Chapter 67: Relic Mutation 5600
Year 835 of the Falling Stars Era, November 7th.
Half a year had passed in the blink of an eye.
Six months, one hundred and eighty days. Although it might sound long, for the common folk and Transcendent Beings whose lives were becoming increasingly comfortable in the era of the Great Magic Tide, these six months of peace, free from any war, were a precious and warm moment in their lives. Yet, within this brief moment, many noteworthy events also occurred.
Firstly, at the end of May, the Empire's Seventh Prince, Alva Diamond, was accepted as a nominal disciple by the Empire's new Legendary, the Northern Lord, Joshua von Radcliffe. For the common people, this was just idle dinner conversation, but for the many nobles and the ladies within Morlai Palace, it was enormous news. This news meant that the Seventh Prince's status and value had greatly increased, and he now had stable backing. Even if Alva could not become the future Emperor, the identity of a disciple of a Legendary expert was worthy of their investment.
Furthermore, the seemingly unsuccessful competitor, Dimoer, was not looked down upon either. Because that Northern Count had mentioned in a private gathering with the Kaos couple that this Second Prince of the Empire possessed great potential himself, and the only reason he wasn't taken on was due to differing philosophies. Receiving such formal praise from a Legendary expert, combined with his previous performance in the military, undoubtedly proved Dimoer's potential.
Secondly, in mid-June of the same year, the Far South Kingdom recaptured Ruhl City.
Two years prior, on March 12th, Year 833 of the Falling Stars Era, Ruhl Port, the last coastal city of the Far South Kingdom, fell under the siege of over a hundred thousand Mad Dragons. Within a thousand miles around it, the land was covered in acid and flames, everywhere was ash and white earth, utterly barren. Now, over two years later, the Far South Kingdom's army, slowly recovering from the wounds of the Dragon Calamity, finally completely cleared the remaining Sea Beasts and Wyverns from the ruins of many coastal ports, reclaiming the sites of these cities.
Although these cities were completely destroyed and the remaining ruins were utterly uninhabitable, they were, after all, the homeland of many Far South refugees. The good news of recovering the entire territory greatly helped the beleaguered Far South royal family in calming the increasingly turbulent domestic situation—the royal family, whose prestige had greatly diminished and could barely command the armies of various fortresses, took advantage of this good news to issue their biggest, and likely final, decree of the past year or two: the Frontier Autonomy Decree.
This decree was filled with verbose nonsense and complex, hard-to-understand etiquette and honorifics. In the simplest terms, it meant "hands-off." The Far South royal family could no longer rule the southern and coastal territories ravaged by the Mad Dragons. Therefore, anyone capable of rebuilding cities and villages locally, gathering over five hundred subjects to maintain order—be they Adventurers, Mercenaries, freemen, former nobles, criminals, or foreigners—would automatically become a noble of the Far South Kingdom. This decree was recognized by the gods, and the Church of the Seven Gods jointly affirmed its sanctity with the royal family.
As soon as the Frontier Autonomy Decree was issued, almost everyone in the world with a certain ambition and ability, like sharks smelling blood, excitedly swam in from all corners of the world. Everyone smelled the weakness of the Far South Kingdom and the possibility of realizing their own ambitions. It must be said that this decree was, from a certain perspective, a genius idea. In the third month after its issuance, the originally dilapidated southern border of the Far South, which had nothing but ruins, had already begun to show signs of life due to the influx of a large foreign population. According to the estimates of those mages in the Eastern Plains who specialized in this field, within at most a year, the southern border would recover a certain vitality and return to the orderly world. However, in return, the Far South royal family would never be able to control these regions again.
In July, compared to their human neighbors in the plains, the Elf Clan, rooted in the southern mountains and southwestern swamps, appeared much quieter. Although the Mad Dragons two years prior had also caused great damage to the Elf cities and villages around the Silent Forest, the originally scattered Elves did not suffer too many losses. Moreover, the inland dense forest was not the advantageous terrain for mountain and hill creatures like Wyverns. So, having not suffered too much damage after the war, they quickly restored order.
However, even the Elves, who had always seemed inconspicuous, released a piece of news of moderate importance at this time: After a grand and mysterious ceremony, the Elf Royal Court announced at the center of the Eternal Lake that they had regained the blessing of the ancient god, the Elf Creator, the [Father of Nature]. A mysterious plant seedling, which they called the 'World Tree,' was planted in the center of the Elves' nine Mother Trees of Life, becoming a new holy land for the Elves.
