving¡± resulted in them losing some subordinate node clusters, but the bishop team was intact. Under the guidance of the Eternal Sleepers Pope, they arrived at the ¡°connecting hall¡± and built a powerful, connectedwork of consciousness. They waited for the observation information of the stars and gods from the Sons of the Storm while preparing to activate the ¡°eternal dream-realm¡±. ¡­¡­ In the north of the continent, in the Oblivion Association¡¯s underground hideout, Beltira stood amongst the bishops, looking down at the biological tissues that squirmed ceaselessly in the underground rift valley. She watched the archbishop floating above those biological tissues and guiding the powerful energy to be infused into ¡°the body of the fake god¡±. The time wasn¡¯t ripe ¡ª¡ª every fallen Druid knew this very well. They had yet to gather enough tissues. The Anzu-Typhon war that was nned to be realized before winter this year had also failed to break out because of the obstruction of Duke Ferdinand who had suddenly changed his stance. The flesh-gathering operation within the Anzu borders also failed repeatedly. However, there was no more time left now. Whether Judgment Day had really already arrived, all the dark sects had to ¡°ignite¡± their respective final ns in advance. This was radicalism, but also necessary caution. At a certain moment on this day, the movements of ¡°Ao¡± finally reached the peak of a year. The powers of the stars also entered this world at the same time. ¡­ And at this moment, ocean tides surged. The Endless Sea raged and roared like it was boiling. The Sons of the Storm activated the ritual amidst the tsunami. Indescribable forces started to connect them to the entire ocean. The Eternal Sleepers activated all nodes in the mental processingwork. The ¡°eternal dream realm¡± that had yet to bepleted began to connect all consciousness of the believers into the same world. As the Oblivion Association activated the ¡°body of the fake god¡±, that powerful polymer of flesh gradually awakened. Under the deep sea, the God of Storms who had fallen for tens of thousands of years twitched his body ¡ª¡ª and this one spasm¡­ was the signal to start the meal. The sea demons raised their forks and knives¡ª¡ª or pincers and tails for some. No one knew about the major upheaval that happened outside of human society. The only incident that had some slight connection to it was in the north of the Loren Continent: deep in the mountain range at the southern borders of the Anzu Kingdom, a sea demon named Tiel saw the treasure that Gawain had stored away seriously. Miss Sea Demon let out a merry cry, ¡°Woo! It¡¯ll definitely be delicious!¡± Gawain rushed to grab her tail in time before this salted-fish demon nibbled a hole in the crystal cube. As he casually pulled her backward, he lunged forward and defended that precious divine tissue sample. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t hide it! Didn¡¯t you get me here to give me more food!¡± Tiel pped the ground with her tail irritatedly and then dashed forward, attempting to snatch the crystal cube from Gawain¡¯s hands. ¡°Give it to me, give it to me to have a taste¡­¡± Gawain dodged Tiel¡¯s pounces while shouting loudly, ¡°Stop, stop, stop! I called you here to see whether this thingamajig was ¡®a big squid¡¯ or not. Who said anything about letting you eat it?¡± ¡°What is there for me to see if you¡¯re not letting me eat it?!¡± Tiel simply couldn¡¯t get her hands on the tasty snack. The entire fish was close to going berserk. ¡°I missed the dinner party that only happens once every so many years! I thought you were going to make it up for me!¡± However, Gawain¡¯s determination exceeded Tiel¡¯s imagination. Regardless of how she jumped around, it was impossible that Gawain would give the only divine sample now to this salted fish demon as supper. And after Tiel finally got tired of jumping, she was finally forced to quieten down. ¡°Let me tell you, this isn¡¯t the ¡®big squid¡¯ that we usually dig ¡ª¡ª but it does feel quite simr.¡± ¡°Not the same?¡± Gawain¡¯s brow was lifted. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Of course, I¡¯m sure! No sea demon would be mistaken in recognizing the big squid!