Sword of Dawn

"Oh," Patty immediately stopped at the dining table, and while controlling the wheelchair to get close to the table, she looked at Selena who was sitting next to her, "but actually I won't bump into you, right sister Selena? "

"Theoretically you won't hit, but if I think about it, it can also produce the same effect as 'hitting'," Selena laughed, "This is a very profound magic technique, do you want to learn it? "

Patty thought for a while, then shook her head vigorously: "...I still can't do it. If you do the questions before dinner, it will affect the aroma of the food."

The Countess Luo Penny on the side showed a somewhat helpless expression: "Patty, how many times have I told you that you should be called Aunt Selena—she is your elder..."

"No, I think she's fine with what she's called now," Selina said immediately, "for a 'ghost,' my age had stagnated hundreds of years ago—and besides, 'Don't talk to me. It is the basic consensus in the extraordinary field that the immortals discuss the issue of seniority, isn't it?"

Luo Penny opened her mouth, feeling speechless for a while, while Patty's attention quickly fell on the dining table. She looked at the empty table in front of Selena in surprise, and couldn't help asking: " Sister Selena, why...why is there no food in front of you?"

"I can't eat in the real world like you guys," Selina smiled and stroked Patty's hair, "You should know that although I look like I'm sitting here, in fact I'm just what you know A 'projection' produced."

"But this feels very strange..." Patty frowned immediately, "Could it be that the so-called having dinner means you sitting next to us and watching us eat?"

Selena thought for a while: "Then how about I create some illusions of food and pretend to eat with you?"

The corresponding imaginary picture immediately appeared in Patty's mind, and he quickly shook his head in the next second: "That's better than not, it feels even weirder..."

Countess Luo Penny watched the scene where her daughter communicated with Selena. She didn't speak, but a faint smile appeared on her face.

Although Patty has always been a very optimistic child, the Viscount must admit...it has been a long time since she has seen such a purely happy smile from her daughter.In the past, this ancient castle always seemed too empty, and the only person who could accompany Patty at dinner was his overly serious mother—the servants and maids could not accompany Patty like family members, this child Haven't had such a happy meal time in too many years.

Perhaps just because of Patty's smile at the moment, agreeing to this "experiment" is worthwhile.

The relaxed and happy time passed like this, and in this once cold, quiet, and even somewhat bleak old castle, the warm lights and relaxed chatting and laughing sounded again.Patty talked to her mother about the interesting things she experienced in the neural network, and Selena talked about the "little secrets" that some seemingly serious and old-fashioned node bachelors usually don't know, and even Even Roperney Grant, who was always unsmiling at home, talked about a few interesting things she heard in the government affairs hall-these things were not that interesting, but Patty still laughed very happily.

No signs of trance.

There is no inexplicable act of prayer.

There is no sudden listening, whispering to non-existent people, whispering the titles of gods.

Luo Penny smiled, watching the conversation between her daughter and Selena, watching every subtle expression change on Patty's face, and also paying attention to the mechanical clock hanging on the wall not far away.

Patty was stretching out her hand, carefully picking up a small plate of cakes on the dining table, her movements were slow and cautious, but always kept steady, Luo Penny's eyes fell on her daughter's arm, and she said thoughtfully : "Patty, your hands are steady this time."

"Huh?" Patty looked at his arm in surprise, and then moved a few fingers, "It seems to be... the little finger didn't twitch..."

At this moment, Selena's voice suddenly came from the side, and asked a little abruptly: "Patty, have you heard of the name Amon?"

Patty had just finished answering her mother's question. At this moment, she couldn't help being stunned, and subconsciously said, "Huh? Who is that?"

In the next second, there was a sudden click from the mechanical clock hanging on the wall not far away. Driven by the gears and springs, the hammer struck the built-in steel sheet, and the loud chiming sound echoed in the restaurant. .

Luo Peini's body had left her seat slightly, and she came to a standstill amidst the sound of the bell. She stared at Selina Geerfen on the opposite side, and after reacting for a while, she said: "She really doesn't know... This is a name that only professional theologians and historians will know, and she has no education in this area..."

Immediately afterwards, she heard Selina's voice directly in her mind: "Then, all the tests are over, the controllable anti-divinity barrier is indeed effective, and even direct contact in the form of 'miracle' cannot penetrate the non-directional The protection formed by the ideological trend - the first phase of practical verification of the non-directional ideological trend ends here. Your daughter has not been affected."

