Amon was caught off guard and fell heavily to the ground. There was a blanket in front of the door, so he was not injured. He stood up and stepped aside to answer, "I was careless. Maybe I tripped on the carpet when I stepped back."
"I was careless. I showed my power just now, but I didn't control it well …" Maria spoke at the same time, and her tone was a little panicked.
Gabriel's attention was immediately attracted by Maria's words. His eyes lit up, "My lord, you can already …?" He paused and turned to Amon, "There's nothing else for you to do here. Go out and close the door."
The inexplicable caress, the sudden push and the fall, Amon still did not know what had happened, but he had calmed down from the confusion. He should feel lucky. If Maria had said something wrong, it was very likely that he would have lost his life. Even if Gabriel let him go, Rod-dick might have sent someone to kill him.
After Amon went downstairs, Gabriel said to Maria in surprise, "My lord, you really did not let the goddess Isis down. Just now you accidentally pushed Amon down. It's not easy to get used to this kind of power at the beginning."
Maria nodded, "Yes, I reached out and pushed him down from a distance. Is this the power of the gods?" When Gabriel came in, Amon was sitting on the ground, and Maria was standing with one hand stretched out. It looked as if she had pushed Amon through the air.
Maria did not mean to lie, but on the first day Amon came, she heard Gabriel's order that Amon was not allowed to touch her, or he would be punished. What kind of punishment would it be? Would it be like the priest of Duc cutting off one of his fingers? How terrible that would be. It was not Amon's fault.
Gabriel did not care about this. She was attracted by another topic. She smiled and said, "Yes, this is the power given by the gods. You have just grasped it, so it is not very powerful. Amon is very strong, but you can push him down with a wave of your hand. Any ordinary person could push open a door, but you were able to do it without stretching out your hand. This was a miracle created by divine power.
Lady Maria, you have to be careful. Don't use it rashly before you become familiar with it. In fact, for someone like Amon who had mastered low-level body arts, if he understood the rules of magic and was prepared, it would be impossible to defeat him. But in the future, your divine power will be incomparably powerful, especially with the help of the Gods' Tear. "
…
Amon stood downstairs, still in a daze. Maria's scent still lingered in his hands and on his body, bringing with it a warm fragrance that was intoxicating. He also did not understand what had just happened. Why did he hold her like that and then get pushed away? He was not very clear, but he could understand. During the day, the two of them looked like they were provoking each other. Last night, he almost dreamed of the same scene, and just now, he really put his hand on her chest!
He did not know how long he stood there. Gabriel came downstairs and suddenly asked, "Amon, what did you see just now?"
Amon came back to his senses, bowed and replied, "My Lord, I saw nothing and heard nothing. I was just bringing water to Lady Maria."
Gabriel's eyes seemed to penetrate his soul, "Not even to me?"
Amon, "Yes, my Lord. You told me not to mention to anyone what I saw and heard here. You are also a human, so of course, I can't mention it to you either." He was very smart. He had already learned the syllogism taught by Aristotle, so he answered Gabriel's question. He really did not know what to say about what happened in Maria's room.
Gabriel's serious face finally showed a faint smile, "Good, very good! Remember what you said, your work is done, and the payment has been paid to your father. You can go home now. "
He did not expect that Gabriel would send him away now. His work was done, and he had received the payment. Amon should have been very relaxed and happy, but when he left the courtyard, he felt an indescribable melancholy. He looked back, as if saying goodbye without words.
…
Rod-dick was finally happy because Gabriel told him that he could leave now. He asked him to prepare overnight so that he could finally leave this damn place.
Gabriel also explained to him that the reason why he stayed in this town for three more days was not only because Maria was sick, but also because he was teaching Maria some special rituals and rules of the Temple of Isis so that she could be recognized as the Adoratrice. Now Maria had learned them.
This made Rod-dick even happier. If it was someone else, he would have given a large sum of money to express his gratitude, but this Lord Gabriel was obviously not willing to accept bribes. Rod-dick thought for a long time and personally gave Gabriel a carefully made shield that was blessed with magic. It was a warrior's glorious weapon, and he explained that this shield was originally intended to be offered to the Temple. Gabriel accepted it.
What kind of gift to give and how to make people happy and not refuse was also a skill. Lord Rod-dick was obviously an expert in this.
After three days of rest, Maria's maid also recovered. The next day, after breakfast, Lord Rod-dick's huge and magnificent caravan set off. The merchants who came to the town of Duc were getting impatient, but they didn't want to leave on their own. They couldn't hire mercenaries to protect them in Duc. Last night, when they heard that Lord Drick was going to return, they happily packed up and left with Lord Drick's caravan.