¡± Tiel stood with arms akimbo. It was unknown how she managed to prop herself up so levelly with a curved fishtail ¡ª¡ª she could hardly stand on two legs in usual times. ¡°In my opinion, this piece of pastry probably fell off a lifeform that is of a species simr to the big squid¡­ Hey, hey, where did you get this? How big are the remains for this thing? Tell me! I won¡¯t eat this piece of processed food. I can go search for the food by myself¡­¡± Gawain: ¡°¡­¡± Are you salted-fish demons a bunch of lifeforms that are even more terrifying than the deep-sea heretic god? Are you people the deep-seaedian gods?! ¡°Unfortunately, I only have this one sample in my hands.¡± After looking dazedly at Tiel for a long while and making thetter tense right down to her tail, Gawain couldn¡¯t help but shake his head as he gave her the bad news. ¡°And I don¡¯t know where to find more of them either. ¡ª¡ª This piece has been passed down by us nd people¡¯ from a thousand years ago.¡± Tiel was aware of the average lifespan ofnd people. She was instantly startled, ¡°Ha? A piece of pastry had to be passed down for a thousand years? It is said that we cannot waste food, but there¡¯s no need for you people to be this miserly¡­¡± Then, she began to muse: Whatnd people being in hot water? This small cookie piece is an heirloom? Literally broken thoughts and all sorts of nonsense. Gawain watched such a Tiel and could only feel drops of cold sweat on his forehead. He waspletely at a loss of how to exin to this person that divine flesh couldn¡¯t be eaten here. ¡ª¡ªHe felt that this was literally a problem at the level of humans and gods, survival and extinction, races and fate. But Tiel might highly likely think that this was simply a problem with recipes after she heard this. For the first time ever since he transmigrated, Gawain felt that he¡¯d lost sanity points¡­ [1] Sanity check: a basic test to quickly evaluate whether a im or the result of a calction can possibly be true Chapter 225 - Slipping Into the Dream With the Wind Chapter 225: Slipping Into the Dream With the Wind Gawain almost couldn¡¯t exactly recall how he finished the rest of the interaction with Tiel. He only knew that he barely managed to drag that deep-seaedian god with intriguing values toplete a series of tests ¡ª¡ª mainly to test the various reactions of the divine flesh after sea demons came into contact with it. Through the tests, he found that although Tiel didn¡¯t fear the effects of the divine flesh like him, the two still had another huge distinction: when he came into contact with the divine flesh, it would show evident signs of cowering and devitalizing; whereas when Tiel touched the divine flesh, it would not show such reactions of fear and flinching. The other difference was that Gawain did not find that lump of strange biological tissues ¡®tasty¡¯, but Tiel¡¯s saliva could flow to her feet (tail) if she looked at that piece of flesh in the crystal cube¡­ From the perspective of whether they were able to repress and intimidate that lump of flesh, Gawain was clearly a little more formidable than Tiel. However, an exhaustion that came from the depths of his heart would still arise spontaneously whenever Gawain was facing Tiel ¡ª¡ª interacting with such seafood was too damn draining on his energy. After sending Tiel back to her room, Gawain, who was both physically and mentally exhausted, came to the balcony once again. Heidi had already returned to her room to rest, and Reba had also gone back to her room hugging her extremely precious new present, the telescope. For a while, Gawain was the only person left at the balcony. He lifted his head and looked up at the sky where stars were twinkling. In the moonless night, ¡°Ao¡±, which was located right in the center of the sky, was emitting an especially striking brilliance, watching over this world like the legendary eyes of the various gods. Until today, he hadn¡¯t been able to find any traces of the surveince satellite amongst those stars. Whether it was getting Heidi to help use the Eagle Vision spell or using the newly manufactured astronomical telescope, Gawain wasn¡¯t able to find the surveince satellite, nor could he catch any signs of man-made objects located in outer space. He naturally knew how difficult it was to find the satellite in outer space with just the simple and primitive astronomical telescope and the Eagle Vision spell with limited effects. Given the current technology, it would be extremely difficult for him to track it, let alone being able to physically see it. But he also knew that there was somehow an ¡°instinctual connection¡± between him and the satellite. Even if he couldn¡¯t see it, he knew where the satellite¡¯s location was once he lifted his head. Even with the aid of this