For this reason, countless Elf tribes wandering the world sent envoys, and some even came in full force, heading to the Far South for pilgrimage. The heat from the deepest part of their bloodlines drove these beings, who lived by the principles of tranquility and elegance, to make this 'impulsive' choice without hesitation.
In August and September, two quiet months, the entire continent entered the season of late summer and early autumn, preparing for harvest. During this period, the only thing worth mentioning was that the underground races of the Western Mountains finally ended their civil war. Envoys had been gradually coming to the surface world for exchanges. These races, possessing exquisite forging techniques and ancient spells inherited from the previous era, cautiously contacted the unfamiliar surface world.
In October, news from the Eastern Sea dominated the front pages of all newspapers on the Mycroft Continent. Due to changes in the deep sea currents, the five major Fishman tribes, originally isolated and living around the Eastern Sea Abyss, had to migrate to the calmer coastal areas of the continent's eastern part. They inevitably clashed with the coastal cities of the Eastern Plains. The continent's famous Sea Dragon Knight Order and the Fishman elite's Sea Beast Legion faced off for over half a month until high-level representatives from both sides held a seven-day secret meeting hosted by the Sky-Piercing White Tower. The result of this meeting was that the Fishman tribes would withdraw from the prosperous Jewel Port-Sea Dragon City area, and the Legendary Mage Barbarossa would use his Legendary power, together with the Fishman High Priest, to lift the continental shelf, artificially creating five islands for the Fishmen to inhabit.
Rumors said some Fishmen and Humans were dissatisfied with this result, but for some reason, the high-level officials on both sides tacitly suppressed all dissenting voices from the bottom. It seemed some major event was brewing in the calm, like an ocean current deep beneath the sea, invisible from the surface, yet truly existing.
"So?"
In the Northern land of Moldavia, in the reception hall of the Lord's Mansion, Joshua, who had been resting at home for half a year, lifted his head from the newspaper. He leisurely crossed his legs and asked lazily of the person sitting opposite him: "What made Godar (Fishman High Priest), Barbarossa, and Faina (Ocean Sage) all willing to sit down and negotiate properly, instead of fighting a great tsunami that would sweep the entire Eastern Sea?"
"Alright, my friend, don't force a topic so awkwardly." The middle-aged man sitting on the other side of the reception hall, Nostradamus, whose features still faintly showed his former self, didn't even look up. Holding a thick, purple-covered, gold-patterned Grimoire, he was scribbling something furiously. The Legendary Mage replied in a perfunctory tone: "You know best why they stopped."
"Actually, I am quite curious."
Shrugging, Joshua placed the newspaper in his hand into the hands of Ying, who was nearby. At the same time, the Silver-Haired Girl respectfully offered him a cup of tea. Taking a sip of the hydrogen-oxygen compound that no longer held any meaning for him, the Warrior didn't press further, because he knew he was just making conversation earlier. The reason Barbarossa and the others stopped was obvious: it was for the upcoming Space-Time Distortion point, the trip to the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground.
The world's history had been greatly deviated due to his existence. In the original history, during this period, the Eastern Plains had just driven out the last remnants of the Dragon Calamity. The weakened Mycroft was very wary of the suddenly appearing underground races: the Dark Elves and Gray Dwarves. Towards the aggressive Fishmen, who saw the weakness of the surface races, they adopted a directly hostile attitude. The three Legendary experts of the East, while wary of each other, had a limited probe in the Far Eastern sea area, which resulted in a tsunami that destroyed several cities and medium-sized Fishman tribes. From then on, the Fishman camp and the Human camp remained hostile until the Demon invasion era.
Now, because of Joshua's existence, the Mad Dragon Plague had a vaccine from the start, and the great plague of the cultists was also suppressed. The entire Mycroft Continent had not been severely crippled by the conspiracies of the Five-Colored Dragon Clan, the Abyss, and the Evil God Churches. Possessing considerable strength, the underground races and Fishman tribes naturally wouldn't adopt too aggressive an attitude. Influenced by both sides, it wasn't strange for former enemies to become cold but cautious neighbors.
Not to mention the existence of a Legendary expert like Nostradamus, who didn't exist originally. Because of the activities of this Archmage specializing in Space-Time Sorcery, the Northern Empire discovered the existence of the Space-Time Distortion point much earlier, which naturally made all Legendary experts pay attention and temporarily cease their mutual vigilance.
