Imperial Crown

Thank you very much for the 500 reward from the starting point father [Fat Pig Mushroom Duke]! (I owe another chapter, damn)

…

Raven officially moved into Eagle City, and various materials began to be transported from Eagle Castle to here.

Due to the large number, Eagle City was busy early the next morning. Carriages compacted the snow with a creaking sound and drove into the gate like a long dragon.

The waiters and maids in the city were busy with these goods. After all, in addition to gold coins and equipment, there were many fragile items that could not be handled by force, and they needed their help to deal with them.

However, Raven could be completely free. The competition meeting was over, and there was nothing he needed to deal with personally.

After having breakfast with Nancy, Raven came to his meditation room.

The area of ​​this room is half the size of an ordinary classroom. There are no windows. The magic lamps on the wall radiate a dim and gentle glow. The overall layout is clean and elegant. In addition to a soft bed in the center specially used for meditation, the furniture is only a rosewood table in the corner.

Raven walked to the table, lit the magic-infused lemongrass and placed it on top.

The one Archbishop Thomas sent two years ago had already been used up, and this one was handed over by Savannah half a month after the end of the competition.

This time point is quite intriguing.

However, Raven did not ask about the purpose behind it, nor did he refuse. Now he has the confidence to take on some favors from big shots.

The fragrance of citrus spread, and the purple smoke slowly dispersed into the air. Raven breathed steadily, came to the bed and sat cross-legged, and sank into the world of meditation.

The mental power pierced into the magic pool like the roots of an old tree, engraving the last pattern on the pool wall.

In fact, according to common sense, even if it is a first-level magic, it will take at least two or three years to engrave successfully.

This has nothing to do with the diligence of a mage. The key limitation is magic power. Once the magic power is exhausted, the engraving will naturally stop.

But Raven was different. Due to the absorption of the True Ancestor's blood core, his magic power was three times that of a mage of the same level. It was no exaggeration to say that although Raven was only a third-level three-star mage, even a third-level ten-star mage would not have as much magic power as him.

As time went on, the magic power dried up little by little, and Raven's breath brought out more and more intense heat. The temperature in the room slowly rose, the air twisted, and the sandalwood cabinets on the wall dehydrated, deformed, and cracked with crackling sounds.

Raven mobilized his mental power and accurately and steadily engraved the last stroke on the magic pool without hesitation.

The three structures of the fireball spell were finally perfectly linked together. It shone and breathed blue light, and then changed from blue to white, and from white to red.

The flame burned.

The flame began to flow from the magic pool, rushing into Raven's mental power center, and then burned his soul!

An instant burning pain.

Raven opened his eyes, but what he saw was not the scene in the meditation room, but only a deep void.

Under the void, the flames were born, turning into a sea of ​​​​molten lava, even the steam was fiery, and even steel would melt in this sea.

The flames climbed up his body, and Raven subconsciously held his breath.

However, not long after, he could not bear the pain of suffocation and instinctively opened his mouth. The hot air rushed into his mouth and nose, scalding his mouth and causing his entire chest to burn.

A trace of enlightenment rose from Raven's heart.

Since the flames were engraved, he had to accept the flames.

He breathed in the hot air and felt his flesh and blood being cooked.

Standing up, Raven stepped on the molten lava, his bare feet turned into charcoal black, revealing white bones, and was swallowed up in the blink of an eye.

Slowly sinking into the lava, the heat had spread throughout Raven's soul and nerves, and then there was an illusion of extreme cold.

When his eyes were also swallowed, the lava flowed into his brain.

Raven's thinking was stagnant for a moment, and when he came back to his senses, he was already high in the clouds.

The sky was clear and the white clouds were like weaving.

The sun was high in the sky.

Raising his head, the surrounding scenery changed rapidly, and the wind blew in his ears.

Soon, the sound of the wind disappeared, the blue sky disappeared, the white clouds gradually faded away, and the black void dotted with stars became the mainstream, and Raven's eyes only saw the orange-red sun.

Getting closer and closer, until his eyes were filled with an endless sea of ​​fire, swirling like a long flame dragon snake.

The strong light pressed out tears, and they were evaporated in the blink of an eye.

The body had been evaporated and reorganized by the terrifying high temperature.

Consciousness began to blur.

A voice urged Raven to step into it.

He had to step into it!

Raven stretched out his palm, gathered the light of the sun in his palm, and then closed his eyes, allowing himself to fall into this ball of eternal fire-

Fall.

In the meditation room, Raven suddenly opened his eyes.

He opened his mouth and spit out a ball of flames, and the whole room was burning wherever he looked.

The stones were burned red and turned into molten magma flowing on the ground.

Raven was startled, stretched out his hand to scoop up the molten lava on the ground, and watched the lava flow out from between his fingers. A smile appeared on his lips:

"——Come!"