intuitive sense, he still couldn¡¯t find any traces of the satellite. There were only two exnations for this. It was either the size of the satellite was very small and the magnifying power of current observation mediums was severely inadequate (such that there waspletely no way of seeing it), or that satellite was being hidden by some kind of concealment technique¡­ If it was the former, following the improvement of technology, being able to view the ancient satellite from the ground would merely be a matter of time. If it was thetter, then Gawain could only wait until he developed aerospace technology and headed up there himself to have a look. Gawain¡¯s contemtions rose and fell; thoughts drifted in his mind one after another. And just then, he suddenly felt his consciousness fall into a trance for a moment. This kind of trance was difficult to exin using words. It was like the ¡°consciousness¡± that was originally locked in his body suddenly ¡°extended¡± out for a moment. In that brief trance, Gawain felt his own thoughts be unusually sharp immediately; his perceptive range became unusually broad; even his soul had extended outside of his body and built a connection with countless souls extremely far away. ¡ª¡ª He was jolted to his senses suddenly and realized that all he¡¯d felt just now certainly wasn¡¯t an illusion. Just as he was pondering what exactly was going on, the trance-like sensation struck again, and this time, he caught the thread of this feeling in time; in the next second, some knowledge naturally emerged in his mind. Gawain realized that he actually knew how to control this strange state and made use of such a state to construct connections on the soul level. He realized where this knowledge came from almost immediately ¡ª¡ªthat eternal sleeper that he devoured! He condensed his consciousness almost instinctively; under the guidance of the knowledge and experience that he gained from the devouring, he instantlypleted the re-stabilizing of his thoughts, and the moment he resumed grasping the power of his thoughts, the sight before Gawain¡¯s eyes turned upside down. He found himself standing in a city that was difficult to describe in words. This city almost exhausted humankind¡¯s imagination regarding ¡°majestic¡±, ¡°magnificent¡±, ¡°elegant¡±, ¡°beautiful¡± and various other adjectives. Countless pure white grand buildings stood in the city. The edges of every tower and pce were mounted with fringes made of pure gold. Large amounts of magical crystals containing infinite powers floated above the city. The magic energy that they emitted formed a splendid aurora backdrop. And in between the aurora backdrop, floatingnds, floating castles, and pces of all sizes were suspended in the extremely distant sky, just like the residence of the gods in the legends. Whether it was the City of Thousand Towers that was the pride of the Violet Kingdom, or the Sacred Stars Temple that the elves boasted as the peak of art, or even the Gondor capital from 700 years ago ¡ª they were all unable to bepared with this city. ¡ª¡ªIt was most unlikely for it to be built for humans to reside in, but more like it was created specially to express imagination and corroborate with the grand and unique scenes in fairy tales. Even with Gawain¡¯s disposition, upon seeing this city and this world, he was immensely stunned at once and couldn¡¯t find his words for a long time. Where was this? How did this appear? Was this¡­ also the game of the Eternal Sleepers? This was an illusion that they created? Gawain pondered in astonishment. This inconceivable scene before his eyes could only be exined with the Eternal Sleepers¡¯ actual dream realm, yet he found that this sight was really multiple times moreplicated and vaster than the illusions he had seen thest time. He knew that the Eternal Sleeper who invaded his mind the previous time was considered one of the very best senior management personnel. The illusions that he created should be considered to be of the highest standards even among the Eternal Sleepers, but this scene before his eyes¡­ It was far better than the illusion from the heretic cult believer that he devoured. Had an even stronger eternal sleeper appeared? To deal with himself? Gawain frowned. He didn¡¯t think those Eternal Sleepers had forgotten the lesson so quickly and approached him once more. And just as he was pondering, he suddenly noticed that indistinct shadows had emerged one after another in the initially deserted city streets. Those