……

On the vast gray grassland shrouded in boundless mist and endless skylight, three figures sat on the ground, fighting fiercely in the game of cards.

"I don't believe this!" The lady in a graceful and complicated black court dress stared at the game in front of her. After seeing the cards in her hand, she suddenly showed a happy expression on her face. She looked up at Amoen for provocation Get up, "Can you kill me with seventeen cards? Can you kill me in seconds?! You can beat me with seventeen cards today..."

Before she finished speaking, Amoen sighed helplessly, and threw out the cards in order: "Mirmina, it's almost enough..."

"This..." Miermina's eyes widened instantly, and she watched in disbelief as she missed the victory that she thought was a sure thing. In the next second, her astonishment turned into anger, and she stared at A Mohn and Duarte, "There is a problem, there must be a problem - it has to be done again! Do it again..."

"It's the same again and again, I already regret bringing you to play cards," Amon said helplessly, "This kind of victory is simply more boring than sitting around doing nothing..."

"You said something like that at this time?" Mirmina immediately threw away the cards in her hand and said dissatisfiedly, "You framed me here just now!"

Amoen spread his hands: "I didn't set you up - it's your problem that you were caught by the administrator by maliciously exploiting the system loopholes, and it's none of my business."

Myrmina's anger was finally further ignited, she stood up abruptly, but before she could speak, a figure suddenly came out from the nearby mist, interrupting her movements.

"Are you still playing cards?" Naritel, who returned from the upper level of the Internet, looked at the situation in front of him in surprise, shook his head and said, "Okay, I just came to inform—Mr. Amoen, the ban is over Now, and Ms. Mirmina, you can all leave..."

"It's finally over," Amon breathed a sigh of relief, with a relaxed look on his face, he stood up with a smile, "Then we'll..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he heard Mirmina yelling from the side: "No! It's not over yet—administrator, add another hour!"

"Is there something wrong with your brain?!" Amoen staggered suddenly, staring at the guy who was once called the "Goddess of Magic" dumbfounded, "The ban is finally over, and we can return to the normal network—why you Did you even ask for an extension?!"

"Whatever you say, I have to win at least once today," Mirmina glared at him, and said confidently, "And don't try to let the water go - I may not be good at cards, but I have very keen perception !"

Amorn: "..."

As a result, the game of the gods, filled with gunpowder, is still fighting fiercely today in a field that ordinary people cannot perceive...

Chapter 1164 Violet in the Fog

In the early morning, the cool morning breeze blew into the room through the open window, and the wind brought the sound of garrison soldiers assembling and practicing in the courtyard square. A report was sent to Gao Wen.

"Ancestors, the document of the Theocracy Council - the test item numbered EC-27 was successfully completed. This is the relevant data and summary records."

Gao Wen looked away from the documents in front of him, took the document handed over by Hetty, and flipped through it quickly, and some key information quickly came into his eyes: "...During the test, item G-1 vs. item G-2 The effect of the 'miracle' exerted did pass through the barriers of space and reality, and directly acted on the body... No pollution of the divine realm occurred, and no 'spillover' phenomenon of any kind was observed...For item G- 1 Subsequent monitoring and testing showed no signs of recovery of its divine nature, nor any spiritual connection with any mind in the real world...

"...To sum up, the practical application of non-directional thoughts has achieved substantial results, and its effects are not limited to passive 'isolation', but also active, controllable, and targeted protection...

"Additionally, Project G-1 showed extremely high cooperation in this test, and he won the respect of all members of the project team..."

"The test on Patty and Amorn was successful." A few minutes later, Gawain put down the file and looked up at Hetty, "Without any external will interference or hint, their cross-border contact did not happen. Pollution - the non-directional ideological trend permeating the bottom layer of the neural network is effective. Now we can not only create a "protective field" in the rebellious fortress, but as long as the neural network covers the place, the anti-god barrier can Play a role."

Hetty showed a smile: "Combined with the 'broadcasting device' now, even if a certain god suddenly falls into madness, we don't have to worry that the people will be directly converted into fanatics, and we don't have to worry that they will become the source of the mad god's power ..."

"Not only that," Gao Wen smiled, and tapped the document on the table with his fingers, "the 'bridge' that connects the gods and the real world is rooted in the mapping relationship in the trend of thought, and now we have gradually put this If this mapping relationship becomes controllable—at least it is disturbable, then according to the latest theory, as long as the anti-divine barrier is strong enough and the broadcasting devices are dense enough, we can even directly interrupt the coming of the mad god in the real world process."

