The body of Amoun the Giant Deer was still floating quietly in the dark and boundless space of the Realm of Shadows. Broken boulders and metal fragments of ancient starships surrounded the mountain-like god's corpse. It was silent and everything was as usual.
Gwen's gaze passed through the window and the protective barrier, staring at the god's corpse that was glowing softly in the darkness. However, the voice in his mind did not sound again.
The voice just now seemed to be an illusion, but Gwen was 100% sure that he had heard it. His intuition told him that the voice was indeed from outside — from the direction of Amoun the Giant Deer.
Amber was the first to notice the abnormality here. She immediately ran to Gwen, jumping and waving her hands in front of the latter's eyes. "Hey! What's wrong with you? Why do you look so scary all of a sudden? "
Gwen grabbed Amber's waving hands and stared into Amber's eyes with a serious face. "Did you hear anything just now?"
Amber was shocked by Gwen's frighteningly serious expression. She shrunk her neck and said, "No … Are you hallucinating again?"
Gwen would often be in a state of absent-mindedness, or hear things that ordinary people could not detect from things like the Eternal Slate. Amber was a little used to it.
"I'm not sure … It's probably an illusion …"
Gawain said noncommittally. Then, he put the adorable Hu Po aside and walked to the wide floor-to-ceiling window.
He stared at Amoun the Giant Deer's corpse with full concentration and alertness. He tried to communicate with it in his mind. "Were you the one who spoke just now?"
The God of Nature's corpse was silent, just like it had been for thousands of years.
Gwen did not get any response. After waiting patiently for a few minutes and trying to communicate more than once, he finally gave up. Although he still believed that he was not hallucinating, he still felt that his behavior was a little funny and strange.
Kamel also noticed Gwen's behavior. He immediately ordered the laboratory's response mechanism. "Warning system, report the situation of the god's corpse."
Two seconds later, a mechanical voice sounded in the room. "Detecting … Everything is normal. The energy fluctuation of the god's corpse is stable."
Kamel came behind Gwen. "My lord, there's nothing unusual."
Gwen nodded. "I know … Maybe I've been here for too long and am a little paranoid."
As he spoke, he turned away from the floor-to-ceiling window. After taking one last look back at Amoun the Giant Deer's corpse, he temporarily suppressed the complicated thoughts in his mind and focused his attention on the experiment in front of him.
"We've got the conclusion we want. It's safe to charge the holy runes with the inverter circle. Next, we can consider the practical process of the first phase." Gwen looked at Kamel and Rebecca. "Combined with the design experience of the enchanted armor, find a way to make the holy runes practical as soon as possible and create a usable 'White Knight Armor'. This will be an important thing for us to rely on to deal with Louen City."
After Rebecca and Kamel nodded, he turned to Wright. "You're in charge of selecting the members of the first phase of the White Knight Regiment. There are no restrictions on gender and background, but there are only two requirements. First, they must fully accept the new doctrine, complete the change in ideology, and have a firm will. Second, they must pass the assessment of the government office. I suggest you choose members from the Cecil Regiment. I'll arrange for Byron to contact you about this."
Gwen paused for a moment and looked at Wright seriously. "In short, the White Knight must not only be a staunch believer of the new holy light, but also a staunch warrior of the Cecil Regiment. Do you understand what I mean?"
The research on the control of the holy light had achieved critical results, and the White Knight could become a class that could be mass-produced was just around the corner. In order to prevent this extraordinary class from going out of control, some things must be made clear in advance.
Wright was an excellent priest, a staunch White Knight, and a person who agreed and was willing to follow the path of Cecil Regiment. But how long his faith in the holy light could go on this path depended on his consciousness.
Leit's expression also became solemn. He did not answer immediately, but asked a question instead. "You once said that the old aristocratic group and the Church of Holy Light were corrupted by their fundamental system, and what you want to build is a system that is completely different from theirs, one that is not limited by birth or social class, and one that truly operates for justice. Do you still remember these words?"
"I remember, and I promise, at least as long as I live, I will work hard for this goal."
Wright slowly took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. His tone was firm and steady. "If you practice justice, then — Divine Power Bestowal!"
The entire laboratory was so silent that one could hear a pin drop. Gwen smiled after a moment of silence. "Divine Power Bestowal … it will probably make the Church of the North fly into a rage … but I accept this statement."
Perhaps one day, there would no longer be divine power on this land, and there would no longer be a king.
Perhaps one day, humans would find a higher level of true spiritual belief from the nature of God.
Perhaps one day, the decaying Cecil Regiment would be overthrown by a new progressive force, and the White Knight would become the dust of history …
But all of these were matters of the future. What Gwen cared about was the present. He finally grasped the power of God at this time and place.
… …
Typhon, the southwest.
The black-haired mage apprentice Mary walked through the bustling market in the small town.
The shouts of the market vendors and the tempting aroma of various food stalls lingered on the streets, constantly stirring Mary's emotions and taste buds. She held a bundle in her arms and walked forward slowly with her head lowered. Unknowingly, she stopped in front of a stall.
