Imperial Crown

"Why do you want to enchant a weapon for Visdon?" Denise asked.

Raven answered casually: "Because he wants it, I'll give it to him."

He turned to Visdon and asked: "How is it, do you like it?"

Visdon glanced at his mother and whispered: "Well... I like it!"

Raven shrugged: "You see, he doesn't mind it either."

Denise frowned and glared at Visdon, then looked at Raven, her tone slightly heavier: "Raven, I'm talking to you seriously."

She knew Raven, this man was as shrewd and cost-calculating as any businessman, and he would never waste precious enchanted weapons on Visdon at such a tense time.

"Oh, don't get excited." Raven took the napkin and wiped his mouth: "I'm talking to you seriously too."

"In two months, Weisdong will be fifteen years old, right?"

Denise nodded and asked in confusion: "Yes, but what does this have to do with giving him weapons?"

"Fifteen years old." Raven said with a little emotion: "At this age, I have already started to venture on the streets."

Denise knew Raven's background very well and glanced at him: "How can it be the same?"

"It's true that Weisdong's conditions are much better than mine at that time." Raven said with a sigh: "He is physically stronger than I was at that time, and he has more money. Most importantly, he has a family."

Denise was ready to retort, but after hearing what Raven said, she couldn't help but fall into silence.

"He has to take responsibility and protect this family." Raven cut the pork sausage slowly: "I must lead the counterattack on Bloody Highland. Someone will need to guard Eagle Castle at that time."

Denise's brows suddenly opened, and there was a bit of surprise in her eyes.

Raven left and Weisdong stayed in Eagle Castle. It was indeed a very reasonable arrangement, but she always felt that something was wrong.

Seeing Weisdong's eager state, she became even more worried:

"But he is only fourteen years old."

"He will be fifteen soon." Raven emphasized.

"That's still two months away!"

"It's only two months away!" Raven's voice was a little higher: "How do you think people grow up? They become adults at the age of fifteen, are sophisticated at the age of forty-five, and are indifferent to the world at the age of sixty-five?"

"Growth requires experience and experience."

"If you continue to protect him like this, he will never grow up in his life!"

Denise wanted to refute, but Weisdong was incited: "Yes, mother, I also want a chance to experience!"

"You--" Denise looked at her son, feeling quite disappointed.

It's not that she couldn't let go, but experience requires that ability.

With Weisdong's childish mentality now, let alone managing a baronial territory, I'm afraid he would be cheated of his savings if he was given a tavern!

Just as he was about to continue arguing with Raven, a beautiful figure walked in.

Raven frowned slightly when he saw this.

Why did Nancy come? Didn't she always dislike the food at Eagle Castle and bring her own chef?

Today, Nancy was wearing a fluffy pink round skirt, with two bunches of hair curled and hanging behind her head, and a big smile on her face.

"What are you talking about? You are so happy, tell me too?" She floated to Raven like a morning glory, and Jenny immediately moved a chair over.

Sitting next to Raven, Nancy put one arm on the table and stared at him with a smile.

Being looked at a little frightened, Raven quietly moved his chair away from Nancy: "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." Nancy moved her chair closer: "I just found that Baron Raven is still very handsome and handsome."

As she said that, she clapped her hands pretentiously like an actor on the opera stage, and Jenny immediately took out a silver bowl from the basket she carried and placed it on the table.

Nancy gently pushed the bowl in front of Raven: "Try it, I made the caramel cream ice cream by myself."

Looking down, Raven couldn't help but twitching at the corners of his mouth.

It's called "Caramel Cream Ice Cream", but there's no trace of cream at all. It's a thick layer of caramel on top, and it's as burnt as it is.

This is indeed what Nancy made herself.

It's not good to hit a smiling person. Nancy's attitude made Raven feel uncomfortable. He could only cough and said, "Miss Nancy, what do you want to do?"

"Try it first. I won't poison you." Nancy said.

Looking at the things in the bowl, Raven couldn't do anything. He pushed the things in front of Weston: "Miss Nancy's heart, try it!"

"Raven!" Nancy frowned and her voice rose, but it softened immediately: "Forget it, don't eat it if you don't want to."

As she said that, she swept the silver bowl into the trash can.

Raven was alert instantly. Nancy was too abnormal today. He stood up and said, "Sorry, I'm a little tired, so I'll go to rest first."

After that, he walked towards the door.

"Don't go." Nancy stood up and chased after him: "Take me to Bloody Heights. If you promise me, I can consider marrying you!"

Raven immediately quickened his pace.

Take Nancy to Bloody Heights and then marry her - double punishment!

Only a ghost would agree to such a useless thing.

Returning to the study, he asked Petty to bring him some extra food to fill his stomach. Raven read Elvish for a while, and waited until everyone was about to take a rest. Then he turned and went out, leaving Eagle Castle without even taking Volaf with him. , wading through the snow all the way to the mountain col at the back of Eagle Castle.