"...This is the ultimate insurance," Hetty said with a serious expression and a low tone. "Although we must try our best to prevent the gods from going to the stage of 'crazy gods', once this stage arrives, we will finally have the ability to effectively fight with God." We hope that this technology will mature as soon as possible, so that the tragic scene on the battlefield of Winterhold will not be repeated."

Thinking of what he witnessed on the battlefield of Winterhold, Gao Wen nodded solemnly, and then said thoughtfully: "The next step... is to do our best to rapidly expand the scale of the neural network. We have already signed a contract with the Silver Empire. The information interface agreement, and the negotiations with the "Communication Tower Management Association" on Typhon's side are also going smoothly. The large-scale laying of the magic net has begun in the territory of the Ogure Tribal State, and the progress of the Holy Dragon Principality is also very fast... But the biggest problem Sure enough, it's still the group of 'hermits' in the north..."

Hetty frowned slightly, and quickly realized: "You mean... the Violet Kingdom?"

"Yes, the Kingdom of Violet, the kingdom of hermit mages," Gawain nodded with a headache, rubbing his index finger between his brows, "there is only one strait between them and Loren Continent, but the 'distance' between them and us But it is farther than the Silver Empire across the entire wasteland of Gondor. They once again rejected the invitation to join the alliance communication agreement... and this time it was a direct reply from the city of a thousand towers."

Heti slightly recalled: "But I heard that they didn't completely reject it?"

"Yes, theoretically, the negotiations have made some progress." Gao Wen sighed helplessly, "They agreed to set up alliance communication stations in several major coastal cities, so as to facilitate businessmen and businessmen from the Loren Continent to the Violet Border. The adventurers contacted the alliance, but they refused to establish an interface between the 'Violet Webway' and the alliance's communication network, any interface would not work, and they also refused to introduce key equipment such as immersion chambers and neural network nodes."

"This is troublesome." Hetty understood Gawain's distress, and her expression became serious, "Rejecting these key things means that the neural network cannot be connected at all—set up a few demons in the border city. Obelisks are meaningless, the key to the anti-divine barrier lies in the coverage of the neural network..."

Speaking of this, she paused, and couldn't help asking another question: "Don't they know the threat of divine disaster? Or don't they believe what we have announced?"

"No, judging from the response from the city of a thousand towers, they knew and believed, and they even expressed their respect and blessings to the whole world," Gawain spread his hands, "but they don't care."

Hetty was dumbfounded: "...This...isn't this really some kind of provocation?"

"I've been skeptical for a long time too, but now I can only be sure that they really don't care," Gao Wen said with some headaches, "Those mysterious 'hermits' in the city of a thousand towers... they seem to really put themselves Exiled from this world, I don't care about the survival of the world, the continuation of the entire mortal civilization, or even whether I will die in the next divine disaster or demon tide. To be honest, I can't understand their thinking... It feels like Not like a species living in one world."

"It's really rare to see you look so distressed," Hetty couldn't help showing a smile on her face when she looked at Gao Wen like this, but she quickly restrained the smile, and her tone was also He regained his seriousness, "Ancestor, frankly speaking, I have always paid extra attention to the Violet Kingdom, and my impression of this kingdom... Maybe you are interested in hearing it.

"As you know, I am also a mage myself, and any mage knows that there are two peaks in the mysteries of magic in this world. One is the 'Association of Astrologists' established and led by elves in the territory of the Silver Empire. There is no doubt about the profound magical heritage, but due to differences in the nervous system, the magic system of the elves is not compatible with other races, so this "peak of magic" has never been open to foreigners. Another peak... is Violet The kingdom's 'occult society'.

"The Violet Kingdom is a hermit-like kingdom of mages, but its 'fringe' part is not completely sealed off like a 'transition zone'. This kingdom still establishes communication with Loren Continent, and its coastal cities also have dedicated An institution open to businessmen and travelers, the Violet citizens living there also have a lifestyle similar to ours. Anyone who has been to the Violet Kingdom knows that the people living there are actually just like us, and they are all ordinary.