The stall owner enthusiastically solicited business. "Miss, have a muffin. It's fragrant and sweet!"
Mary tightened the bundle in her arms, her gaze lingering on the muffin stall for a moment. But in the end, she stopped her irrational impulse, turned around, and quickly left the stall, continuing to walk forward.
Her mentor didn't give her extra money to do such a thing.
She continued to walk along the street, heading towards another shop that her mentor had instructed her to purchase. She occasionally raised her head and looked at the street that was much more lively than usual. Her gaze couldn't help but become a little complicated.
It would be great if she could stay here for a while longer …
There weren't many opportunities for her to leave the mage tower or the village at the foot of the mountain. That was because the town was half a day's journey away from the mountain village. The old mage wouldn't allow his apprentices to leave his supervision for an entire day unless they needed to purchase necessities.
Thus, an opportunity like today to leave the mage tower and wander around the town for an entire day was very precious.
Mary touched the cold runic iron collar around her neck and shook her head hard, shaking those unrealistic thoughts out of her mind.
Her mentor's temper had improved recently. His hysteria and inexplicable rage were also much less than before. Although there were still occasional apprentices who were whipped or dragged away for strange experiments, at least no one was thrown into a cave full of magical creatures by the old mage anymore. Mary was already very grateful for these 'good days'. She didn't want to, nor did she have the courage to, do anything that would anger the old mage when everything was going well.
The sound of blowing came from afar, causing Mary, who was hurrying with her head down, to stop in her tracks.
She raised her head to look in the direction of the sound and found that it was the town square.
The harvest festival was approaching. The town would prepare a celebration for the festival. The mayor and the rich should have already invited the bards and the 'Black Mountain People' circus as usual. Before the harvest festival began, these bards and the circus would begin to perform sporadically in the square. These ten days would be the busiest time of the year.
Mary's footsteps became hesitant as she slowly moved towards the square.
She could go listen to the bards' stories … or watch the circus clowns perform for free on the streets.
These things didn't cost any money, and watching the performances wouldn't leave any traces of the muffin on her body. Her mentor wouldn't notice, and neither would the tower genie of the mage tower.
She only needed to watch for a little while. It was still early anyway. Moreover, the shop was near the square, and it was on her way there.
If she missed this opportunity, she might not have another chance. She could only come to town a few times a year.
Mary's footsteps finally moved in the direction of the square.
The young apprentice darted through the streets, through the narrow alleys, and into the town square. As she had expected, the bards and circuses had already set up their platforms, from which came the sounds of trumpets and trumpets.
Many townsfolk had already gathered in the square, but because it was only a small performance, there weren't so many people that they couldn't walk. Mary hugged the bundle in her arms tightly and walked through the crowd with wide eyes. She tried her best to imprint everything she saw in her mind.
There were some passages in the bard's poem that Mary had never heard of before. While they were still old-fashioned knight stories, they were still novel and interesting. The clown's performance was only a clumsy magic trick. Occasionally, he would mix in a few trick-level spells, which were already the best of the circus, but it still surprised Mary.
Mary already had an official spellcasting level. Although she was still an apprentice of the old mage, her spellcasting level had already reached the official level. However, these cantrips performed on the streets were completely different from the killing techniques she learned in the mage tower.
She had only seen it a few times in her life.
The young apprentice seemed to have forgotten her mission for a moment. She walked around the square, looking at everything that caught her attention. Until she came to the notice board in the square, her interest was piqued by a few pieces of paper that were newly posted on the board.
The literacy rate of the people of Typhon had only increased in recent years. Ever since the Emperor implemented various new policies and set up strict and fair contract rules, everyone could rent land, cattle, and grain from the state through contracts. The people had the need to read and write. Driven by this need, the literacy rate of the people of Typhon had slowly increased. The notice board in the town had also replaced the soldiers who read out government decrees.
Mary knew that the notice board would often have new decrees signed by the Emperor or big news that happened nearby. These things seemed to be very far away from her life in the mage tower, but she was still very interested in them.
Her curiosity was very strong. Although this curiosity had made her sneak into the mage tower more than a decade ago, and since then she had become a prisoner wearing a collar, this curiosity still existed.
She saw that there were new decrees written on the notice board. Some of them were signed by the Emperor, and some were issued by local officials.
"… According to the decree of Emperor Rosetta, basic education will continue to be promoted. The scale of schools in the city will be expanded.
"… Recruiting volunteers. If one person from each family joins the army, they will be exempt from taxes for three years. For specific matters, you can inquire the local sheriff.
"According to the new decree of Emperor Rosetta, the position of 'Agricultural Supervisor' will be established. The position will be held by the best local farmer. The organization will promote farming experience. Remuneration and selection methods can be inquired from the local sheriff.
"Order to build the Pyroclastic Acidification Workshop … Recruiting apprentices.
"According to the new decree of Emperor Rosetta, excellent mages will be recruited regardless of background. The requirement is to have excellent rune skills and be good at magic array research. Note: Knowledge of ancient Gondor magic is preferred. Knowledge of self-charging magic arrays is preferred. "
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