After removing the straw mat covering the wall of the col, a gust of heat turned into white mist and was swept back into the cave before it could rush out. However, the smell of charcoal fire and the smell of horse smell still hit my face.

The soldiers guarding here quickly saluted: "Lord Baron, you are here!"

"Yes." Raven nodded in return and walked inside.

This used to be a mine that was abandoned due to depletion of ore. The entrance here once served as a pile of materials, thus opening up a large space.

In the center is a fire pit three meters in diameter, filled with firewood. It is burning cracklingly, and sparks jump out from time to time, making the entire space steamy.

It is not as good as the heating in the previous life, but the temperature is still above 10℃, which is enough for people to survive as long as they keep warm.

On both sides are stables made of simple wood and stone. Semi-war horses that were transformed into monsters were tied inside. Some were resting with their eyes closed, while others had their heads buried in the trough, chewing grass.

"Thank you for leaving you here alone." Raven said while watching.

Unlike the semi-monstrous domestic pigs, war horses are military supplies, and after being transformed by the magic core, the difference from ordinary war horses can be seen at a glance.

The shoulder height is only slightly shorter than that of the Blood-Eyed War Horse, but the overall physique is thicker and the hair is soft and smooth. The strong and strong muscles are clearly exposed with every move, just like a bodybuilder.

Although Nancy might not notice the specialness of these war horses due to her personality, Raven didn't want to take this risk. When they go to the bloody highlands, these war horses will naturally be "whitened".

"It's not hard work. It's an honor for me to serve the Baron." The soldier said with a smile: "And these Warcraft horses are very docile, so it doesn't take much effort to manage them."

"That's good." Walking to the stable, Raven reached out and dug at the trough. In addition to dry fodder, there were also a lot of black beans and broken raw eggs. Then he nodded with satisfaction.

Raven nodded slightly. At this moment, there was a sound of crunching snow being trampled on, and Eric's figure appeared at the door: "Lord Baron, I'm here!"

He gave a heavy military salute, his eyes fell on those war horses, and he couldn't move away immediately.

Walking to a war horse, Eric stretched out his big hand to touch its shoulder, pinching it hard from time to time, with undisguised appreciation in his eyes: "What a good horse, even better than the ones Miss Nancy brought." Much more, almost as good as the Blood-Eyed War Horse!"

"Of course." Raven hugged his shoulders and clicked: "You don't know how much it cost me!"

If the elemental affinity is strong, one magic core can transform two domestic pigs into semi-monsters. However, these war horses are inherently stronger than domestic pigs. To achieve the same effect, more energy must be absorbed. .

Moreover, Raven strengthened them not to skin them and eat their flesh, but to give them as much as they can absorb. Therefore, more than 80% of the energy in a magic core must be used on the same war horse, and the rest can only be used by Raven himself. Absorb it and use it to expand the upper limit of magic power.

The eight war horses in this stable used eight magic cores.

It's not that Raven doesn't want to save a little, but if he wants to waste nothing, he must use at least four magic cores to strengthen five war horses at the same time. His mental strength is not enough to support filtering so much rotten soul essence at the same time.

Eric gradually calmed down the excitement on his face and asked: "Lord Baron, why did you call me here?"

"Gunser, please go out for a moment. You are not allowed to come in without my order." Raven said.

"Understood, Lord Baron." The soldier responsible for guarding this place saluted and left.

As the footsteps faded away, Raven touched his hand on his belt and already held an enchanted stabbing sword in his hand.

Eric was stunned: "Lord Baron, what are you...?"

"Draw your sword." Raven's face darkened: "Next, except for magic, I will use all means to attack you with all my strength. All you need to do is treat me as an enemy."

"But... sir." Eric scratched his head: "You're afraid..."

"I'm afraid I'm not your opponent?" Raven smiled slightly, flicked his stabbing sword, and suddenly sprinted towards Eric: "Then you might be injured!"

The figure wrapped in black leather armor was as fast as lightning. The speed made Eric stunned. For a moment, he thought of Anderson who was wrapped in dark fighting spirit at that time!

锔——

The blade of the stabbing sword grazed the thick surface of the steel shield, bringing up a stream of fire. It illuminated the faces of Eric and Raven at the same time, and also reflected the astonishment on the latter's face.

The two figures intertwined, and with a twist of Raven's body, the sword in his hand was already handed to Eric's back.

The latter seemed to have eyes on his back. Before he could turn around, the steel shield had already reached the landing point of the stabbing sword.

The shield wrapped in silver steel fighting spirit shone like a diamond, and the bayonet was suddenly swung away. Then the blood-red scimitar whizzed over with the sound of breaking wind. The silver fighting spirit was intertwined with the bloody luster of the scimitar itself. , like a bloody crescent moon.