"However, as long as you cross the edge of that giant island and walk a little deeper into it, the situation will be quite different—it is said that there is a magical city with a style very different from that of Loren Continent, with eerie ancient towers like Standing like a jungle, magical power infiltrates and transforms the environment in the hinterland of the kingdom, blurring the boundaries between reality and reality, and even the people living in those areas... seem mysterious, weird and weird.

"There are people who have entered that 'hinterland'. When they come back, the consistent description is that they seem to have entered some kind of 'foreign land'. An inexplicable 'weird' shrouds that area. It may even feel strange to be in it for a long time. I was assimilated by the weird environment there, and gradually forgot what a "normal life" in the outside world looked like...Of course, the last part of the description often proved to be exaggerated, but since there are such rumors circulating, It shows that the core area of ​​the Violet Kingdom is indeed weird."

Gawain listened carefully to Hetty's narration, which was something he had hardly seen in previous reports—these contents were mixed with Hetty's personal history of ghost stories and her impression of the Violet Kingdom as a mage , The accuracy of this information may not be high, but it is enough to open up some new ideas for him.

"From your description...it seems that the kingdom is divided into layers from the outside to the inside," Gao Wen touched the tip of his nose and said while thinking, "The more you go in, the weirder and weirder it is, and it's still different from the 'outside world'." It has a completely different environment... It doesn't feel like a kingdom established by mortals, but more like a 'secret realm' used to seal and suppress something."

"It's not that there is such a saying," Hetty spread her hands, "some scholars describe the Violet Kingdom in this way, they say that the country is a huge mystery - half of the island is lies, half of the things are phantom."

Gao Wen didn't respond to this absurd anecdote that sounded too absurd, but showed a thoughtful expression, and said slowly while thinking: "You just mentioned the 'Secret Law Society' of the Violet Kingdom... I have an impression. The founder of the magic net, the nameless wild mage... He was once expelled by the Arcane Society, and as far as I know, some members of the Arcane Society leave the Violet Kingdom every year, in the northern part of the Loren Continent travel……"

"Yes, there are indeed such traveling mages, and they sometimes even accept employment from northern countries as magic advisors to certain lords or kings, but these mages seldom mention the affairs of their own country," Hetty nodded, "When they left the Violet Kingdom, they all seemed to accept some kind of 'memory reshaping', sealing away many memories about the Violet hinterland, especially about the City of Thousand Towers. Mystery in the eyes of all races."

"...If you put it this way, I am becoming more and more interested in this country," Gao Wen muttered, rubbing his chin lightly with his fingers and said, "I even used the method of 'memory reconstruction'. , it seems that the secrets hidden in this country are not small."

Heidi didn't speak for a while, as if she was recalling something, she suddenly spoke after a while: "Ancestor, if you talk about the connection with the Violet Kingdom, I suddenly remembered something... Do you know? Among the people I know, there is one who has dealt with the Violet Kingdom, and it is a very deep relationship—she even entered the city of a thousand towers."

"A person who has entered the city of a thousand towers?" Gawain's eyes widened in surprise, "There is such a person? Who is it?"

"The Grand Duke of the North, the Grand Consul, Ms. Victoria," Hetty said seriously, "She used to 'advanced' in the City of Thousand Towers when she was a girl!"

Gao Wen was stunned for a moment, and it took two seconds before he suddenly realized: "Ah, I remembered, I've heard about... Victoria, in Ansu's era, was the most outstanding magic genius in the entire northern region, according to records. Said that her talent was favored by the Violet Kingdom, and she was even fortunate enough to be invited to study in the city of a thousand towers... I never thought of this!"

"It's normal, because I'm afraid there's not much information behind this incident." Hetty nodded, "Just like everyone who left the Violet Hinterland, Ms. Victoria doesn't remember her incredible period of 'studying' Time'—the relevant memories are sealed, so she almost never mentions this matter to the outside world, and of course it is even more difficult for others to frequently discuss the private affairs of an upper-class nobleman."

Gao Wenqu unconsciously tapped the documents on the table with his fingers, and said as if talking to himself while tapping: "The successor of the Grand Duke of the North... would have such an experience, it really is worthy of the 'Sword and Magic Garden' Era'. But anyway, it got me interested—wire Winterhold, and I'll have a word with Victoria."

"Understood." Hetty nodded immediately, "I'll call right away."

The magic network terminal set up next to the desk was activated, an internal line quickly sent out a call, and Winter Castle, thousands of miles away, responded within seconds—fortunately, Victoria, a busy northerner, The manager happened to be in his castle today, and she soon appeared in front of Gao Wen.