The town of Duc, which had been bustling for many days, finally returned to peace. The townspeople were enjoying the wine and food brought by the caravan. Many people's furnaces had stopped burning. After being busy for so many days, it was rare for them to relax. Even the mayor did not urge the miners to hurry up. The townspeople had paid a lot of parangons during this period of time, so it was only right for them to relax.
Everyone was relaxed, except for Rod-dick. Before returning to Cape States, they would have to cross a desolate desert and undulating Gobi. Anything could happen, and he could not guarantee the safety of Maria and the Gods' Tear.
He had told Mayor Dusti in private that the news of the Gods' Tear must not be spread. But the night before yesterday, he received a secret report. Shog, the priest of the Temple, had sent an emissary to Syah to deliver the quarterly parangons to the Temple. This was a rule that no one could stop. But Rod-dick felt that something was wrong.
He even thought of sending someone to kill Shog's emissary, but in the end, he did not do so. From Duc to Syah, there was no way to go around the post road through the Charcoal Forest. There were checkpoints along the road, and it was impossible for his men to avoid the checkpoints before catching up with the emissary. It would be difficult to cover their tracks. Besides, this was the territory of the Hittite Kingdom. Sending someone to kill the emissary of the Temple was a serious crime. If it was exposed, even Lord Dick would not be able to bear the accusation.
When the caravan entered the desert, Rod-dick looked back at the direction of Duc, which had disappeared into the horizon. He thought to himself, "Is this place blessed by the gods or abandoned? What a strange place."
In Lord Drick's opinion, the mining skills passed down from generation to generation in Duc included body arts. Qualified adult miners in Duc had practiced body arts as well as low-level warriors. Among them, the most outstanding ones had already mastered the second level body arts, awakening the power sleeping in their blood, and were able to use it skillfully.
A low-level warrior who had mastered body arts would be an elite even in the army of the Empire of Eygut!
What was more frightening was that the skills of the miners actually included basic magic. Although it was the simplest and had not passed the test of God, it was still magic. If it was used together with body arts, the power would be amazing. The miners here only used this skill to mine, not to fight.
If all the miners in the town were to gather together and teach them how to fight and how to use weapons, the town would be able to resist an ordinary army. Even if the miners gathered together and fought with their hammers, it would still be very difficult to deal with them. When he lived in Duc, Rod-dick even thought that if a large-scale civil riot broke out, his personal guards would not be able to stop it. The most he could do was to protect Maria and help her escape.
Syah was located at the junction of Hittite, Assyr, Bablon and Eygut. It had been ruled by different dynasties in history, but the small town of Duc belonging to Syah had never been conquered by an army.
Every dynasty that conquered the city of Syah would send messengers to Duc to inform them of the change of ruler. The status of Duc would still be guaranteed. As long as the relationship remained the same as before, they would still send troops to guard the post roads in the Charcoal Forest, collect the same taxes and provide protection on the trade routes.
The reason was simple. It was not that they could not conquer Duc with absolute power, but that the price was not worth it. Of course, it was not necessary to mobilize an elite army to go through such a difficult journey just to conquer a small town. Besides, every dynasty and kingdom needed the parangons and iron produced in Duc. There was no need to kill or enslave the miners, as long as they could maintain control of the town.
The geographical location of Duc was very special. To the north of Duc was the Syah Plateau. The low mountains near the town produced parangons. Further into the distance, the high mountains were an insurmountable natural barrier. To the east, there were also mountains where cavemen lived. The forest was lush and the terrain was complicated. Further into the distance, there was the impassable Great Valley of the Euphrate River.
To the west of Duc was the Charcoal Forest. In the forest, there was a post road leading to the main city of Syah. This was the shortest and most convenient way to get to and from Duc. To the south of Duc was the endless desert, stretching all the way to the border of Cape States of the Empire of Eygut. It was more convenient to travel from Cape States to Syah through the desert. There was no need to cross the Charcoal Forest after reaching Duc.
The arable land around Duc was very barren. There was not enough pastures to feed the local population. But its products were very important. This made it difficult for Duc to exist without Syah. The shrines in the town had to listen to the shrines in the city.
Another special feature of Duc was that there were almost no slaves in the town. Except for the two families of Dusti and Shog, the rest of the residents were commoners. This was completely different from the rest of the continent. The reason was simple. All the countries around Duc had the same law: slaves were not allowed to touch parangons. Every time they violated the law, a finger would be chopped off.