The flames in the room suddenly seemed to be frozen, and then rushed to Raven's palm.

Strangely enough, no matter how many flames rushed, there was only a candle-like flame in Raven's palm.

The lava gradually solidified, leaving only wisps of green smoke.

With a gentle blow, the flame in Raven's palm really went out like a candle.

If there were other mages here, they would be shocked by this scene, because it represented Raven's unique and profound understanding of the element of fire.

Not to mention ordinary third-level mages, even fifth- and sixth-level mages who specialize in fire magic may not be able to do it so easily.

At this time, the engraved fireball spell has been integrated with the magic pool, and there is no difference. Only when Raven casts a spell and the magic power flows, it will light up again.

The engraving of the fireball spell is finally completed.

To become a fourth-level mage, all that is left is to accumulate magic power and purchase the formula of magic potion.

"Hiss, what a pity..." Raven took out a new set of clothes from his belt and put them on. He frowned at the room that looked like a cave and even the stone door was crooked: "This is a newly built house!"

It seems that I have to notify old Gordon and find someone to rebuild it.

After removing the door and walking into the corridor, Raven turned around and came to another room not far away.

There are five rooms on both sides of this corridor, including the end, and the walls have been specially thickened. In addition to the meditation room, there are also magic laboratories, enchantment rooms, alchemy rooms, and a small warehouse for storing magic materials.

Raven came to the alchemy room.

Pushing open the door, a beautiful figure appeared in front of Raven.

Her chestnut hair was tied up well behind her head, but a few strands still jumped out and hung on her smooth and slender neck. The light outlined the profile of her face, her nose was straight, her lips were plump, and she was wearing a white cotton gown. She was concentrating on dealing with the bottles and jars on the table.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, the woman turned her head, a flash of panic flashed in her eyes, and put something in her pocket: "Master, you are here!"

Raven walked into the room and came to her side, gently patting her hips: "What are you doing?"

Petit's face flashed a blush, and she bit her lips gently: "I'm just adding some water to the magical fruit..."

"And then try to make some 'love potion'?" Raven smiled and took out the magic plant she stuffed into her pocket: "The magic apple is ready."

Magic apple is the main raw material of love potion, which is usually used to arouse couples.

"That's because, uh, I..." Patty was flustered.

"Master, I'm a third-level magician." Raven whispered in Patty's ear: "If you want it to work on me, you have to switch to a second-level potion at least."

"Is it the formula that Margaret gave you?"

Patty nodded shyly: "I took the initiative to ask her, because my room is on the 2nd floor, and I wondered if the master hated me..."

"2nd floor?" Raven was stunned: "Oh, this is my negligence, you go to old Gordon and move the room to the 6th floor."

"Ah?" Patty showed a look of surprise, but immediately lowered her head: "But this is too much, I'm just a personal maid..."

She originally thought that she could be closer to Raven, but she didn't expect to move to the 6th floor.

"You are my alchemist." Raven smiled and said: "If others knew that I used the alchemist as a maid, they would be jealous and crazy!"

This is not a joke.

Magicians have a high status. A first-level magician is enough to be a guest of honor for a baron or viscount. If there is a third-level magician, even the earl family will look at him differently.

Although alchemists are far inferior to magicians, if they join ordinary baron or viscount families, they will also be highly respected.

After all, the role of alchemists is much stronger than that of doctors in this era; and many of the magic potions they make have functions that cannot be replaced by divine magicians.

Take Bucky as an example. He just likes the life in Monen City and doesn't want to live a boring life in the countryside. Otherwise, he can also bully the local nobles.

"You dare to insinuate that I am unfeeling." Raven rubbed his chin: "You deserve it!"

"Then let me thank you well as a pardon."

Petit unbuttoned his collar and squatted down.

Raven exhaled slowly.

...

Not everyone can enjoy the joy of the completion of Eagle Castle. Raven's territory is still running as usual, and the most orderly is the military camp.

Just after noon, under the scorching sun, the soldiers who had eaten lunch continued to train.

Link, wearing armor and holding a spear, stood at the front of the team, and the adjutant next to him kept shouting:

"Stab!"

"Stab!"

"Stab!"

Although winter had already begun, these soldiers wearing double-layer leather armor were sweating profusely, and white mist kept coming out of their heads, mouths, and armpits.

They stood on the ground with their legs apart, holding nearly 4-meter spears horizontally in their hands, and kept stabbing forward and retracting them as the command was given. Their arms were already trembling slightly, but they were still gritting their teeth and persisting.

Link kept stabbing like them, with standard movements, and he used all his strength every time without any deformation.

Counting silently in his heart, when he counted to 100, Link raised his arm and shouted loudly: "Stop!"

"Next, queue training, running around the field for 20 minutes, and then continue stabbing practice."

For the exhausted soldiers, this order was inhumane.