shadows swiftly condensed into form after their appearance and quickly became strikingly vivid and lifelike human figures. They materialized like they were the natives of this city, who would suddenly appear, move about, and live life here ¡ª¡ª this sight prompted Gawain to think of the ¡°loading¡± process in virtual scenes. Hold on. These weren¡¯t ¡°strikingly vivid and lifelike human figures¡±, they were real! Gawain perceived that these figures that suddenly appeared weren¡¯t illusions almost instantly: every one of their faces carried lifelike radiances, and their speech and deeds were also without the slightest difference from actual intelligent beings. Most importantly, through the knowledge and techniques obtained from the devouring, he couldpletely decide which part of the illusion was fabricated out of thin air and which part was a projection of reality. The figures that suddenly appeared in this city were all ¡°projections of reality¡± ¡ª¡ª these were living, actual people! Gawain¡¯s heart pounded. He vaguely realized what kind of ce he¡¯d entered, but before he could observe these ¡°residents¡± moving about the city in detail, his shoulder was tapped by someone from the side. Gawain forcefully restrained the urge to strike back and expose himself. He turned around peacefully and looked curiously at the person who had tapped his shoulder ¡ª¡ª it was a youth who looked extraordinarily handsome and happened to be staring curiously at him. Without waiting for Gawain to decide what to say, this youth initiated the conversation. ¡°I¡¯d thought I saw wrongly earlier¡ª¡ª It actually really is the image of Gawain Cecil? It looks very simr to the portrait!¡± Gawain was startled upon hearing the words ¡°Gawain Cecil¡±. He thought he¡¯d been exposed. But he instantly came to a realization after hearing the other party: thanks to the experiences with video games in his previous life, he immediately guessed what the ¡°image¡± that the other person spoke of meant. The ¡°residents¡± of this city had configured their images in this world by themselves? He looked around and immediately believed that his guess was right ¡ª¡ª because it was impossible to have so many handsome guys in the real world. Even more, it was impossible for Scorpion Stingers who had been extinct for several thousand years to appear in the real world. What was this considered? Arge-scale immersive VR[1] game produced by the Eternal Sleepers was it¡­? This bunch of heretic cult believers actually came up with such a cool set of things in private? This style¡­ this style was different from all the things that he¡¯d seen ever since he¡¯d transmigrated! However, all these thoughts only shed across Gawain¡¯s mind. On the outside, he smiled without the slightest peculiarity. ¡°Trying novelty once in a while.¡± ¡°Not bad, not bad. Gawain Cecil¡¯s image indeed deserves to be described as valiant.¡± The extraordinarily handsome youth smiled. ¡°But there¡¯s no need for you to keep that full beard too. It looks too oldish. I believe that the portrait left behind when Gawain Cecil was 25 years old looked better than his death portrait¡­¡± Had the full beard offended you?! Had the death portrait provoked you?! Besides, Gawain Cecil had risen from his coffin for a good half a year. That portrait back then could no longer be considered his death portrait, do you understand?! The corner of Gawain¡¯s eyes twitched. He forcefully resisted the urge to give this person ¡ª who appeared to be handsome and genial but heaven knew what kind of savage and malicious heretic believer he truly was ¡ª a vicious beating. He humored him for a while with a skin-deep smile before he walked away on quick steps. He bowed his head and moved swiftly in this unbelievable city¡¯s gorgeous and wide streets and finally found a deserted corner. After leaving the sights of the heretic cult believers, the first thing he did was to think of a way to hide his true appearance. Even though the previous heretic cult believer hadn¡¯t be suspicious after seeing his appearance, and even believed that this was some kind of unique ¡°personal hobby¡±, Gawain didn¡¯t dare to wander about this ¡°virtual world¡±, which was highly likely created by the Eternal Sleepers using awork of human minds, with this face of his. After all, he¡¯d devoured an Eternal Sleeper of a rather high rank previously. The probability of his own face attracting hatred was too high. He was not an Eternal Sleeper, but the one that he devoured left behind