"We are discussing about the Violet Kingdom," Gao Wen said straight to the point, "I heard that you have been to the city of a thousand towers, and you were selected for your outstanding talent to go to the headquarters of the Secret Law Association for further study——My respect to you The experience was interesting."

Victoria didn't expect that Gao Wen suddenly called her because of this matter. She seemed a little surprised, but she quickly realized that she shook her head in embarrassment: "There is nothing to hide, but... I don't actually remember that I was The specific experience of studying in the City of Thousand Towers... As you know, the Violet Kingdom strictly controls its secrets, and even the citizens of Violet in the Arcane Society must undergo memory reconstruction to leave the City of Thousand Towers..."

"I know this, Hetty told me just now," Gawain nodded, "so what I'm interested in is your memory before entering the city of a thousand towers... how do they select qualified trainees, trainees How did you get to the Violet Kingdom on the other side of the sea, what you saw and heard on the way from the border area to the City of Thousand Towers... You should remember these things, right?"

Victoria listened carefully, and nodded slowly: "Of course, I still remember most of these experiences——since you're interested, I can tell you about it."

"This is a very 'mage-style' experience, and it can be summed up roughly like this: talented young people were picked up by the mysterious kingdom of magic, and received education and guidance of arcane truth. After half a year, it seemed as if the world evaporated Returning to human society after his 'disappearance', he no longer remembers his specific experience in the past six months, because the mysterious magic kingdom needs to keep its mystery - the only thing that can prove that the 'studying' experience is real, only the more and more Sophisticated magical power, as well as knowledge and spell models that seemed to appear in my mind out of thin air..."

Chapter 1165 Victoria's Memories

Victoria first used a very impressionistic general description to describe the way the Violet Kingdom selects "talented people", so as to give Gao Wen a general impression in his mind, and Hetty on the side said after listening: "I have heard of this kind of 'selection', and I also heard that this kind of 'selection' has not always been there. In the older era, the Violet Kingdom was more closed than it is now, and there is no such talent for selection from Loren Continent. The tradition of mentoring by apprentices—it wasn't until some enlightened prince of the arcane that some 600 years ago set the precedent..."

"Yes, that happened 600 years ago," Victoria nodded, "It was already after the stability of Ansu Liguo, and the originally highly closed Violet Kingdom suddenly announced that they would open their magic knowledge to the outside world—according to them In other words, it is in the way of the mages themselves. Only then did the violet lorewalkers and 'receivers' appear publicly in the northern part of the mainland.

"According to our family records, these masters who mastered profound magical skills caused a lot of commotion in the northern region, especially among those extraordinary people who pursued magical mysteries and ancient knowledge... As we know , when the Gondor Empire collapsed, human magic civilization was severely damaged, and the magister system that relied heavily on the Deep Blue Well disappeared overnight. The surviving spellcasters urgently needed to rebuild without the Deep Blue Well. A reliable magic system, but for traditional mages who rely on experience-trial-error-accumulation to improve their knowledge, how difficult is it to build such a system? So in the 100 years after the founding of Ansu, human mages all It's like groping for a stone wall in the dark, unable to do anything..."

Indeed——Gao Wen thought in his heart, although what he experienced in his mind was only a short memory of the first ten years of Ansu Liguo, but what he saw and heard in those ten years was enough for him to understand the scene described by Victoria, In fact, the Cecil family's ancestral motto "Knights are better than mages" was spoken in the background of that era - because knights were indeed better than mages back then...

After all, except for a few freaks like Snow Wilder, the mages of those days were basically half disabled.

Victoria didn't know what was going on in Gao Wen's mind, she just continued: "...It was under such circumstances that the mages of the Violet Kingdom suddenly appeared in the north of the mainland, and their appearance made the human mages 600 years ago I saw a brand new possibility—new magic knowledge, the mysterious and ancient violet secret art system, various self-sustaining magic circles that could operate without the Deep Blue Well...for the dilapidated magic circle that was still dilapidated after a century of repairs at that time As far as the human magic system is concerned, the knowledge brought by the Violet mages seems like a kind of... miracle.