Although the soldiers did not make any complaints after two years of training, they all looked at Link with resentment.

You are extraordinary, but we are not!

This is Link's usual training style. Because he has fire fighting spirit, the soldiers privately call him "Fire Devil".

Link knows, but he doesn't care. He just wants the training results.

In the Cairns Empire, there was once a popular kind of chivalry novel. The routines are the same. It tells the story of the protagonist who has served as a soldier and returns to his hometown. He is appreciated by the lord for his outstanding martial arts. After performing meritorious service, he is given a divine potion and becomes extraordinary. The story of conquering monsters, repelling bandits, and becoming a knight.

Link scoffed at this.

Soldiers in the army can have strength, obey orders, and know some basic tactics, but this has nothing to do with outstanding martial arts.

Soldiers have neither martial skills nor need for them.

They just need to do their best at what they should do.

The pikemen practice thrusting 500 times a day; the sword and shield soldiers lift the shield and swing the sword 500 times a day; the crossbowmen need to hang the water bag on the crossbow head and hold on for 10 minutes or even half an hour without putting it down. They train every day At least 10 rounds.

Only by practicing these movements to your core will you have a greater chance of surviving on the battlefield.

Victory is never a fluke, every bit of sweat equals a bit of gain, Link firmly believes this.

The formation training has begun. It is not just a simple running around the field. The ten captains among them have to distinguish different horn sounds and lead their soldiers to continuously complete formation changes.

Seeing their skillful movements, Link nodded slowly in his heart. This already seemed a bit elite.

But it's still not enough.

A soldier who has never seen blood is still a new recruit no matter how long he has been trained. If he can perform one-tenth of his performance on the battlefield, it is considered good.

"Sir!" A captain of a hundred-man team came to Link's side: "There is something going on at the small playground, and I need you to go take a look."

Link nodded and followed the centurion to the small playground.

The so-called small playground is where the orphans train.

At this moment, the orphans wearing leather armor were sitting scattered on the ground, with weighted wooden throwing spears placed beside them. They were all breathing heavily, and some were still crying softly.

But as soon as they saw Link arriving, they immediately stopped crying and looked at him with a hint of fear.

After all, the title "Fire Devil" is deeply rooted in people's hearts.

"What, you don't want to practice anymore?" Link looked around the audience and asked: "If you don't want to practice, leave now. Your youngest is already 14 years old anyway. If you leave the orphanage, you can have a way out!"

No one among the orphans left, but they didn't make any other move, they just sat on the ground dejectedly.

This is also the biggest headache for the soldiers responsible for training them. For a group of half-grown children, it doesn't work if they are gentle, but they are afraid of really hurting them if they are harsh.

"It seems no one wants to leave, so why are you sitting on the ground?" Link pointed to an orphan who cried the loudest: "Tell me!"

"I, I..." The orphan stood up: "It's not that we don't want to practice, but we are just too tired. We have practiced more than 200 times today!"

"Look, my arms are swollen!"

He uncovered his shoulder armor and rolled up his sleeves. Sure enough, his arms were already swollen with purple bruises.

"So?" Link asked: "If this was on the battlefield, you would also take off your armor, show your arms, and cry to your enemy that your arms are swollen. Will you fight again next time?"

The orphan was speechless.

"I set the goal of 300 times a day." Link said with his hands behind his back: "Now it seems that it is still less, so you have the strength to complain! What you have practiced today does not count. From now on, you will do it 300 times again! I'll accompany you!"

A burst of wailing sounded, and Link remained unmoved: "I don't care what your relationship is with the Baron. This is a military camp, not a nursery! I'll count to three. If anyone doesn't stand up, I'll personally send him back to him." In mother’s belly!”

"3..."

“2…”

"1!"

There was a clatter of armor clashing, and the orphans jumped up from the ground.

"Good, let's start training!"

The orphans wiped away their tears, picked up the throwing spears at their feet, and began to throw with all their strength through gritted teeth, not daring to stop even though they were shedding tears.

Link did not break his promise and directed them to train together. Whenever he saw someone slacking off, he would immediately hit them with a spear.

From noon to evening, until it was completely dark, all 300 training sessions were completed. The orphans could no longer lift their hands at all, so they left the military camp with grinning teeth and rubbing their arms.

But Link did not leave. He ordered his soldiers to put away their throwing spears, then came to the training ground and began to thrust their spears.

Among the same batch of awakened transcendent beings, Link's talent was the worst, and he knew this, so he had to work harder than everyone else in order to catch up with others and not fall behind.

Be strict with others and even stricter with yourself.

This is why, even if his training attitude is the most severe, he will not really arouse the resentment of the soldiers.

After practicing until the moon was at its peak, Link returned to his tent to rest.

The servant who had been waiting here immediately came to greet him: "Master, you have finished your training!"

"The time is set, it's tomorrow!"

…