Interestingly, the punishment that Amon almost received was also a finger chopped off.
But there was another law in the neighboring countries that seemed to be deliberately ignored. Both the Kingdom of Bablon and the Empire of Eygut seemed to turn a blind eye to the situation in Duc. This law stated that slaves were not allowed to learn body arts, and only nobles were qualified to learn divine arts. Those who practiced divine arts without permission would be regarded as disrespectful to the gods and would be severely punished by the major shrines.
In fact, it was so difficult to learn divine arts. Even among the qualified nobles, many could not cross the threshold of 'awakening the power bestowed by the gods'. Without the strict guidance and guidance of the priests of the Shrine, it was even more difficult to practice on their own. But there were many people in the world. There were always outstanding geniuses who mastered magic without permission or guidance from the priests.
These people were called sorcerers or sorcerers on the continent. In short, it was a degrading and evil title. According to the law, they would be hunted down by the shrines. The priests or nobles who mastered magic were called mages.
Parangons were also produced in other places on the continent. But the last step of extracting the parangons from the ore was done by low-level mages, because it required the use of the most basic magic skills. Therefore, parangons were not only expensive but also sacred. But the situation in Duc was obviously different. The environment here was so harsh, the location was so remote, and the production of parangons was so high that it was impossible for there to be so many noble mages working here. All the parangons were mined by the miners.
Perhaps it was because of the god who gave the parangons, but no one in power in Duc mentioned the fact that basic magic was included in the mining skills passed down from generation to generation. It was as if they had never seen it. Even the residents of Duc themselves did not know about it.
Syah said that the miners of Duc could keep one out of every ten parangons they mined. This was the envy of the people on the continent. But at the same time, there was also a law that stated that miners registered in the Shrine of Duc were not allowed to leave this place without permission. Perhaps this was also the reason. In fact, because of the geographical restrictions, it was difficult for them to leave without permission.
Duc not only produced parangons, but also iron, especially fine iron. But the blacksmiths here were not allowed to forge weapons, so they only produced iron embryos. What Rod-dick smuggled this time was a batch of fine iron embryos.
Rod-dick was thinking about all the special features of Duc. He sat under the shed and looked at the sand dunes in the distance with his hand on the hilt of his sword. The caravan set out at dawn, taking advantage of the coolness of the early morning. Now noon was getting closer and closer. The scorching sun shone on the sand, and the heat reflected from all sides gradually became unbearable.
A stretch of hills appeared in the distance on the right. There were strange boulders on the hills, and it was just nice to find a shadowy area to rest for a while, hiding from the scorching afternoon sun before continuing. Walking in the desert was just that troublesome. Rod-dick insisted on sitting in front of the first carriage of the caravan. Gabriel even praised him, "My lord, you are so brave!"
Rod Drick was worried, afraid that they would be ambushed along the way. It was said that there were dangerous desert tribes that appeared here, and they specialized in attacking caravans. It was possible that they were bandits from the border countries in disguise. The so-called vicious and dangerous desert tribes might just be a legend. But ordinary bandits would not attack a caravan like Lord Dick's. They could see elite guards from far away, so they might have already escaped.
But if someone special came for a special purpose, then it would be different. Otherwise, Rod-dick would not have brought his personal guards with him. Lord Dick knew very well that no one in his personal guards was better at body arts than him. His body arts had reached the sixth level, and he was only one step away from becoming a supreme warrior.
Most of the personal guards were around the first three carriages of the caravan. Maria was in the second carriage, and Gabriel was in it. Rod-dick saw the hills in the distance and was about to order the caravan to change direction when he suddenly heard Gabriel shout, "Everyone, stop!"
This shout was like thunder, and it spread far over the desert.
Rod-dick had told them that Lord Gabriel's words were his orders, and they were the same as his own. The well-trained drivers in the caravan reacted very quickly. They shouted and pulled on the reins of the animals. The ten carriages in front of them stopped almost at the same time, and the soldiers on horseback also pulled on the reins. The caravan behind them was a little chaotic. Some carriages bumped into each other, some people fell off their camels, and some goods were overturned.
Rod-dick jumped up and pulled out his sword, but he did not see any danger. At this time, a silver light burst out of his head and flew towards the sand dunes in front of him. When he looked up, he saw Gabriel standing on top of his carriage with a shield in one hand and a sword in the other.
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