a precious wealth of knowledge for him. Gawain still remembered how he¡¯d created objects out of the blue using his will in the dream realm thest time ¡ª¡ª and in this world, he found that creation through will had be even easier than before. Several minutester, a tall young man with pale blonde hair walked out of the corner of the alley. [1] Virtual Reality Chapter 226 - A Boss Sneaked In Chapter 226: A Boss Sneaked In Gawain walked with poise on the streets of this ¡°fantasy city¡± with the face of Charlie I, not the slightest bit worried that he would be exposed. Because he¡¯d already seen more than twenty Charlie I¡¯s as he walked here¡­ Charlie I wasn¡¯t an earth-shattering handsome man, but clearly, walking on the streets with the face of Anzu¡¯s founding king was an entirely different feeling of cool. These heretics of the Eternal Sleepers who immersed in the virtual world were ultimately mortals who had the seven emotions and six sensory pleasures. In some¡­ strange ways, they had still preserved their individual interests. All of these brought an inexplicable and inexpressible sense of conflict to Gawain. This was what the Eternal Sleepers worked hard to pursue and attempted to create? An unreal, nice, even a fairytale-like¡­ dream? Gawain could clearly sense that this virtual world was very different from those illusions that he¡¯d encountered previously. Not only was this ce even grander and more magnificent, it was also more real, even easier for people to fall into it. Every leaf, every ray of sunlight, even every particle of dust had been shaped, and they operated ording to the real world. Meanwhile, the ¡°residents¡± walking on the streets and alleyways enjoyed all of this with satisfaction and delight, as if they¡¯dpletely forgotten that this was a virtual space. Gawain was also slightly surprised ¡ª¡ª he hadn¡¯t expected there to be so many people in the Eternal Sleepers. If this massive city as well as those floatingnds and pces in the sky were full of people, then the number of Eternal Sleepers would probably reach a shocking amount. Even being in the millions was possible. A low-profile heretic sect that developed covertly¡­ could have such a big poption? Gawain walked in this dream city with a belly full of doubts, and in the process ofing into contact with the city¡¯s ¡°residents¡±, he gradually increased his understanding of this inconceivable ce. Crossing over the main road in the center of the city, Gawain wandered here following his instincts, searching for those things that might further reveal the mysteries of this city. However, when he attempted to pass through a dome building that no one was visiting, he waspelled to stop in his steps. There was a gap in this ¡°dream realm¡± that originally ought to be perfect. He saw that the shadows inside this dome building were messy and broken. Pure white marble only covered an area less than a third of the building, and in the vacant area of the marble floor, vast spaces of grayish-ck dull voids could be seen. The disheveled and tattered rays of light in the air connected with the void, forming a look of chaos and disorder. This was already the fourth ¡°upleted area¡± that he¡¯d found in this city. He recalled the information that he¡¯d heard from the ¡°residents¡± earlier. This dream city had been activated ahead of time. It seemed that in the Eternal Sleepers¡¯ initial n, they still needed to prepare for a very long time before activating this massivework of consciousness. However, changes in the situation forced them to activate everything in advance, and this led to multiple ws being present in the dream city. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t only the dream city that had yet to bepleted, even thosends and pces floating in the sky were unfinished work ¡ª¡ª for manynds, only their outlines wereplete; there was no vegetation or color on the surface at all. And the pces were simply empty shells: inside them were ¡°voids of consciousness¡± that were enough to devour minds. Gawain didn¡¯t know what ¡°change in situation¡± had impelled the Eternal Sleepers to activate thiswork of consciousness in advance, but he instinctively believed that it had to do with the ¡°correction¡± of the stars ¡ª¡ª Tiel had once mentioned that those Sons of the Storm who foolishly fought the sea demons in the sea seemed to know about the righting of the stars and the resurrection of the gods. They often held big astrology divination rituals or sketched drawings rted to