"It was also at that time that the Violet Kingdom began to 'communicate' with Loren Continent. According to them, it was a 'mage-style communication', obscure and secretive, following ancient rules and traditions, like a trickle Pass on knowledge and shape a new mage inheritance system. They select talented apprentices from the north of the mainland—mostly humans, but occasionally there are minority groups such as elves and dwarves, and bring them back to the island to teach them. The selected knowledge left, and at the same time, they continued to send out travel scholars to the human world. Some of these travel scholars became the guests of various mage organizations in the northern region of later generations, and the rest were basically recruited by the royal family and nobles, becoming Ansu royal mages The association's 'foreign advisors'...

"Whether you want to admit it or not, these envoys from the Violet Kingdom and the magic knowledge they brought have greatly changed the pattern of spellcasters in the northern region, and have a long-term impact on the reconstruction process of the magic system in the Ansu Kingdom and the small northern countries— —In the next six centuries, this influence gradually spread to the entire human world, as well as other countries that are more closely connected with human countries.

"And this has further established the influence of the 'Secret Society' in the caster community, allowing such a mysterious mage organization that is far away from the Loren continent and almost never reveals its true colors in front of the Loren kingdoms to have the same power as the Silver Empire astrologists. The same lofty status as the association—even because it is more mysterious, the "charm" of the Arcane Association in the eyes of spellcasters is even greater than that of the Astromancer Association. Your Majesty, you know that mages... just like this mysterious feeling. "

Having said this, Victoria stopped, as if she was sorting out her thoughts, and then continued: "To this day, traces of the influence left by the 'Violet Magic System' in Loren's modern magic system can still be seen everywhere, such as the traditional communication Spells, anti-gravity spells before improvement, old-fashioned self-charging magic circles, etc.-although most of these things have now been improved by the Rune Research Institute and the Magic Technology Research Institute, their original forms In fact, they are all closely related to the Violet Kingdom."

Listening to Victoria's narration, Gao Wen subconsciously rubbed his chin with his fingers. He gathered the information in his mind, gradually abstracted it into a macro picture, and gradually frowned: "I always thought that the Violet Kingdom was isolated from the world. The relationship with Loren Continent is very alienated. I didn't expect them to have such a profound influence on Loren Continent... This even sounds like some kind of long-term and comprehensive penetration. In theory, the Violet Kingdom can even be established in Loren Continent. A force that is strong enough to contend with the local regime—even if they don't, they are enough to strangle the lifeline of many local mage organizations."

"You're right. In fact, you're not the only one who was worried about this. The royal family in the Ansu era, Typhon's Mage Association, and some scholars who left their names in history have also expressed similar views, but the problem lies in this: 600 Years have passed, and the Violet Kingdom has really been living in seclusion until today, except for small-scale coastal trade and those wandering mages, they really... have never crossed the line."

Gawain raised his eyebrows subconsciously, but he didn't speak, just listening to Victoria's continuation.

"The activity lasted for 600 years. Of course, the northern countries are not blind. Many people are paying attention to the every move of those violet mages, including our family - but it seems that those mages really just came here to travel and spread the word. Magical, except for academic exchanges and short-term employment, they do not participate in politics, do not intermarry, do not accept military employment, do not establish any organizations affiliated with the Violet Kingdom, and do not develop any personal power in Loren Continent. As soon as the stipulated travel time limit is up, they immediately withdraw and leave, even if there was a royal family who once recruited them with permanent titles and large fiefdoms, none of them can be left behind..."

"This... is indeed a bit powerful..." Gao Wen couldn't help muttering, "It makes people pay more attention..."

"Yes, but whether you care about it or not, that's how they behave," Victoria nodded. "Of course, some people speculate that they are good at disguising and hiding their purpose... But for 600 years, countless pairs of eyes stared at them, None of the mages from Violet showed any signs, which in itself is equivalent to some kind of 'iron proof'."

"This only shows that their goal is indeed not to meddle in the power of the Loren Continent, but it's hard to say whether this goal is really limited to study tours. This country is too mysterious... so mysterious that it makes people dread it." Gao Wen rubbed his chin, said with a serious face, then suddenly raised his head to look at Victoria, "Can you tell me about your childhood experience? How were you selected? And what methods did they use to guide you to be selected?" Gifted'?"

"The selection process of the Violet Kingdom has always been a mystery, and they have never made public the specific criteria," Victoria shook her head, "You know, the City of Thousand Towers is like the kingdom of heaven or the goddess of magic in the minds of believers. The temple has an extraordinary status, and it is the lifelong dream of many mages to be selected by them—this means a "must-pass road" to high-level and even legendary.