Before the blade arrived, Raven's skin had already begun to feel the sting. His eyes were slightly dim, and the silver light was flowing. Under the influence of the Eye of Truth, Eric's movements became clear and intuitive.

Raven took two steps back with his feet moving alternately, and Eric had already turned around. He looked at Raven with no more contempt, took a deep breath, and then took the initiative to charge!

After being strengthened by Raven's magic core, the heavy armor on his body was no longer a burden, and his momentum was as fierce as a mad rhinoceros.

Eric moved forward, and Raven flew back, but the speed of moving forward was much faster than that of retreating.

The former drew his sword and swung it horizontally, and the latter knew that he could not take it head-on, so he suddenly retracted his abdomen and barely avoided the slash, but the round shield in the former's left hand had already slapped up again!

If he was really hit by this blow, it would be no different from being hit by a galloping horse!

At the critical moment, Raven's fingers moved slightly, and the enchanted rapier suddenly jumped up like a snake, brushed the edge of the shield, and pressed against Eric's throat.

Clang

The round shield fell to the ground. Eric's head was already soaked with cold sweat. He looked at the rapier on his throat and swallowed his saliva: "Lord Baron, your fighting skills are really exquisite..."

"Don't praise me." Raven retracted the rapier and rolled his eyes at him: "At the last moment, your left hand held back, causing the shield to slow down a lot, so I had a chance."

"And you still have plenty of fighting spirit, and you are wearing enchanted plate armor. If you really use fighting spirit to strengthen it, I may not be able to pierce it with this sword."

"Lord Baron's vision is as accurate as an eagle." Eric praised with a smile: "But I did try my best."

"Hehe, knowing that I can see clearly, you still dare to say such things . "Raven moved his wrist: "Pick up the shield. You can't leave until you beat me tonight!"

"Ah?" Eric's face was wrinkled like a bitter gourd: "Sir, you are a magician, why do you want to practice close combat?"

"Magicians have to keep a distance to fight." Raven said lightly: "You know this, I know it, and our enemies know it too."

"But I can't guarantee that every enemy I meet can't get close to me, so at least, when the enemy approaches me, I hope to have some ability to resist."

Eric was stunned when he heard this. He didn't expect that Raven, who had become a magician, would have such cautious considerations.

He bent down and picked up the shield on the ground, his eyes sparkling, and said in a very serious attitude: "In this case, I am willing to help the Baron with all my strength!"

This sparring lasted for nearly two hours, and poor Gunther was almost frozen. He didn't know what happened in the cave. He only knew that when he returned to the abandoned mine, Eric was sweating profusely and Raven was even more out of breath.

For Raven, these two hours of sparring were very rewarding; for Eric, it was a completely different experience.

In terms of close combat alone, he was far superior to Raven in terms of combat experience, skills, and strength, but for some reason, Raven seemed to always be able to see his movements and react in advance, like a slippery loach.

And his extraordinary strength and reaction speed were not inferior to most first-level extraordinary people. If it had not been strengthened by the magic core, Eric would not be much stronger.

What impressed him most was Raven's pace. No matter what time, his legs were slightly apart, shoulder-width apart, and his feet were never raised more than ten centimeters above the ground. This allowed Raven's body to remain stable at all times, and it could also avoid stepping on foreign objects and losing balance as much as possible.

This was by no means the pace of a layman, but there was no trace of professional training. It was more like the experience accumulated in battle after battle, which required a smart mind and keen combat instinct to develop.

"What a pity." Eric muttered on the way back to the military camp: "If Lord Raven had chosen to be a warrior, he would have achieved great success."

Time passed slowly, one day, two days, three days...

Although there was no second snow, the Eagle Territory was getting colder day by day, but this did not stop the enthusiasm of the Eagle Town residents. They continued to build infrastructure and were about to build a new warehouse.

Raven's life became more and more fulfilling. After handling daily affairs in the morning, he would start studying books and practicing magic; after lunch, he would practice horsemanship and lance, and occasionally go to the military camp to observe.

He would not rest at night. After practicing the Elvish language, he would go to Eric to hone his fighting skills.

As Eric said, Raven had a certain talent. His melee skills would improve every day, making it more and more difficult for Eric to deal with.

The so-called "leading by example" is universal in ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad. Raven packed his schedule full, and the Eagle Castle was also tense, and the overall atmosphere became more and more tense unconsciously.

This morning, Raven was studying "The Path of the Mage", thinking about the content about meditation and mental power recorded in it, and suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Raven put down the book and saw old Gordon walked in.

The old butler who had worked hard and made great contributions changed his usual calmness, with a hint of hesitation on his face, his eyes wandering, and his tone was also a little hesitant:

"That... Baron, I have something, I hope to get your consent."

...