"Preparing to depart only after the year's end?"
Recalling the information Nostradamus had specifically come to the Northern lands to inform him of, Joshua pondered for a moment. He knew this was the right choice. The period after the year's end was the busiest time for various factions. The continent's nations needed to prepare for the harsh winter, and the Fishmen also needed to dive into the warm deep sea. Only after the initial busy period passed would the Legendary experts who governed nations have spare time to explore the ruins in the Void.
To be honest, Joshua was indeed getting a bit impatient. He had spent the nearly half-year of peace quite well. Not long ago, he had even taken a group from the Lord's Mansion for a trip to the Eastern Plains, experiencing a rather pleasant small adventure. But such minor skirmishes could not satisfy him at all. Having rested long enough, the Warrior eagerly awaited the next battle.
Knock, knock, knock.
A regular and clear knocking sound came from the door of the reception hall. Neither Joshua nor Nostradamus was surprised. The Warrior gestured for Ying to open the door, and the increasingly dutiful Head Maid gracefully went to open it. A golden-haired, blue-eyed boy nervously clutched a stack of papers in his arms, bowing slightly to the three people inside the hall: "Teacher, Master Nostradamus..."
"Come here, Alva, don't be so formal."
Waving his hand, Joshua motioned for the boy, whose legs were a bit weak from the pressure exerted by two Legendary experts, to come closer. He then took the stack of papers from the boy's arms and began to read them seriously. With Joshua's current information processing speed, the only reason he couldn't finish reading these drafts in a hundredth of a second was that the paper was too weak to withstand being turned too quickly. A few seconds later, the Warrior, having finished reviewing Alva's project, nodded with satisfaction. He returned the stack of drafts to Alva: "The homework is well done. The preparations for politics, history, mathematics, philosophy, the origin of Transcendent power, and practical combat topics are all qualified. But the Magical Beast you plan to hunt next is an Ice Sea Shark Lizard? That's a high-rank Magical Beast from the inner layer of the Sea of Bewilderment. It's a bit too difficult for you."
"No, Teacher." Although he was a bit nervous at first, it was clear that six months of training had accustomed Alva to this kind of pressure. The golden-haired boy took a deep breath, steadied his emotions, and then began to explain in detail why he chose that prey: "The 'Life Sublimation' and 'Battle Qi Steel Armor' breathing techniques you taught me allow me to temporarily activate the high-heat power within my bloodline and condense a flame coat that ignores the surrounding low-temperature environment, allowing me to move freely. My partners in the First Squad have also long prepared the bait to lure the Shark Lizard ashore. With the five of us cooperating, killing an Ice Sea Shark Lizard shouldn't be a problem."
"Still too rough, but you have the intention."
Joshua nodded noncommittally. He didn't criticize the boy too harshly but waved his hand to indicate his agreement. "Alright, go prepare. I look forward to your success. But remember, even if you fail, it's not a big deal. Let me give you a heads-up first: Shark Lizards usually live in family groups of 4 to 5. The so-called one-on-one duel you're imagining is basically impossible."
...
"Aren't you afraid of ruining the seedling? A Northern proverb: Without the spring bees, there are no summer flowers, let alone autumn fruits."
Watching Alva walk out of the hall looking somewhat disappointed and troubled, able to hear his low-voiced exchange with the First Squad outside the corridor—that is, the Ivan and Amira siblings, Kaelin, Neil, and others—Nostradamus looked up. His brows were slightly furrowed, seeming a bit uneasy. "The level of power you are teaching these little ones is far too high. It's completely a part of the 'Legendary Divine Power' extended from your own being. This is very dangerous."
The old mage was right. These nominal disciples of Joshua had, through half a year of running-in, formed a relatively mature five-person team. After a long period of planned basic teaching and practical combat drills, they had roughly mastered the various special powers Joshua had imparted to them. This gave these underage boys and girls the ability to jointly besiege and kill a high-rank Magical Beast at the Silver Peak, or even early Gold-rank level. The source of their power was the 'techniques' derived from Joshua's analysis of his own power. Although the power originating from a Legendary expert was strong, the difficulty of mastering it was also unimaginable. For them, who hadn't yet reached Gold-rank, a single mistake could lead to self-destruction.