"No matter how mediocre the mages who returned from the city of thousand towers were before, they all started at a high level after returning, so some people have been trying to find the selection criteria for the Violet Kingdom, and even some secret organizations have racked their brains to open up ways to send apprentices to the Violet Kingdom. channel, but no one has ever successfully found this rule. Their selection seems to give priority to spellcasting talent, but there have also been incidents where farmers with mediocre qualifications suddenly encounter 'receivers' in the fields. Most of the time they only choose Young people, but also older people into their apprenticeships, and there are even rumors that they will take kobolds and wild goblins from the wilderness... Of course, these rumors have little credibility.

"In short, I don't know why I was chosen-I just remember that one day, a mage suddenly visited Winter Castle, my father received him, and the mage took out the mark of the Violet Kingdom, and A 'Certificate of Enrollment in the Great Library' waiting to be signed, my father and mother had a long talk with that mage, exchanging some details of enrollment and contractual content, and finally they asked for my opinion, after I nodded, I became a pre-apprentice."

Gao Wen looked at the Grand Duchess in the holographic projection with some surprise: "On one side is the heir to the Duke of the Northern Territory, and on the other side is a foreigner who suddenly came to say that he wants to recruit students, and the next learning process will require going to other places and closed management... Your parents agreed? Wouldn't this matter be a bit hasty? "

"Because such things have happened more than once," Victoria said lightly, "During the 600 years, five members of the Wilder family have successively become apprentices in the City of Thousand Towers—although the 'recruitment' of the Violet Kingdom is important to the entire group of mages. A very rare opportunity, but if we look at the history of several centuries and the scope of the entire northern border, such things have actually happened many times, and we are no strangers to this.

"Secondly, the 'selection' of the Violet Kingdom is not mandatory. In fact, compared with the traditional process of selecting apprentices for mages, the invitation from the City of Thousand Towers is so gentle and relaxed that you can refuse it at will. Go back, even if you have already arrived in Violet territory, as long as you want to go home, they will send you back immediately. In addition, they also have a very, very detailed...according to what we say now, it should be called the "Enrollment Agreement", which contains details It stipulates the board and lodging standards, health protection, round-trip time and course content for freshmen, just..."

Victoria thought carefully about how to express it, and finally threw up her hands: "It's very formal, very formal."

"Regular... well, I still think it's not right, there's a big problem in it," Gawain sighed, "but you can go on - what happened after the 'admission'? How did they bring the apprentices to thousands of From the Tower City?"

"It is rumored that the usher of Violet will pick up the selected apprentices with a flying ship that travels through the dreamland and the sea of ​​stars. When all the crew members are dreaming, the ship will drive by itself and cross an invisible sea level, crashing into an In the cave shrouded by the aurora, and arrived at the courtyard of the Prince of Secrets in the early morning of the next day..." Victoria said, the corners of her mouth slightly twitched, "It's very romantic and 'magical' fantasy, but unfortunately the reality is far worse than that. That's much more austere.

"They use ordinary passenger ships to pick up people. That ship is far behind our current magic warships. Apprentices usually gather in a small town in the north. After boarding the ship, it takes less than half a day to pass through Violet and Los Angeles. The small strait between the continents of Lun - the food in the restaurant on the ship is not bad, I still have the impression of this.

"After crossing the strait, a ship full of apprentices will dock in a certain seaside city. The location of the specific port is different every time-I remember that I arrived in a small town called 'Prandelle' that year. It was cloudy and rainy... very uncommon weather in the north.

"After a short break, we met the emissary of the City of Thousand Towers. I remember it was a very kind old lady. She was responsible for guiding the new apprentices to the hinterland of the Violet Kingdom... I remember the old lady said so, it was' The real, eternal Violet Kingdom'..."

"The real, eternal Violet Kingdom?" Gao Wen immediately noticed these unusual words, his eyes became serious, "Why do you say that?"

"She didn't explain it, or she may have explained it later but I don't remember it anymore," Victoria shook her head, "but I still remember her emotional expression when she said this...it was a deep and nostalgic tone, just As if she was referring not to a country still thriving, but to a ruined place that can only be remembered forever..."

"...This is a very important clue, I'll keep it in mind for now," Gawain nodded, "What happened next? You were taken to the City of Thousand Towers? How did you get there?"