stars and the ancient gods on rocks. Besides, Gawain had good reason to believe that the Eternal Sleepers who had close contacts with the Sons of the Storm were definitely aware of this. The stars would be righted; the gods would awaken. To wee this grand asion, the heretic cult believers were forced to present the ¡°sacrifice¡± that had yet to bepleted in advance? This was the only logical exnation that Gawain coulde up with. Although there were still many unknowns in it, the general direction should be correct. Only, probably none of the heretics could¡¯ve imagined that the positions of the stars had been righted sixteen times ¡ª¡ªyet their gods still hadn¡¯t awakened. Whether or not there were other divine corpses on this, Gawain wasn¡¯t sure. But he was sure that the only god whose whereabouts was clear,id at the bottom of the sea. At present, it still wasn¡¯t enough food for that bunch of deep-seaedians. In this case, the heretics¡¯ activation of thiswork of consciousness in advance would be equivalent to effort that was in vain. And in this process, the losses in manpower and resources, the disorganization and rearrangement, and the risk of being exposed from forcefully moving ahead of schedule would heavily strike their arrogance. At this thought, Gawain could not help but beam happily and shake his head with a smile as he left this dome building that could not be passed through. He knew that the three dark sects had strong backgrounds: even if all of them had activated somerge-scale rituals by error that led to losses for them, it wouldn¡¯t cause any impact that would damage their foundations. Regardless, a loss was a loss¡ª¡ª at least within a short period of time, the frequency of them causing trouble would be greatly lowered. The ¡°residents¡± in the city were still ¡°living¡± contentedly and happily. Everyone wore joyful looks. They used illusions and dreams to numb their nerves and indulge in the joy of some long-cherished wish being fulfilled. It was unknown how long these merry emotions of theirs couldst ¡ª¡ª probably till the righting of the stars ended ¡ª but still no god had awakened. In order to avoid trouble, Gawain did not return to the arterial streets of the city but weaved through the paths in between buildings. He gradually approached the core area of this dream city. And at the moment he stepped into the core area, he sensed a change in the surrounding atmosphere. A solemn air lingered in here. The rxed and leisurely atmosphere in the outer area of the city vanished as if it¡¯d been cut away by an invisible screen. Gawain surveyed his surroundings in astonishment. In the end, he really saw an extremely thin, almost transparent ¡°wall¡± looming behind him, and this wall even extended to both sides, seeming to have encircled the entire core area. Gawain was cautious to not move casually; instead, he carefully observed the situation around this transparent wall. He soon realized that almost all ¡°residents¡± were moving just outside of the wall, with only a small number of ¡°residents¡± passing through it. Moreover, these ¡°residents¡± who¡¯d passed through the wall were divided into two kinds. One kind walked in casually, while others had to stop for a long time in front of the wall, reciting some mantra or cing their hands on the wall and inserting somemand before they could enter. This was an ¡°authority lock¡±? Only qualified people could pass through it? Gawain bowed his head and nced at his body in surprise. He was sure he¡¯d casually strolled in, and he¡¯d only be aware of this ¡°filtering¡± wall due to the change in atmosphere after passing through it. He had some kind of ¡°great authority¡± here? Where did such authoritye from¡­? Could it be the authority of the Eternal Sleeper that he¡¯d devoured? Gawain frowned. If that really was the case, then this bunch of Eternal Sleepers had really made a mess of their permissions system. A member of the sect that had already died actually wasn¡¯t removed from it ¡ª¡ª another person actually put on the concealed identity and sneaked in just like that¡­ However, after some careful thought, he realized that this wasn¡¯t considered a w either. ¡ª¡ªIn usual circumstances, once this person died, it would be equivalent to an automatic cancetion. Who would¡¯ve thought that there could be a devourer like himself who would enter using the identity of the dead like this¡­? No matter what, Gawain became more vignt here and now, and decided to be even more careful to avoid