"Only if it's a seedling can I pull it up." In response to the master's doubt, Joshua answered with a proverb only he understood. He patted the head of Ying, who was obediently by his side, and shook his head. "If it were ordinary people, I wouldn't use such drastic methods. It would only harm them. But it's obvious that the little ones who passed the Divine Calamity Mist trial are no ordinary people. And Nostradamus, Alva isn't of pure human bloodline, is he?"
"You noticed? Right, it's been this long, you must have discovered it long ago."
Blinking, the seemingly middle-aged mage chuckled. He lowered his head again, transcribing unknown words into his Grimoire, and said in a low voice: "The ancestors of the Diamond family intermarried with Gemstone Dragons and the Diamond Dragons and Gold Dragons among the Metal Dragons. Their bodies even contain some Fairy bloodline—who knows how those guys managed to do it with thumb-sized humanoids. Israel is because he advanced to Legendary and his life form sublimated, so you can't tell. In reality, every descendant of the Imperial Royal Family is not of pure human bloodline."
To be honest, over the years, besides those Psionic Sorcerer families in the Western Mountain Kingdom, there were basically no pure-blooded humans left on the entire Mycroft Continent. Nostradamus didn't say this out loud, but added another sentence: "An open secret: the current Empress has a quarter or even more Gold Dragon bloodline. She and Israel are also distant relatives. Their union was to ensure the purity of the Dragon blood in the Diamond family—don't tell anyone I told you this."
Having blurted out such things, Nostradamus didn't look particularly tense. After all, Joshua should have guessed this kind of thing, and it wasn't really an important secret among the higher-ups.
"No wonder..." Nodding thoughtfully, Joshua recalled the situation when he met the various princes and princesses. "I didn't see the First Prince, but Dimoer's aura and talent are indeed a bit strange... The Third Princess and the Sixth Prince have a bit of a Fairy flavor. Alva is a Gold Dragon? What a heavy taste."
And what about you? Hearing the Warrior's rather emotional comment, Nostradamus looked up with a disgusted expression. He first glanced at Ying beside him, then looked out the window: there, the Dragon Girl was playing a ball-tossing game with the floating Artificial Intelligence Girl. The light orb Xiao Guang, which could be contacted by both physical entities and magical projections, was the ball being tossed. The Legendary Mage could also sense the resting Black-Haired Boy in the study on the second floor and the operating runic crystals.
Apart from the maids, there were no humans in your Lord's Mansion.
Not wanting to go to the Void and fight Joshua, Nostradamus wisely didn't say these words out loud. He just closed the Grimoire in his hand and sighed. "I'm almost ready. I need to return to the Void Observatory."
"Well, bon voyage." Standing up simultaneously with the mage, Joshua accompanied Nostradamus to the top floor of the Lord's Mansion. He watched the other step into the Space-Time Gate, then turned around, standing at a high vantage point to survey the entire main city of Moldavia.
"I really don't want to destroy this peace."
Sighing softly, Joshua looked at his territory. Winter snow covered the main city, also turning the four initially formed satellite cities around it into a sheet of white. The snow on the streets was transported to the outskirts by recently developed specialized snow-clearing magical machinery, piling up into a small snow mountain. There, it had been transformed into an ice playground by the students and mentors of Winterfell Academy. Many parents with free time brought their children here to play. It even attracted tourists from other parts of the Empire and even from abroad.
Anyone could enjoy this peace, but not him.
Because only he, who knew the future, had the possibility of maintaining this peace.
For some reason, Joshua suddenly thought of the Saint, as pure white as this vast land. The figure of the Saint from his childhood echoed in his mind. A trace of emotion welled up in the Warrior's heart for no reason: This was probably the thought in the Saint's heart back then, right?
And perhaps it was a coincidence, or fate, or perhaps it was resonance.
As waves of fluctuation came again from the Space-Time Gate, Joshua, thinking it was Nostradamus returning, turned his head. What he saw was not the middle-aged Legendary Mage returning to his peak, but a Blonde Swordsman and a purple-haired female mage, holding two unconscious, petite young girls, their faces filled with anxiety and confusion.
"Joshua!"
The moment Brandon stepped out of the Space-Time Gate, he loudly called the Warrior's name. He quickly noticed Joshua was right in front of him. The Ultimate Swordsman, after all, was an expert who had experienced many battlefields. He quickly calmed down, suppressing his urgency, and said in a low voice: "My Saint's relic—the Order Twin Blades—has a problem!"