interaction with others: a ce of greater authority meant that fewer people would be able to pass through, and the fewer the number of people allowed through, the higher the chances of him attracting attention amongst them would be. If by any chance the Eternal Sleeper that he¡¯d devoured was an existence simr to the four heavenly kings or five elders[1], when he burst into this space using the highest authority level and met the remaining kings or elders face-to-face, everything would be exposed. He wasn¡¯t afraid of losing to this bunch of weaklings: if he had to fight them on the mind level, their memory experience was still much less than his several hundred years, but if his ount were to be canceled and he got kicked out of thework of consciousness, it would mean big trouble. And just in this process of moving forward while keeping a low profile, he suddenly noticed that a small public square had appeared before his eyes. An extremely beautiful faint blue crystal floated in the middle of the air of this small square. The shimmering particles dissipating from the surface of the crystal illuminated the entire square to look mysterious yet gorgeous. And around the crystal, some figures stood scattered around ¡ª¡ª there was no conversation between them. Clearly, they weren¡¯t gathering here. Gawain saw some of them ce their hands on the surface of the crystal, while the rest only remained in their spots with eyes closed, as if they were thinking. What was that crystal used for? Gawain frowned and started to search through the memories that he¡¯d received from the devouring. After a bout of tough seeking, he finally got some clues from that cluttered and broken information¡ª¡ª that seemed to be an object used to convey messages, and it was even a high-quality good. Was it themunication node for the higher authorities of thiswork of consciousness? The ¡°instantiated projection¡± of the realmunication node in virtual space? Gawain hesitated for a moment and decided that he could not let go of this chance. He quietly came to the public square and also ced his hand on that crystal. ¡ª¡ª The heretic cult believer beside the crystal turned briefly and nced at him, but no one spoke. The two closest people only shifted slightly and made some space for Gawain. Gawain did not respond excessively; he only gave a slight nod. ¡ª¡ª He¡¯d already built a connection with the crystal; now he had to concentrate entirely. After several not-quite-sessful attempts, he finally understood how to make use of the knowledge that he obtained from the devouring. He felt some segments of information sh across his mind. In the next second, a huge database opened its doors to him! He¡¯d seeded! Enormous volumes of data and information were flowing through Gawain¡¯s mind. He observed, with surprise, the ¡°database¡± that these heretics had constructed in thiswork of consciousness and marveled once more about this world¡¯s technology tree that couldn¡¯t be easilybeled advanced or backward. Who would¡¯ve thought? A bunch of crazy heretic cult believers had actually created such a massivework of consciousness, a massive virtual world; it was a massive structure that exchanged and processed messages in a world that appeared to be as backward as the Medieval Ages on the surface! Of course, they¡¯d relied on domineering magic to construct all of these, and their method of operating this advanced system was extremely primitive and outdated. In Gawain¡¯s opinion, they were absorbed in creating a virtual world for enjoyment, with no efforts spared; the level of diligence far exceeded making use of thiswork of consciousness to resolve all kinds of real problems. But what was undeniable was that this was truly a great creation! So great to the extent that Gawain couldn¡¯t help but have ideas about it. And when all sorts of thoughts about secretly learning the technology emerged in his mind, Gawain did not stop the search of the information flow ¡ª¡ª and most of the information was rather useless. This was because this virtual world had just been activated; the majority of the content in its informationwork was reporting about the operating conditions of the various virtual spaces. However, all of a sudden, a message caught his attention: ¡°Notice for the n for the 18th decrypting of Gawain Cecil¡¯s memory fragments, as well as the requisition of more calctive ability.¡± [1] four heavenly kings or five elders = i.e., a ¡°Boss¡± The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!